Why should I hire a lawyer for a traffic ticket?
Posted in General on August 19, 2021
Traffic tickets are very common occurrences and sometimes people receive traffic tickets for things that were out of their control or occasionally a person may receive a traffic ticket for things that they have done. Despite the fact that traffic tickets may seem trivial or a person may feel that they do not have to hire a lawyer, hiring a lawyer may be the best course of action due to the fact that this is still a court matter and most of the time an average person may not have a lot of experience dealing with the legal system but for lawyers it is their job to assist people dealing with the legal system so they may be able to help. There are no promises on when working with a lawyer, but they will give a person an upper hand while dealing with the traffic tribunal, in addition a lawyer may be able to help guide and explain the legal processes to the person who has hired them. The most common traffic tickets that people tend to hire lawyers for are red light violations, speeding, reckless driving, and driving under the influence (DUI). While it may seem easier to plead guilty and just pay the fine with certain tickets, those tickets would then be on the person’s driving record for three (3) years or more. These tickets that are on a person’s driving record may also have a chance to affect them in the future, including but not exclusively, higher insurance rates, and possibly suspension or revocation of a license if a person receives three (3) tickets within a twelve (12) month span or four (4) tickets in an eighteen (18) month span. For pleading guilty to at traffic ticket could cause a person to pay hundreds more in insurances costs per year. In addition to suspension or revocation of a license a person may also be open to serious penalties such as, fines up to $1,000, a minimum of sixty (60) community service hours, driver’s retraining course for a minimum of sixty (60) hours, one year suspension of license, or even two years revocation of license; these penalties may be imposed in various combinations or vary in time for community service hours or driver’s retraining course. The more serious a traffic ticket is the more it is recommended to hire a lawyer to help with fighting the traffic ticket. Experienced lawyers may be able to help negotiate deals with the prosecution to help lessen any fines or penalties that may result from the ticket. Hiring a lawyer may also help a person have a greater understanding of the legal processes happening with the ticket and possibly help fight the ticket. In addition, a lawyer may know how to use different mitigating factors to help reduce fines and possibly use their client’s good driving record to possibly get a dismissal. A lawyer may be able to conference with the prosecution to try to reach an agreement, whether to dismiss the ticket or impose lesser penalties such as: community service, reduced fines, driver’s retraining, or charitable donations. These outcomes all vary depending on a person’s driving record, and the severity of the ticket.
