Originally Posted by
Xyzzy
When paying a fine for a violation you are generally admitting guilt with or without a trial. That is likely not relevant, though. Most traffic tickets are infractions, n
t criminal offenses. Some
useful info on the differences can be found here.
Correct - although I was in the SFO GE office a couple of months ago (updating my address/employer/etc info) and saw someone who was being denied for an unresolved texting while driving ticket.
Based on the conversation and the CBP dude, it seems that in California, in some cases this particular infraction may be treated as a misdemeanor and this guy was fighting the ticket so it had the potential to become a misdemeanor conviction and the CBP guy couldn't approve him - although had he had simply paid the fine without fighting it, most likely it would have been an infraction and he would have been able to get GE membership that day. He was not a happy camper.