Category: Traffic Defense

Drivers who receive traffic tickets are often tempted to handle the matter on their own, viewing the ticket as relatively inconsequential compared to other legal issues. However, the potential penalties could be significant and long lasting. There are numerous benefits to hiring a law firm that you should consider before deciding to deal with the ticket without legal representation.

Syracuse drivers who are ticketed have a trusted legal ally in Carden Dotzler Hammond, PLLC. Find out how we can represent you, regardless of the type of ticket you have, and how it may benefit you down the road to have an attorney.

How a Ticket Can Hurt You

Traffic tickets, especially for moving violations like speeding or running a red light, can carry a number of short-term consequences. But the impact of your ticket may extend beyond the court’s disposition of the matter. These are some of the repercussions you could face:

• Jail time: Certain tickets, such as those for excessive speeding, can lead to jail time in Syracuse.
• Fines and court fees: Most tickets, even if they do not result in jail, come with fines and court costs that could reach into the hundreds of dollars.
• Points: There are many tickets that add points to your license, and accumulating too many points can lead to driver’s license suspension.
• Higher auto insurance rates: Your automobile insurance premium will almost certainly increase and stay high for several years.

Jail time and fines are some of the immediate consequences of a traffic ticket, but a driver in Syracuse should not ignore the implications of license points and higher insurance premiums. These can ultimately cost significant sums of money down the road, months or years after the court handles your ticket.

How a Lawyer Can Help You

In light of the long-term potential costs, it makes sense to consider hiring an experienced attorney to dispense with your ticket. Our traffic ticket attorney can help you by:

• Applying our understanding of New York traffic laws and regulations to your case
• Contesting any evidence that is unreliable or potentially admissible in court
• Working, where possible, to negotiate reduced charges or lower penalties
• Asking the Syracuse judge to dismiss the ticket if the facts warrant it
• Appearing on your behalf in court, unless the charges require you to personally appear

Certain traffic tickets are misdemeanors or felonies, which means the penalties go far beyond fines and insurance increases. You could end up with a criminal record and have to spend time in jail, which will affect you both personally and professionally. If you are facing a serious traffic matter in Syracuse that could result in jail time, hiring an attorney is critical to protecting your rights.

The CDH Law Difference

CDH Law offers a free initial consultation so you can explore your legal options and the possible consequences of your ticket. If you hire us, we will get to work right away to review the evidence and the circumstances of the traffic stop and the ticket. Depending on the unique facts of your case, we may ask for reduced charges or a dismissal.

Our goal is to help you save time and money, and limit the impact of a ticket on your criminal record, on your driving record, and on your automobile insurance premiums. You owe it to yourself to weigh the benefits of hiring a Syracuse traffic ticket attorney against the risks of representing yourself in court. Call us today or complete our online contact form to get started.

At one point or another, most of us will receive a traffic ticket. Even the most careful of drivers find themselves going over the speed limit or driving with a taillight out. In New York, the New York City Police Department is, by far, the biggest distributor of traffic tickets in the state. The Nassau County Police Department and the Suffolk County Police Department come in second and third, respectively. And many folks traveling north or south on I-81 find themselves ticketed in Upstate New York, whether they be Canadians traveling through the U.S. or American tourists on their way north or back home.

Traffic tickets are often viewed as an annoyance, but a fairly minor one. However, traffic tickets can be much more than that. Most traffic infractions carry fines and points on your driving record. Points quickly add up as do the fines. You may face financial issues with paying the cost of traffic tickets. It is also a strong possibility that your insurance rates will go up. Many insurers view traffic ticket recipients as a risk to insure, as they have proven that they exhibit poor driving tendencies. Also, if you lose your license, you could lose your job, especially if driving is an integral part of your job. You will also eventually have to pay a license reinstatement fee. You may have to rely on walking or public transportation to get around, which can take up much more of your time as well. In some cases, you may even face jail time for your traffic offense.

What Are the Most Common New York Traffic Law Violations?

It may come as no surprise that speeding is one of the most common New York traffic violations. Everyone is in a hurry these days and no one seems to want to let up on the gas pedal as they make their way from place to place. Also, failure to obey a traffic signal is another common traffic offense. This includes failure to obey a yield sign or stop sign. A ticket for this infraction will usually carry a fine and result in two points being added to the driver’s license. If the driver violated something like a one-way sign, that can carry more than two points, but most failures to obey traffic signals will result in two points.

Improper cell phone use, another of the most common New York traffic violations, can result in a fine and five points on the driver’s license. Some of the most common offenses, however, may result in a fine, but there are no points awarded to the driver’s record. For instance, being ticketed for operating an uninspected motor vehicle or being an unlicensed operator, will not result in any points being assessed. There will, however, be a fine.

Some of the other most common New York traffic law violations include:

• Driving in the wrong direction
• Failure to yield the right of way
• Failure to signal
• Failure to move over
• Failure to stop for a school bus
• Following too closely (tailgating)
• Improper lane change
• Railroad crossing violation
• Reckless driving

New York Traffic Attorneys

Receiving a traffic ticket is not the end of your options. You have the opportunity to contest the ticket or seek a reduction. The attorneys at CDH Law can help you do this. We are well versed in New York traffic law and are here to fight for you. Contact us today.

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has the Driver Violation Point System in place as a means of identifying who they deem to be “high risk drivers” and taking action against them. As you accrue more points, you run the risk of fines. You also run the risk of having your driver’s license suspended. Points assessed to your license can also lead to increases in the cost of insurance coverage.

What is the “Driver Violation Point System”?

Under the Driver Violation Point System, the DMV assigns point values for particular traffic violations. For instance:

• Failing to yield the right of way: 3 points
• Speeding: 3-11 points (depending on how far over the speed limit you were going)
• Reckless driving: 5 points
• Texting and other unauthorized use of a portable electronic device: 5 points

Points will not be assessed to your license until you are actually convicted of the traffic violation. Points are calculated within an 18-month time period. Your points will go on your record based on the date the traffic violation occurred, not the date you were convicted of the offense. If you receive 11 points or more in an 18-month time frame, your license may be suspended.

In addition to possible license suspension, you also run the risk of paying a Driver Responsibility Assessment if you accrue enough points. The Driver Responsibility Program was started in New York back in 2004. Designed to place an added financial burden to drivers who continue to violate traffic regulations, the fees imposed by the program are substantial. If you receive 6 points during the 18-month period, your annual assessment will be $100 per year for three years. Additionally, you will be assessed $25 a year more for three years for each point about the six-point mark.

As an additional consequence to getting points assessed to your license, your insurance rates may go up, sometimes drastically. Internally, insurance companies have their own systems of calculating points to determine which drivers are high risks to insure. An infraction that an insurance company views as a greater risk to the safety of the driver and to others will more likely result in more substantial rate increases. This means that just because the DMV has assessed lower point values or no point values to certain traffic infractions that an insurance company will still take it seriously in determining insurance rates. If you are convicted of an alcohol or drug-related traffic offense, or if you have refused a chemical test, you will be subject to an annual assessment of $250.

New York Traffic Attorney

Traffic offenses can carry hefty penalties like suspension of your license and significant financial consequences in the form of fines and other assessments. CDH law will help you fight your traffic ticket in order to help prevent points being assessed to your license and other associated penalties from occurring. Contact us today.