How an Attorney Can Help You Fight a Traffic Ticket

Is it worth the cost to hire a traffic attorney for a simple speeding or traffic ticket? If you received a traffic ticket and are worried about your driving record, compare the costs of hiring a traffic lawyer to the cost of the ticket and other collateral costs that come with it.

You should feel free to contact multiple traffic violation attorneys in the local county who are familiar with the traffic laws and ordinances where you received the traffic ticket or parking tickets.

Should I Hire a Traffic Attorney?

Hiring a traffic ticket attorney can be a good decision because an experienced attorney will know the typical practice style of a particular judge and prosecutor. An experienced traffic lawyer will be familiar with the local sentencing penalties for certain traffic offenses. Your attorney can protect your legal rights and get you the most beneficial plea bargain or fight the traffic ticket in court.

When Does it Make Sense To Hire a Traffic Attorney?

There may be some situations where it makes more sense to talk to a lawyer, including:

• You were involved in a traffic accident or injury accident
• You have multiple speeding tickets on your record
• You can’t go to traffic school to dispose of the ticket
• You were driving at an excessive speed

If your traffic offense affects your license and your employment relies on having that license, getting legal advice from a traffic lawyer may save you your job or prevent a license suspension.

Don’t rush to take a plea bargain or pay your ticket, especially if your traffic infraction involved an accident. In a car accident, you could also be sued in civil court. If you admit you’re wrong in criminal court, you can be subject to both criminal and civil liability.

Multiple speeding convictions or causing an accident that led to injuries can cause your car insurance rates to increase. You can also face a driver’s license revocation. Given the serious consequences that can flow from a traffic ticket, hiring a traffic lawyer can be financially beneficial.

Make sure you seek legal representation if you are arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), driving with a suspended license, driving with no insurance, or reckless driving. These vehicle violations are generally more serious than rolling through a stop sign or speeding. Some traffic offenses involve severe fines, potential jail time, and civil penalties.

How Can a Criminal Defense Attorney Help You?

An experienced criminal defense attorney or traffic attorney can give you helpful legal advice. They have specialized legal knowledge that can put you in the best position to minimize the effects of a ticket or moving violation.

These include:

• Determining whether the police officer actually had a legal basis to stop your car
• Determining whether the officer operated the radar gun properly
• Negotiating to help you get into a diversion program like traffic school so you can keep the ticket off your record altogether
• Crafting your strongest defense if the prosecutor is not budging on a reasonable plea offer
• Speaking with the prosecutor and judge on your behalf and questioning the police officer who issued your ticket
• Helping you navigate the criminal and traffic court system, which is especially valuable for more serious drunk driving charges and reckless driving charges

Certain traffic offenses, like a DUI or lack of insurance charge, can be serious because they are enhanceable offenses. An enhanceable offense means that if you are caught doing the same behavior again the charge could be elevated to a more serious offense or result in license suspension. Some states will even revoke your license if you have multiple speeding tickets within a short time period or were driving at an excessive speed over the speed limit.

A criminal defense attorney can help you understand those legal implications and help you think through whether to fight the traffic offense in traffic court or get the best plea bargain with lower fines and less jail time. Some attorneys may offer a free consultation or at least give you some idea of what a beneficial plea bargain would be.

It can be very cost-efficient to hire a traffic lawyer to help you at your first court appearance. Even if it is just your first time, you may want to spend a little more money upfront rather than deal with the possible long-term penalties for having too many traffic citations.