Although not criminal offenses, traffic tickets can be a major headache in many ways. Whether for speeding, illegal turns or running a red light, most people would like to find a way out of the ticket, or at least avoid the points and potential problems, including increased car insurance rates and license fees and sanctions that go with them.

The first bit of advice I have is to never simply pay the ticket and “eat” the points. Instead, even if hiring a lawyer is out of the question, there is still a chance that you can get all or some of the points shaved off. There are two methods in place for deciding ticket cases: Formal and Informal Hearings.

In a Formal Hearing, the attorney meets with the Prosecutor prior to any actual court hearing and tries to negotiate a deal. This is sometimes called a “pre trial.” In every ticket case I have ever handled, even for individuals with bad driving records, I have left those negotiations with a better deal than my client would have gotten had they simply paid the ticket and accepted the consequences. In cases where the client’s driving record was clean, or not so bad, at least, I am usually able to negotiate with the Prosecutor and work out a deal which involves my client paying a fine, but getting no points and having no moving violations reported on their driving record.

For those without an attorney, the path is a little harder. Instead of the Formal Hearing, an individual who is not an attorney can only fight the ticket through what’s called an Informal Hearing, which means that there is no “pre-trial” meeting of any kind. Instead, the case is called directly in the Courtroom by the either the Judge of sitting Magistrate, who has all the powers of a Judge for an Informal Hearing. If the officer does not show up, then the case is dismissed. The Judge will swear-in the Police Officer and ask for his or her testimony. Afterwards, the Judge swear-in the person fighting the ticket, called a Defendant, and asks if they have any questions for the Police Officer. At this point, most people simply want to present their side of the case (i.e., The light was still yellow when I passed under it, or I was not driving that fast…) and start explaining their side to the Judge. Sometimes, although not that often, sympathetic Judges will find a person responsible for the infraction, but then ask the Officer if he or she would oppose reducing the charge to a no-point, or less-points violation from what was originally written. If the Officer has already given you any kind of break in the charge they wrote up, (they wrote you up for 80 in a 70 mph zone, but you were doing 84 mph) then this is far less likely to happen.

It really does call upon an attorney’s experience and honesty to properly advise a client as to what he or she thinks will happen in any given case. The most important question in determining how likely all points can be avoided for a ticket is how clean the driver’s record is, or is not. A person with a really poor driving record is simply not given the same kind of breaks that are available to someone with a better record. From my point of view, it doesn’t hurt to ask. I stand by my promise to never sugar-coat the truth; if you have a bad record with 10 points, and you just got ticketed for doing 105 mph in a 55mph zone, and you’re worried about getting more than one point or you’ll lose your license, I’ll tell you to save your money and start looking for rides. If you have no points, or a few points, and a moment of inattentiveness caused you to get ticketed, then I’ll tell you honestly how I can help, and what I think I can do for you.

Let’s face certain facts; if you have a ticket, and it costs $150 to pay it, and perhaps your insurance will go up a bit for the two points you might get, you have to ask yourself if it’s worth spending around $400 for a lawyer. If I can tell you honestly that I can do you some good, I will. If you avoid the points on this first ticket, and a year later, get another ticket, the first points you avoided will be the best money you ever spent, because you can still challenge the new ticket as a driver with no points. On the other hand, if you already have 8 points, and now you are faced with another 2 point offense, I will be equally as honest and tell you I don’t think spending the money to avoid some, or all of those points is worth it.