SpotsCat
12-03-2005, 04:22 PM
This is an article that I wrote for 'Car & Driver' shortly after I took over moderating their online bulletin board. Although it is written for the automobile afficinado, I think it's also applicable to truckers as well...
Every week someone posts here and says "I just got a speeding ticket for doing (blank) in a (blank) zone. What do I do now?"
Here's a little experience I've learned over the past three decades of professional driving about handling moving violations. This should be pretty much the way things work in your area, but I can't say for sure - I may not have been to court in your area... yet.
So you got a traffic ticket. You were cruising along in your automobile, peacefully minding your own business, not hurting anybody, when all of a sudden Ol' Johnny Law himself decides to swoop in and make your life miserable.
"But Officer," you say. "I was only doing, maybe, 40 over the limit. Give me a break, please? How 'bout a warning?"
"Tell it to the judge" says he, as he hands you the ticket.
Like Sean Hannity says - "Let not your heart be troubled!" Life is not about to end. It's gonna hurt, and you're gonna have to shell out some money - but this will make it as painless for you as possible.
Rule #1 - Get a ticket, get a lawyer!
Immediately find a lawyer. Look in the Yellow Pages of your local phone book under "Attorneys" and see if any of them specialize in "Traffic Law" - not "DWI/DUI" but just "Traffic Law". DWI/DUI lawyers know that your back is up against the wall, and they charge beaucoup bucks to save your hide. Unless you've received a DWI/DUI you don't need someone this specialized, you just need a traffic lawyer.
Perhaps there is a "Traffic Law Center" in your town, an attorney that does nothing but traffic cases. Go there.
If not, call around to a few lawyers. The initial consultation is usually free, and you'll get an idea of what they'll charge you. Some charge more than others, some are just getting started in practice and are looking for clients so they work for less than an attorney that has been in practice for awhile.
Why hire a lawyer? Four reasons...
1) - If you plead guilty to a moving violation, you will usually receive points on your license. You do not want this to happen! In several states if you receive 'X' number of violations in a certain timeframe (12 or 18 months), your license gets suspended. The best number of infractions to have recorded on your license is 'zero'.
2) - When you go to apply for auto insurance, they'll run a copy of your MVR. The more tickets you have, the more they charge you for automobile insurance. However, non-moving violations do not show up on most MVR's, and the insurance company will have no way of knowing you've received a ticket. Lose your license, and you'll qualify for SR-22 insurance - which is worse than Ebola, Hanta virus, and Bubonic plague, all at once!
3) - In the future, if you are stopped again for a traffic violation, the presence - or lack - of traffic citations on your license can often times influence the officer's decision on whether or not to give you a break and let you off with a warning. Get pulled over for speeding, and if your record is clean, the officer might decide to cut you a little slack. But, if s/he runs your license and it comes back with three prior speeding tickets on it... Guess what, buckaroo? You're gonna be four for four!
4) - Suppose you decide to make a few extra bucks moonlighting as a pizza deliverer. Easy job, not too stressful, just drive your car somewhere, deliver pizza, and listen to the radio while you drive. Anybody can do it, right? Wrong. Too many tickets on your license and they won't hire you, period. Why? Have an serious accident while delivering pizza, and the attorney for the person you hit will start planning his winter vacation in Hawaii with the money they'll get from the lawsuit. House of Pizza should have known better than to hire a reckless driver like you! Just look at your MVR - anyone can tell you were an accident looking for place to happen.
Take your ticket to the attorney and tell him the circumstances of the incident. Be 100% honest and candid with him - if you're guilty, tell him so. You know if you're guilty or not, don't try to shullbit the attorney. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If you were doing 52 in a 35 and the cop gave you a break and let you off with 46 - tell him. If you ran the stop sign because you didn't see it - tell him.
You will have to pay the attorneys fees, plus you have to pay the fine and the court costs. This will be the painful part. Depending on the area you live in, you can easily spend $1000 on a simple ticket. I received a speeding citation in Washington state for 10 over, hired a lawyer, and the total bill was less than $280. A 10 over speeding ticket in Los Angeles is $300 fine and costs, and I couldn't find an attorney that would touch it for less than $500!
If you don't have the cash to hire an attorney - get it. Eat macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles for a month. Take a second job. Hock your stuff at the pawn shop. Live in a van down by the river. Do what you've gotta do, but hire a lawyer!
What usually happens is that the attorney will go to the prosecutor and attempt to strike a deal to have your ticket 'amended' to a lesser (non-moving) violation. You weren't speeding, your muffler had fallen off and your car was too loud! You didn't run that stop sign, your seatbelt wasn't buckled!
