It can be scary to see flashing red and blue lights pulling up behind you, hearing the bullhorn telling you to pull over. You feel as though you’ve done nothing wrong, but police presence can make any person’s palm sweat. Like it or not, the outcome of a stop like this is often a traffic ticket. Traffic tickets can directly affect you in many ways. Sometimes, it is best to fight a traffic ticket. If you decide to fight a traffic ticket, you will need the help of a Tahlequah traffic ticket lawyer.
The Financial Costs
Traffic tickets, especially traffic tickets involving moving violations, always involve a fine. Depending on the violation, a fine can run upward of $100.
Tickets can also add points against your license, which can accumulate over time. If you accumulate 10 or more points in a five-year period, your driver’s license will be suspended by the Oklahoma Department of Motor Vehicles.
Finally, traffic tickets often result in higher car insurance premiums. Do you really want to have to pay higher insurance rates for months or years?
None of these outcomes are pleasant. It can be tempting to move on and just pay the fine involved. However, if you’ve already had a number of traffic tickets, already pay high insurance rates, or earn your living driving, there are good reasons to fight a traffic ticket.
Oklahoma’s Point System
When trying to decide whether to handle the matter on your own or hire a Tahlequah attorney, it may be helpful to review Oklahoma’s point system for driver’s license infractions.
Oklahoma tracks moving violations and accidents as part of a driver’s record. The point system is used to determine at what point a driver’s privilege will be suspended.
The first time a driver gets 10 or more points, the license is suspended for a month.
A second suspension can last longer, up to three months.
A third suspension will last even longer than that, a year or more.
Points are added for each infraction and accident. Over time, they will drop off.
For every 12 months of driving without a violation or accident, two points are subtracted from the driver’s record. After three consecutive years of driving with no convictions, the total reverts to zero.
Traffic school can also be used to reduce points on a license. You can remove two points with a driver’s education course once every two years.
How A Tahlequah Traffic Ticket Lawyer Can Help
It is almost always worth your while to fight a traffic ticket. Sometimes, the fine is reduced or the judge will dismiss the traffic ticket. This often happens when the officer who issued the citation does not appear at the hearing.
There are other situations in which it is wise to appear and contest a traffic ticket. This is especially true if the citation will affect your driving record. The question then becomes whether you should handle the matter on your own or whether you should hire an attorney.
When you fight a ticket on your own, you do so with limited knowledge and experience. You may not know enough about the radar systems being used to track your speed, if it’s a speeding ticket you are looking at.
Often, there are other defenses that are available to you based upon problematic equipment or other issues that may not be known to the general public. Attorneys know the law and the problems with the equipment often used by traffic police.
Additional Considerations
Other times, it may be possible for an attorney to have a matter dismissed based upon that attorney’s knowledge of the law. This may happen when the law at issue exceeds the authority provided in Oklahoma’s state law in general, for example.
Finally, when a person is being represented by an attorney, prosecutors will often work out a plea agreement that might not be available to a person handling the matter on their own.
It can be tempting to represent yourself in court on a traffic ticket. Certainly, you will have to spend money to hire an attorney. However, that money may be well spent. Before you handle the matter on your own, call an experienced Tahlequah traffic ticket lawyer and see what your options are.
A traffic ticket attorney can examine your citation and explore your options with you. Prosecutors may be willing to reduce the citation to a no-points offense. Or, your attorney may find an opportunity to have the charge overturned in court.
Low-cost Initial Consultation: Tahlequah Traffic Ticket Lawyer
For a low-cost consultation with a Tahlequah attorney, call Wirth Law Office – Tahlequah at 918-458-2677 or toll free at 1-888-447-7262.
Or, if you prefer e-mail, you may enter a legal question in the form at the top right of this page and we’ll contact you by e-mail as soon as possible.
