Getting a traffic ticket is unpleasant and may seem to be a minor event. It is not uncommon for people to procrastinate when it comes to paying tickets or following up on violations. However, the worst thing you can do is to ignore a ticket and hope it goes away. Doing so can cause what was a simple traffic ticket to become a major headache, and you could ultimately lose your license or even wind up getting arrested and thrown in jail.
PRICINGTraffic fines in Most states vary by court. Your traffic ticket should state your exact ticket amount, how to pay or contest it, deadlines, penalties, and whether you must appear in court.
When you receive a traffic ticket, you have several choices:
1) Pay the fine. In Most states, paying a traffic ticket is an admission of guilt.
This means:
2) Request a mitigation hearing. This is also considered a guilty plea and may result in:
3) Request a contested hearing. This is considered a plea of not guilty. You have the opportunity to hire an attorney or represent yourself at this hearing to negotiate having your charges dropped or reduced.
Most states uses a point system, so if you are convicted of a traffic violation you will receive points on your driving record, depending on the violation. You may be able to attend a traffic safety school to reduce points or, in some cases, keep violations off your driving records.
Ignoring Tickets and Fines
If you do not pay tickets and go to court on time, ticket debt and penalties increase and pile up, and the court can report you to the Secretary of State. You may be issued a warrant for "Failure To Appear - Traffic," or your driver's license can be suspended. You could face higher fines, which will be sent to collections. If you don’t pay, you could wind up losing your vehicle.
If you have multiple unpaid tickets, (contact TICKETFIXER.com immediately) you will get notice to either pay or contest the tickets. If you don’t do this on time, fines double, get sent to collections or cause your car to be put on a list to be immobilized by a wheel clamp known as a “Denver boot.” If your car is booted, you have 24 hours to pay fines plus booting fee.
If the fines aren’t paid in time, your vehicle gets towed, resulting in an additional towing fee and a storage fee to get it back. If you accumulate 10 unpaid parking tickets or five unpaid traffic camera tickets, your license can be suspended, and you can be prevented from accessing contracts, licenses and grants for low-income homeowners.
If your license is suspended, it is usually temporary until you pay a fine and wait a specific amount of time. If your license is revoked, you lose your driving privileges indefinitely, although you can reapply for your license after a minimum of one year. If you license is cancelled, it is usually for a medical condition-related reason, because you were ineligible or provided false information, or you failed to satisfy a re-examination requirement.
Some traffic violation-related examples causing suspension, revocation, or cancellation. include:
Accumulating a certain number of points can lead to license suspension as well.
With consequences so severe, it pays to pay your traffic tickets, and even hire an experienced traffic ticket attorney to help you avoid major penalties.