But... remember, regardless of what anyone tells you - most traffic enforcement is about revenue, pure and simple. Like a judge in Los Angeles County told me and a courtroom packed full of other defendants last summer - "We're not going to take all of your money, we're just going to take a lot of it!" (And he did, but that's another story...)
If the prosecutor agrees to amend your ticket, they will usually want to amend it to something that carries the same financial punishment as the ticket that you are attempting to modify. If the fine for your particular circumstance is $150 - they may agree to change the ticket to a lesser violation, but the fine will more than likely be $150, if not a little more. Remember, the prosecutor is doing you a favor, and they've got to have something to show for it.
When the day of court comes - if you even have to show up - you'll have an attorney representing you, and you'll usually be one of the first cases on the daily docket. The judge knows that attorneys have cases, and they'll usually try to get them in and out of court as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you'll wait with the rest of the poor schlubs for your name to be called - half an hour... an hour... hour and a half... maybe two... or more. With the attorney you get in and out, and you'll even leave time on the parking meter!
There are books for sale over the Internet that tell you "101 Surefire Ways to Beat A Traffic Ticket" - and if you're very articulate and very smart, it is possible to defend yourself in traffic court. However, I do not recommend this approach. The people that I've seen that try to represent themselves have watched way too many episodes of "Matlock", "The Practice", "LA Law", and "Perry Mason", and they come off badly. It's a courtroom, not a stage, and judges absolutely hate people that think it is a stage! If it was as easy as it looked on TV, everyone would do it, and lawyers would be a dime a dozen. (Which, come to think of it... :D )
Think of it as high-stakes poker - If you win, you win big. But if you lose, you lose big! Hedge your bet and get a lawyer.
This is pretty much the way the system works in every area that I've ever been cited in. It should work in your area, but I'm not an attorney, and this isn't legal advice - I'm just telling you what I do under the same circumstances. I'm a over-the-road truck driver by profession, and I have to keep my driver's license in order to keep my job. This is what works for me, and it should work for you.
I hope this helps anyone that reads it, and if anyone has anything that they'd like to add, feel free.
Good luck, I hope this answered most of your questions, and allayed your fears about what will happen to you, now that you've received a ticket.
Remember - "Let's be careful out there!"
/s/ SpotsCat
Every week someone posts here and says "I just got a speeding ticket for doing (blank) in a (blank) zone. What do I do now?"
Here's a little experience I've learned over the past three decades of professional driving about handling moving violations. This should be pretty much the way things work in your area, but I can't say for sure - I may not have been to court in your area... yet.
So you got a traffic ticket. You were cruising along in your automobile, peacefully minding your own business, not hurting anybody, when all of a sudden Ol' Johnny Law himself decides to swoop in and make your life miserable.
"But Officer," you say. "I was only doing, maybe, 40 over the limit. Give me a break, please? How 'bout a warning?"
"Tell it to the judge" says he, as he hands you the ticket.
Like Sean Hannity says - "Let not your heart be troubled!" Life is not about to end. It's gonna hurt, and you're gonna have to shell out some money - but this will make it as painless for you as possible.
Rule #1 - Get a ticket, get a lawyer!
Immediately find a lawyer. Look in the Yellow Pages of your local phone book under "Attorneys" and see if any of them specialize in "Traffic Law" - not "DWI/DUI" but just "Traffic Law". DWI/DUI lawyers know that your back is up against the wall, and they charge beaucoup bucks to save your hide. Unless you've received a DWI/DUI you don't need someone this specialized, you just need a traffic lawyer.
Perhaps there is a "Traffic Law Center" in your town, an attorney that does nothing but traffic cases. Go there.
If not, call around to a few lawyers. The initial consultation is usually free, and you'll get an idea of what they'll charge you. Some charge more than others, some are just getting started in practice and are looking for clients so they work for less than an attorney that has been in practice for awhile.
Why hire a lawyer? Four reasons...
1) - If you plead guilty to a moving violation, you will usually receive points on your license. You do not want this to happen! In several states if you receive 'X' number of violations in a certain timeframe (12 or 18 months), your license gets suspended. The best number of infractions to have recorded on your license is 'zero'.
2) - When you go to apply for auto insurance, they'll run a copy of your MVR. The more tickets you have, the more they charge you for automobile insurance. However, non-moving violations do not show up on most MVR's, and the insurance company will have no way of knowing you've received a ticket. Lose your license, and you'll qualify for SR-22 insurance - which is worse than Ebola, Hanta virus, and Bubonic plague, all at once!
