There are differences between traffic tickets. Determining the type of ticket you have is important when evaluating your situation.
Sometimes if your ticket is not a serious one that gets reported to your auto insurance company, you may be better off just paying the fine and not challenging it in court.
The two main types of traffic tickets are either moving or non moving violations. Non moving violations usually involve smaller fines and can be a parking ticket or some kind of fix it ticket.
These can be a nuisance but at least they wont go on your driving history or be reported to your auto insurance.
Non moving violations can be things such as not wearing your seatbelt, a broken headlight or improperly parking your vehicle.
These types of violations are usually better dealt with by just paying the fine. Taking the matter to court is more of a hassle on your part because the fine being imposed is normally not more than $50. The amount of time, energy and cost involved in contesting the charged violation is not worth it. Besides, these types of tickets are very hard to beat in court. I mean, either you parked illegally or you didn’t.
But if you felt the ticket was given unjustly, you should always attempt to resolve it in some way. For example a broken head light ticket will usually be tossed if you show proof you fixed it.
A moving violation on the other hand, is any violation of the law, committed by the driver of a vehicle, while it is in motion. The term “motion” distinguishes it from ‘non-moving’ violations. While parking tickets are charged against a vehicle (which will be towed if violations go unpaid or are frequent), moving violations are charged against the person driving. Moving violations are usually classified as infractions or misdemeanors, but serious violations can be considered felonies.
Moving violations normally involve the payment of fines, and also having points assessed against the driving record of the driver. As points are accumulated more severe punishment can be ordered such as having to take defensive driving courses up to having your drivers license suspended.
In the US fines are in set amounts that can vary from $50 or so, up to and even surpassing $750 in some instances. In other countries traffic violation fines can be set proportional to the individuals income, and judgments of $100,000 or more aren’t unheard of!
Common moving violations include: speeding (by far the most common violation) , running a stop sign or red traffic light, failure to yield to someone with the right of way, failing to maintain a single lane, not stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, crossing the gore (striped area), failure to secure a load to a truck, driving in a car pool lane illegally, or driving too slow for road conditions, particularly in a left-hand lane
More serious moving violations include: racing on a public street, road rage, drunk driving, and vehicular homicide
Also, traffic violations can either be criminal or civil. They both come with fines and points on your record, but a criminal violation is the only one that can get you jail time.
Sentences imposed in criminal cases are obligations owed to the state for violation of their laws. The term state can be applied to cities, towns, state or federal governments or any other kind of municipality. Obviously these are the moving violations you need to avoid at all costs.
Want to find out more about moving violations? Then visit Steven Swihart’s site on how to choose the best traffic defense for your individual needs.
Tags: auto insurance, automobile insurance, driving, family, law, law enforcement, speeding tickets