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Your stomach probably dropped when you saw red and blue lights flashing in your rear-view mirror. But, thankfully, you were “only” cited with a traffic ticket. Perhaps you were traveling a little faster than the posted speed limit or you forgot to engage your turn signal before switching lanes. Whatever the offense, because a traffic citation is relatively low-stakes when compared to other run-ins with law enforcement, you may be wondering whether fighting your ticket is worth your limited time and valuable effort.
If this is your first infraction and you were cited with a truly minor offense – such as engaging in a rolling stop instead of a full stop at an empty intersection – fighting your ticket may be more hassle than the effort is worth. However, if you’ve been cited with a traffic infraction before and/or your alleged infraction is at-all significant, it may be worth your time to speak with a lawyer about fighting your ticket.
As an experienced Greensville County, VA traffic lawyer – including those who practice at The Law Offices of Mark T. Hurt – can confirm, the actual cost of incurring a traffic ticket is often far higher than the fee amount cited on the ticket itself. Being cited for a traffic infraction, especially one involving reckless or truly negligent conduct, can set off a chain of events that lead to significant costs as time moves on.
For example, if you’ve been cited with excessive speeding, you may discover that your next insurance premium bill is higher than it has ever been, potentially by a significant amount. This is because insurance companies frequently raise rates on motorists whom these companies deem to be at greater risk of being involved in accidents. Your excessive speed says to your insurance company that you’re not a particularly careful driver, you don’t respect the rules of the road, and you’re more likely to cause or be involved in a crash than a “good” driver is.
Insurance company premium spikes often cost a lot of money over time. Say that your traffic ticket causes your insurance provider to raise its premium by $25 per month. Over the course of a single year, you’ll pay hundreds more on car insurance simply because you didn’t fight your ticket up front.
If your ticket causes you to lose points on your license, this could lead to trouble down the road. Shaving a few points off your record now might not be a big deal. But if you don’t fight to keep these points on your record, you could lose so many combined points as a result of this plus a future unintentional infraction that you could lose your license for a time. It’s best to keep as many points on your record as you can.
If you decide to fight your traffic ticket, you don’t have to navigate this process alone. Connect with an experienced traffic ticket lawyer at our firm today to begin the process of protecting your rights, saving you money, and safeguarding your future.
