Getting a traffic ticket can be a frustrating experience. You may or may not have been aware that you committed an infraction and yet suddenly you are being faced with having to pay or try and get out of your ticket. If you opt to pay your ticket you will be required to plead guilty or no contest to the violation. You will have to pay the set fine, points will be added to your driver's license, you could see an increase in the cost of your car insurance and you may suffer the loss of your driving privileges. Contingent upon the circumstances of your traffic ticket you may also need to strike a plea bargain so as to obtain a reduced charge. In some instances you might be allowed to attend a driver improvement course to avoid having the ticket become part of your official DMV record.
If you do not believe you deserved the ticket and you wish to challenge its validity in court, you will greatly improve your chances of avoiding any penalties and getting the charges against you dismissed if you have a skilled criminal defense lawyer representing your case. Fighting a traffic ticket is not necessary a simple task, but it is usually well worth the effort. Prior to your case being heard in court a lawyer from a lawyer from Hopper Law Firm PLLC will be able to advise you of your options, help you understand the process involved in contesting a traffic ticket, assist you in gathering any evidence that will help prove your case and work with you closely to build an aggressive strategy for your defense. Here are 5 ways in which you and your lawyer may be able to get you out of your traffic ticket:
- We could challenge the arresting officer's subjective conclusion. There are instances when an officer may have made a judgment call deeming your actions at the time to have been unsafe or in violation of the law, when in fact it was simply his or her inaccurate conclusion not fact. If you can prove your actions were rational, safe, and that you violated no laws, you may be able to get out of your traffic ticket.
- If you got a ticket that was issued as a result of an officer's inaccurate observation, we could challenge what the officer perceived as a violation. It could be perhaps that the officer was not in a position to see what really happened. If that is the case, you may be able to provide the judge with witness statements, photos or a diagram of the scene, and other evidence that would bring into question the officer's ability to have made an accurate observation of any traffic infraction from his or her standpoint.
- We may be able to show the judge that your alleged infraction was simply a honest, yet practical mistake of fact. If a tree was blocking a speed limit sign or a no-turn sign to the point that you were unaware it was there, you could fight the ticket by taking pictures and providing them as evidence. The same holds true if you had never driven a particular route before and you came upon an intersection where there were no clearly marked signs to prohibit a u-turn, there is no reasonable expectation that you would have known u-turns were not allowed there.
- If you did make an alleged violation, yet we are able to help you show your actions at the time were legally justified, you may be able to have your ticket dismissed. Slowing down to make a turn is a legally justified reason for driving well below the posted speed limit. Traveling at a high rate of speed due to the fact that your wife is in labor and the hospital is just a few blocks away could be seen as a legally justified reason for exceeding the speed limit. Of course there are all number of reasons for which your actions may have been legally justified and our firm will work diligently to help you provide the necessary evidence to defend your case.
- There are instances which may require a driver to make sudden and abrupt moves so as to avoid causing serious harm to him- or herself, or to another person. For example, if you made a swift lane change without signaling first you may have done so to prevent an accident from taking place. Swerving to evade debris in the road that would have caused serious damage to your vehicle and injury to yourself and your passengers, could be deemed as conduct necessary to avert serious harm or injury.
Although the right to have a driver's license and drive your vehicle is considered to be a privilege here in Raleigh and throughout the state of North Carolina, our firm recognizes that the loss of those driving privileges could have a direct and extremely negative impact on your ability to provide for yourself and your family. At our firm, our clients' needs always come first. We are here to help you protect your interests and we are committed to fighting on your behalf to help you preserve your right to drive. If you need legal assistance to get out of a traffic ticket, contact a Raleigh criminal defense lawyer at our firm now.