Saratoga Traffic School

The Census Bureau estimates 30,418 people in Saratoga on July 1, 2025. State Route 9 and State Route 85 both cross the city, and City Hall stands at 13777 Fruitvale Avenue.

Saratoga contracts for its policing instead of running a police department. Tickets in Saratoga come from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, whose West Valley Patrol Division serves the city under that contract, and from the California Highway Patrol on the state highways. The Highway Patrol's San Jose, Redwood City and Hollister-Gilroy Areas serve Santa Clara County. Whichever agency writes the ticket, it goes to Santa Clara County Superior Court.

The Office of Traffic Safety's 2023 rankings place Saratoga 83rd of 93 cities of similar size, with 49 people killed or injured in crashes, where 1st is the worst result. Bicyclists are the exception. The 13 killed or injured put the city 15th in its group, far worse than its overall place. Speed-related fatal and injury crashes numbered 11, ranked 62nd, and pedestrian victims 3, ranked 76th. None of these counts says anything about fault in a single case.

The City Council adopted Saratoga's Local Roadway Safety Plan in 2022, on the Traffic Safety Commission's recommendation. Its review of injury collisions from 2015 through 2018 shows the same pattern for cyclists. Bicycle collisions made up 23 percent of injury collisions but 44 percent of fatal ones, and about 13 percent of all injury collisions, 32 of them, killed or severely injured someone. Unsafe speed was the top primary collision factor, behind 36 percent of injury collisions and 41 percent of those that killed or severely injured someone.

The city's 2020 speed survey checked posted limits on 44 road segments, and a comparison with the 2013 survey found higher 85th percentile speeds on 65 percent of them. On Saratoga Avenue between Fruitvale Avenue and Dagmar Drive, where 15 speed-related collisions were observed over five years, the survey recommended lowering the limit from 40 to 35 mph. Saratoga joined Safe Routes to School in 2018 and adopted its master plan on September 7, 2022, and residents can take a traffic safety concern about any location to the Traffic Safety Commission.

Santa Clara County Superior Court handles Saratoga tickets at two courthouses, and either one will do. One is the Family Justice Center Courthouse at 201 North First Street in San Jose, whose DMV code is not published. The other is the South County Morgan Hill Courthouse at 301 Diana Avenue, code 43635. Both answer on the traffic line, (408) 556-3000, and you enroll with the code printed on your citation. The Palo Alto Courthouse hears criminal cases only, and the Santa Clara Courthouse is temporarily closed, so neither takes traffic.

Before you can ask for traffic school, the citation has to reach the court's system, and until then you cannot pay the ticket or sign up. The court's Case Info website shows whether it has been entered. A courtesy notice then arrives with your options and a due date, and if nothing comes by the date at the bottom of your ticket, contact the court by phone or in person. The court's bail schedule says which offenses are eligible for traffic school. Electing it adds a fee for monitoring traffic violator schools, set by the court and shown on your notice, while Mirai Traffic School's $24.99 is a separate charge. Under state law, one traffic school conviction in any 18-month period is kept confidential.

Mirai Traffic School reports your completion to the DMV electronically, and the court retrieves it from there. The court takes proof of completion only from DMV-licensed schools, and it says that once the school notifies it, there is nothing further for you to do. Hold on to your confirmation until your Saratoga case shows as closed.