There are nearly 200 million licensed drivers in the United States today. More than 20% of those 200 million drivers will get a traffic ticket this year. Handing out traffic tickets to otherwise law-abiding citizens is such a big source of revenue that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports every traffic cop is expected to hand out about $300,000 in tickets each year.
Of the people who receive traffic infractions, 95% will accept the repercussions and pay the fine without challenging it. Fighting a traffic ticket is intimidating and your chances of beating the system and winning are slim. Many people don’t consider using an attorney to defend them at DMV hearings for traffic violations, but here are a few reasons it’s a good idea:
- Hiring an attorney could be less expensive than paying your ticket and insurance hikes. Your first thought is probably that you can’t afford to hire an attorney. However, traffic tickets are relatively simple for an attorney to work on, and traffic ticket attorneys can process dozens of cases in a day, which make their rates fairly reasonable.
On the other hand, paying several hundred dollars for your ticket is only the beginning of the costs. If you pay your fine, you are accepting guilt of the traffic violation. This results in increased insurance rates, and depending on the nature of the infraction, could even leaded to a suspended license or job loss. When you consider all of the expenses added on top of paying your fine, you really can’t afford not to have an attorney represent you at your DMV hearings! - A traffic ticket attorney knows more than you about fighting a traffic ticket. One reason that fighting a traffic ticket is often a losing battle is that the deck is stacked against the defendant. It is easy to be plowed over in traffic court because cops and prosecutors spend their entire careers making traffic tickets stick, while the average driver has no experience defending themselves. If you hire a traffic ticket attorney, you are stacking the deck in your own favor. Your attorney will know how to navigate the system and give you the best odds of beating the ticket.
- Your chances of winning are better with an attorney. Traffic ticket attorneys spend their careers finding exceptions to get cases tossed at DMV hearings. The slightest mistake on the ticket, unusual driving conditions, or any breach in protocol the police officer might have committed while issuing your infraction could be grounds to have your ticket dismissed. Without the eyes of a law expert, your chances of recognizing an exception that could get your case dismissed and successfully fighting it are unlikely.
Have you ever used a traffic ticket attorney after getting a citation? What was the outcome of your case? We want to hear the details! Please leave a comment with your experience!