You know that a traffic ticket is possible if you were speeding or if an officer accuses you of another kind of moving violation. On that ticket, it will give you some details on how to pay a fine or where to appear in court.
Most people just pay the fine and move on, but that’s not really the best idea. Paying the fine is an admission of guilt. It can impact your insurance rates on top of costing you money up front. On top of that, if you get enough citations within a certain period of time, you could lose your license.
Working with a criminal defense attorney helps protect you
While you might not think it’s necessary to have an attorney for a simple traffic ticket or citation, it’s never a good idea to go to court and represent yourself. If you do so, you could say or do something that leads to being found guilty of the act, penalizing you to the full extent of the law.
If you have an attorney, your attorney can help you go through your case and work out if there is a potential to get it dropped. For example, your attorney may help you show that your speedometer was faulty or that the officer has no basis for the speeding ticket because of the equipment used to tag your vehicle.
Your attorney understands how the criminal justice system works and can take steps to minimize the penalties that you could face. Whether you’re facing charges for reckless driving or vehicular homicide or you have a few speeding tickets on your record that could make a new one a big issue, you deserve to know all your rights and to be prepared to defend yourself.
You have the choice of working with an attorney
You have the time to select an attorney before responding to a speeding ticket or trying to defend yourself against another traffic-related charge. It’s a good idea to learn more about your rights before you go to court, so you have the best chance of turning this negative situation into a positive outcome.