3) - In the future, if you are stopped again for a traffic violation, the presence - or lack - of traffic citations on your license can often times influence the officer's decision on whether or not to give you a break and let you off with a warning. Get pulled over for speeding, and if your record is clean, the officer might decide to cut you a little slack. But, if s/he runs your license and it comes back with three prior speeding tickets on it... Guess what, buckaroo? You're gonna be four for four!
4) - Suppose you decide to make a few extra bucks moonlighting as a pizza deliverer. Easy job, not too stressful, just drive your car somewhere, deliver pizza, and listen to the radio while you drive. Anybody can do it, right? Wrong. Too many tickets on your license and they won't hire you, period. Why? Have an serious accident while delivering pizza, and the attorney for the person you hit will start planning his winter vacation in Hawaii with the money they'll get from the lawsuit. House of Pizza should have known better than to hire a reckless driver like you! Just look at your MVR - anyone can tell you were an accident looking for place to happen.
Take your ticket to the attorney and tell him the circumstances of the incident. Be 100% honest and candid with him - if you're guilty, tell him so. You know if you're guilty or not, don't try to shullbit the attorney. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If you were doing 52 in a 35 and the cop gave you a break and let you off with 46 - tell him. If you ran the stop sign because you didn't see it - tell him.
You will have to pay the attorneys fees, plus you have to pay the fine and the court costs. This will be the painful part. Depending on the area you live in, you can easily spend $1000 on a simple ticket. I received a speeding citation in Washington state for 10 over, hired a lawyer, and the total bill was less than $280. A 10 over speeding ticket in Los Angeles is $300 fine and costs, and I couldn't find an attorney that would touch it for less than $500!
If you don't have the cash to hire an attorney - get it. Eat macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles for a month. Take a second job. Hock your stuff at the pawn shop. Live in a van down by the river. Do what you've gotta do, but hire a lawyer!
What usually happens is that the attorney will go to the prosecutor and attempt to strike a deal to have your ticket 'amended' to a lesser (non-moving) violation. You weren't speeding, your muffler had fallen off and your car was too loud! You didn't run that stop sign, your seatbelt wasn't buckled!
But... remember, regardless of what anyone tells you - most traffic enforcement is about revenue, pure and simple. Like a judge in Los Angeles County told me and a courtroom packed full of other defendants last summer - "We're not going to take all of your money, we're just going to take a lot of it!" (And he did, but that's another story...)
If the prosecutor agrees to amend your ticket, they will usually want to amend it to something that carries the same financial punishment as the ticket that you are attempting to modify. If the fine for your particular circumstance is $150 - they may agree to change the ticket to a lesser violation, but the fine will more than likely be $150, if not a little more. Remember, the prosecutor is doing you a favor, and they've got to have something to show for it.
When the day of court comes - if you even have to show up - you'll have an attorney representing you, and you'll usually be one of the first cases on the daily docket. The judge knows that attorneys have cases, and they'll usually try to get them in and out of court as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you'll wait with the rest of the poor schlubs for your name to be called - half an hour... an hour... hour and a half... maybe two... or more. With the attorney you get in and out, and you'll even leave time on the parking meter!
There are books for sale over the Internet that tell you "101 Surefire Ways to Beat A Traffic Ticket" - and if you're very articulate and very smart, it is possible to defend yourself in traffic court. However, I do not recommend this approach. The people that I've seen that try to represent themselves have watched way too many episodes of "Matlock", "The Practice", "LA Law", and "Perry Mason", and they come off badly. It's a courtroom, not a stage, and judges absolutely hate people that think it is a stage! If it was as easy as it looked on TV, everyone would do it, and lawyers would be a dime a dozen. (Which, come to think of it... :D )
Think of it as high-stakes poker - If you win, you win big. But if you lose, you lose big! Hedge your bet and get a lawyer.
This is pretty much the way the system works in every area that I've ever been cited in. It should work in your area, but I'm not an attorney, and this isn't legal advice - I'm just telling you what I do under the same circumstances. I'm a over-the-road truck driver by profession, and I have to keep my driver's license in order to keep my job. This is what works for me, and it should work for you.
I hope this helps anyone that reads it, and if anyone has anything that they'd like to add, feel free.
Good luck, I hope this answered most of your questions, and allayed your fears about what will happen to you, now that you've received a ticket.
Remember - "Let's be careful out there!"
/s/ SpotsCat