Practice Areas (Criminal Defense)

TRAFFIC TICKETS

A traffic ticket is a citation issued by a police officer to motorists who fail to obey traffic laws. Traffic tickets generally come in two forms, citing a moving violation, such as exceeding the speed limit, or non-moving violations, such as a parking ticket.  Traffic tickets are generally heard in local municipal courts.

Most traffic laws are codified in a variety of state, county and municipal ordinances, with most minor violations classified as civil infractions. Although what constitutes a "minor violation" varies, examples include: non-moving violations; defective or unauthorized vehicle equipment; seatbelt and child-restraint safety violations; and insufficient proof of license, insurance or registration. A trend in the late 1970s and early 1980s also saw an increased tendency for jurisdictions to re-classify certain speeding violations as civil infractions. In contrast, for more "serious" violations, traffic violators may be held criminally liable, guilty of a misdemeanor or even a felony. Serious violations tend to involve multiple prior offenses; willful disregard of public safety; death, serious bodily injury or damage to property.

Each state's Department of Motor Vehicles maintains a database of motorists, including their convicted traffic violations. Upon being ticketed, a motorist is given the option to mail in to the local court -- the court for the town or city in which the violation took place -- a plea of guilty or not guilty within a certain time frame (usually ten days, although courts generally provide leniency in this regard). It has been estimated that approximately three out of every ten drivers in the United States will receive a traffic ticket within the time span of one calendar year.

If the motorist pleads not guilty, a trial date is set and both the motorist, or a lawyer representing the motorist, and the ticketing officer, or a representative, are required to attend. If the officer or representative fails to attend, the court judge will often find in favor of the motorist and dismiss the charge, although sometimes the trial date is moved to give the officer another chance to attend. The court will also make provisions for the officer to achieve a deal with the motorist, often in the form of a plea bargain. If no agreement is reached, both motorist and officer, or their respective representatives, formally attempt to prove their case before the judge, who then decides the matter.

If the motorist pleads guilty, the outcome is equivalent to conviction after trial. Upon conviction, the motorist is generally fined a monetary amount and, for moving violations, is additionally given "points" demerits, under each state's point system. In the cases where the motorist is registered in a different state from where the violation took place, individual agreements between the two states decide if, and how, the motorist's home state applies the other state's conviction. If no agreement exists, then the conviction is local to the state where the violation took place. In some instances, failure to pay the fine may result in a suspension to drive in only the city or state to whom the fine is owed, and the motorist may continue to drive elsewhere in the same state.

A traffic ticket can result in higher insurance premiums.  Therefore, you should contact our office for a FREE consultation in order to discuss different options that may be available to you in order to prevent you from receiving points on your license and increased insurance premiums.