Q I was an embarrassed and deserving recipient of a ticket on July 1, the first day of the new hands-free cell phone law. My phone rang and I picked it up – duh. The courteous Redwood City police officer who pulled me over said it was $20 for a first-time violation. He told me: “Spread the word. We will be enforcing this new law.”

Um, yeah. So I’m spreading the word by writing you. My copy of the ticket had no indication of how much to pay, and a clerk informed me that the total for my supposedly $20 ticket was really $92.50! I thought for sure I had misheard her, but she assured me the extra fees are for processing and other charges. I paid, but sheesh. What’s the deal? Even more embarrassing: I had a hands-free device when I got the ticket – safely tucked in a drawer. Double duh.

Wendy Ellis

Woodside



A Ouch, but I warned you. The base fine is $20, but fees, etc., run the price up to nearly $100 for the first offense. A second ticket will cost around $190.

Q What is the breakdown on the total fees for violating the handheld cell phone law? My niece seems to think it’s a flat $20 for the ticket, and I say its higher.

Donna Pantaleoni

Mountain View



A Here is the breakdown for a cell phone citation based on fees in Santa Clara County and in San Jose. Fees vary slightly from county to county.

• Base fine: $20.

• State penalty: $20.

• State courthouse security fee: $20.

• County penalty: $14.

• County prior search fee: $10.

• State court construction fund: $7.

• State criminal penalty surcharge: $4.

• Proposition 69 DNA sampling: $2.

• Total cost: $97.

Q The Highway 101 exit onto Woodside Road west is clogged practically all day, as there are no other alternative exits to take into Redwood City from 101 after Whipple. So why can’t Walnut Street be an exit? The shopping center and hospital are right there. What about Douglas Avenue a bit east of Woodside Road? That is a large neighborhood to not have on-ramps between 84 and Marsh. Also, wouldn’t it relieve traffic if there were a bridge between Foster City and Redwood Shores? Foster City Boulevard could hook up with Shearwater Parkway, and people wouldn’t have to jump on 101 at one of its most congested points to go about three miles.

Joe Davis

Sunnyvale



A A redesign of the Woodside Road-101 interchange is under way, but it’s difficult to come up with a design that is affordable and won’t close a bunch of local roads that feed into this interchange. This much I know: No additional exits are being considered.

Q Didn’t someone write recently about an uneven area on Highway 87 near the Santa Clara Street exit? It’s still there, and my car about falls apart every time I hit it. I have even taken to driving on city streets to avoid it. Help!

Jim Smith

San Jose



A Want to know how the state budget mess affects you? This is how. Caltrans won’t have a grinder available until the middle of September because there is no budget. A trench was laid across the road during construction and refilled with asphalt that has pushed up on one side, giving you a bumpy ride.

Q I got a grin out of a recent column about gas prices. If Anita Goldwasser thinks that $3.99 for a gallon is cheap, she has been totally brainwashed by the oil companies.

Pat Gallagher

Los Gatos



A Judging by the number of comments I’m getting about similar prices in Stockton, Tracy and other cities, a lot of drives agree with Anita: Anything under $4 seems cheap.

Q There’s a solution to the GPS window mount problem: a friction mount. It resembles a 7-inch square bean bag, is weighted and has a sticky bottom. A heavy plastic plate is riveted to the middle of the bag. You attach the suction cup mount here, then place the whole thing on the dash. It can be moved from car to car and is easily removed out of sight. I got it at Fry’s Electronics for less than $15.

Tony Lum

A Gracias. The problem is that thieves can make off with GPS devices if they see you have one attached to your windshield. This may ease that problem. Meanwhile, a bill appears headed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk to make it legal to mount this device on your window.