You’re having a wonderful time in dreamland when suddenly you’re jerked awake. You realize you’ve slept through your alarm again.
We’ve all been there, and we all know what happens next. You bolt out of bed, throw on whatever clothes lying around, run out of the door, and speed to work.
That’s when the last thing you need is exactly what happens — you get pulled over. You’re probably lamenting “why me?” while the officer is writing your speeding ticket.
Of course, your run-in with the law is not over yet. Now you need to decide the best way to handle your punishment. To hire a speeding ticket attorney or not to hire a speeding ticket attorney, that is the question.
Before you choose, check out these five benefits you can reap from hiring a little extra help.
1. Learn From Your Speeding Ticket Attorney
You’ll get the chance to work with someone who’s done this countless times. That means the next time you find yourself in this predicament, you’ll be able to handle it better.
You can take this opportunity to ask your speeding ticket attorney about the traffic codes in your area. You can learn about things like challenging the officer’s observations, subjective conclusions, “mistake of fact” conduct, “legally justified” conduct, and conduct to avoid harm.
Who knows, maybe after you’ve asked all the right questions you can pull an Erin Brockovich and become your own speeding ticket attorney. This is how you turn lemons into lemonade.
First, however, you’ll need to work side-by-side with a practiced speeding ticket attorney who knows the ins and outs of the traffic court system.
2. Increase Your Chance of Success
Most likely, your speeding ticket attorney is familiar with the police officers and judges involved in your case. They’re certainly more than you are.
When a person gets pulled over, they usually resort to storytelling to defend their actions. While that may play to the sympathies of some police officers, it’s less likely to work with judges. They don’t want to hear a narrative, they want sound, logical, and legal argument.
Do you know about the common issues law enforcement officers have with their speed tracking devices? Probably not, but a qualified traffic attorney does.
Working with a professional who has experience will increase your chances of winning your case. It can be hard to prove most of the situations you’ll need to defend yourself, but a lawyer will have used those same defenses in tons of cases.
3. Reduce Your Penalty
Are you facing steep fines? Your lawyer may be able to have the judge reduce them, or even eliminate them altogether.
Palm Beach County officers alone issue 10 percent of the entire state’s speeding tickets. Do you know how much money these residents could save if they attempted to fight their tickets?
In Florida, one speeding ticket can cost you anywhere from $129 to whatever the judge decides. Hopefully, your interests are being adequately addressed in court — something that will require you to hire a professional traffic lawyer.
There’s no better feeling than winning your case, being declared not guilty, and having all penalties against you dropped.
This is especially true if you were allegedly speeding at more than 30 miles per hour over the limit or speeding in a school zone. Some violations can even lead to civil penalties of $1000.
4. Reduce Your Points
The word “points” often means something good, unless we’re talking about your driving record.
Most citizens don’t think of it this way, but paying your fine is the same as telling the government, “I’m guilty.” Your admission of guilt often means you will incur points on your license.
Those points lead to real consequences.
If you’re facing points on your license, you can forget about the fine because those points could raise your car insurance rates, costing you far more than a one-time fee.
In fact, receiving just one speeding ticket can raise your insurance rates by anywhere from 11 to 15 percent.
Why admit guilt when you have every right to fight? Especially when that fight means you can save more than a couple bucks. Actually, that fight can save you hundreds of dollars a year.
You don’t need to watch a cheesy car insurance commercial to figure out the money you’ll save winning your speeding ticket case.
5. Reduce Your Risk
Forget about your car insurance rate if those points will push you into license suspension. Your bank account will look far worse once you can’t make it to work anymore.
It’s not fun to feel trapped. but without a license, you’re not going anywhere.
License suspension is unpleasant to think about, but it’s a reality many drivers face when they accumulate points.
Not only will you have to go through the turmoil of losing your license, but then you’ll have to go through the hassle of getting it back. It’s much easier to hire a speeding ticket attorney and avoid this entire situation outright.
In this scenario, not hiring a lawyer for your speeding ticket can mean you’ll be hiring one to reinstate your license later. Obviously, this will cost you even more.
Don’t forget that it’s not just points that can lead to license suspension, but also faulty memory. If you’ve got a lot going on and forget about that fine, you can be facing an even bigger mess later on.
Check Out Your Resources
The clock is ticking for your ticket, but it only takes a few moments to reach out to a speeding ticket attorney.
Florida Traffic Firm represents a huge region of Florida drivers, everywhere from Tampa to Miami.
You don’t have to be forced into paying a fine and getting slapped with points on your license if you have a seasoned traffic lawyer in your corner.