Do I Need a Speeding Ticket Attorney?
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A California police officer has given you a speeding ticket. Tough luck, but California is infamously known as the traffic ticket capital of the United States. Paying for a speeding ticket is always a burden; is there a way to avoid it? Speeding ticket attorneys are a possibility—let’s examine what they do, how much they cost, and additional methods to fight your ticket.
Traffic ticket attorneys usually deal with speeding tickets—the most common traffic infraction. They are required to have proficient knowledge in the CA vehicle code. This includes understanding speeding violations, sign violations, and much more. For example, CA VC 22350 states that “no person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.” It is a speeding ticket attorney’s job to analyze all aspects of this legal jargon, in order to turn it against the CA DMV and dismiss your speeding ticket.
The main goal of speeding ticket attorneys, is to reduce infraction fines, negotiate alternatives, and hopefully relinquish the speeding ticket altogether. Traffic ticket attorneys use various ways of analyzing your unique citation situation, and make a case based on your circumstances. That being said, some speeding tickets are merely unbeatable using even an experienced attorney. That brings up the question, are speeding ticket attorneys worth the financial costs?
Simply put, it depends. You must take into account all cost amounts. This includes ticket cost, attorney fee cost, and the context of the situation. It is helpful to measure and weigh the risks. Are the high attorney fees worth the chance of dismissing your speeding ticket? Commonly, the answer is no. Retainer fees are increasing in price day by day. And then if they dismiss your ticket, most lawyers will ask for further compensation.
Consider this scenario: You get a $150 CA speeding ticket. You look up attorneys, and find the lowest attorney fee to be $200. There’s no point in hiring a speeding ticket attorney then, right? Not so fast. Most traffic tickets financially penalize you long after the initial citation fine. Insurance rates can be devastated by a single speeding ticket. License suspension is also a possibility. This is done through a DMV point being added to your driving record if you incur a speeding ticket. If you are cited for going way over the speed limit, 2 points could potentially be added. Accumulating multiple points over time will lead to your CA driver’s license being suspended. A tough feature of hiring a speeding ticket attorney is that there is no way of knowing whether or not your infraction will be dismissed. Imagine paying an attorney to fight your ticket, but he loses the legal battle. Then, you would have to pay for the ticket, attorney fees, and insurance hikes—don’t forget your driver’s license would be that much closer to a suspension. Not fancying hiring an attorney anymore? Let’s look at a different dismissal method.
California Vehicle Code 40902 comes to the rescue. According to this legislature, you are able to contest your ticket through a Trial by Written Declaration. This method allows you to avoid attending a court hearing completely. How is this done? Ticket dismissal services can assist you in writing your Trial by Written Declaration. All necessary paperwork and forms are handled by the service. After answering questions about the speeding (or other citation type) incident, the dismissal service will create a defense in an attempt to clear your driving record. After the defense is prepared, you must personally mail it in—California courts do not permit dismissal services to mail defenses in. Overall, it is usually a wiser decision to use a ticket dismissal service rather than going through the complicated and expensive motions of hiring a speeding ticket attorney.
California speeding tickets are at the high end of the spectrum, regarding nationwide ticket costs. If you find yourself with a speeding infraction, (or any other traffic citation) be sure to look out for any breaches of traffic patrol policy. These instances can make a massive difference in the process of dismissing your traffic ticket. A ticket fighting service can help you avoid citation penalties, negating the harmful DMV points in the process. Find out how GetDismissed can assist you, and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.
*If you don’t have your ticket handy, it’s okay — you can still start the process and just add it later!
*Be sure to quickly add as many notes about the stop as you can so you don’t leave out any important details!
*We will send you a completed packet for the court that just needs your signature and a stamp!
GetDismissed produces results in fighting all kinds of tickets. Unfortunately, this list does not include exhibition of speed citations. Your best bet in fighting one of these infractions, is to contact an attorney. An attorney can negotiate on your behalf to try and reduce fines, or even to reduce the charges to a lesser infraction which could possibly qualify for traffic school.
We do however, contest infractions revolving around speeding, red lights, red light cameras, cell phones, signs (primarily stop signs), carpool violations, U-turns, out of lane violations, and commercial violations. If you receive a citation and have questions, contact us today.