San Rafael Traffic School

The Census Bureau puts San Rafael's population at 59,410 on July 1, 2025. US 101 crosses the city from north to south, and Interstate 580 also passes through it. Downtown streets such as Third Street carry much of the city's local traffic.

Tickets in San Rafael come from two agencies. The San Rafael Police Department covers city streets, downtown included. The California Highway Patrol's Marin Area, whose territory spans Marin, San Francisco, Sonoma and Contra Costa counties, patrols state highways such as US 101 and Interstate 580. Whichever agency stopped you, the ticket lands at Marin County Superior Court under the same traffic school rules.

In the California Office of Traffic Safety's 2023 rankings, San Rafael had 266 people killed or injured in crashes, 24th of 103 cities of similar size, where 1st is the worst result. Pedestrians stand out. The 44 killed or injured put San Rafael 1st in its group, and its 35 bicyclists ranked 3rd. Crashes involving alcohol killed or hurt 45 people, 10th in the group, and speed-related crashes with a death or injury numbered 39, 21st. The figures describe the city's roads overall, not fault in a single case.

San Rafael is using Assembly Bill 43, a state law that took effect in 2022, to lower speed limits where people walk and bike. The 2024 Marin County Local Road Safety Plan found elevated collision rates on many downtown streets, so the city started there, and the City Council adopted the first downtown speed limit reductions on February 18, 2025. A second phase studies other roads with heavy walking and cycling and a history of crashes. The city points out that a pedestrian struck at 20 mph has a 90% survival rate, and at 40 mph that falls to 50%. The final limits go into the city's Engineering and Traffic Survey, which gives them their legal basis for enforcement at Marin County Superior Court.

For San Rafael drivers the traffic court is close to home. Marin County Superior Court hears every adult traffic case in the county at the Hall of Justice in the Marin County Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, and the DMV gives the court a single traffic code, 21420. The Traffic Clerk's Office takes calls at (415) 444-7180. A ticket written outside Marin County, even farther up US 101 in Sonoma County, goes to that county's court instead.

You request traffic school from the court, and the court decides. Along with the bail on your courtesy notice, Marin County Superior Court collects a non-refundable administrative fee, and the notice also says whether traffic school is open to you. The $24.99 for Mirai Traffic School's course is paid to the school, not the court. To qualify, the court looks for a valid California driver's license, no traffic school assigned or taken in the past 18 months, an infraction reportable to the DMV that carries no mandatory appearance, and a speed no more than 25 mph above the posted limit. Drivers with a commercial license qualify only if they were not driving a commercial vehicle, and certain serious violations are not eligible.

Mirai Traffic School reports your completion to the DMV electronically, and the court retrieves it from there. The completion date is the court's to set, and its online traffic system lists traffic school due dates. Miss that date and the court reports the ticket to the DMV as a conviction and keeps the fines and fees you posted. Match your name, license number and code 21420 early, so a typo can still be fixed.