Hiring an attorney to help you deal with a minor traffic ticket may seem like overkill, but depending on the type of ticket and its ramifications, it may be the best approach. Each ticket that you pay without attempting to negotiate is a step toward losing your license. Many people don’t realize that paying a ticket is the same thing as pleading guilty. Each time you do it, points are added to your license. In New York, if you accumulate 11 or more points in an 18-month period your license could be suspended. Keep in mind that each ticket is more than one point, so three small citations or two large ones in an 18-month period is all that is needed to push you over the 11 point threshold.
Accumulating points also signals to your insurance company that insuring you is risky, so it will likely increase your rates. It can take years of perfect driving with no claims made for your insurance rate to go back down to what it was prior to point accumulation.
Maintaining your license and keeping your insurance costs down is worth far more than the reasonable fee we charge clients to represent them. We help our clients fight all sorts of traffic-related offenses, including:
- Speeding;
- Red light camera;
- Distracted driving
- Caught using a cell phone or other electronic device;
- Texting while driving;
- Following too closely;
- Driving while license suspended;
- Driving while intoxicated/ driving under the influence;
- Failure to yield;
- Leaving the scene of an accident;
- Reckless driving;
- Broken headlight; and/or
- Failure to use a turn signal.
For most (but not all) cases, hiring us to represent you means you don’t have to show up in court. We appear on your behalf and update you on the outcome as soon as the case is decided.
It is the state’s responsibility to prove you guilty of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. A lot of people simply pay their fine and get on their way, so oftentimes when someone who wants to fight their ticket comes along, the state would rather negotiate a lower offense or give up the case than put in the effort to rebut a challenge. Other times there is simply not enough evidence available to prove to the court that you are guilty.
TRAFFIC VIOLATION LAWYERS SERVING THE CAPITAL REGION
Having an experienced attorney represent you in traffic court is the best way to defend against accumulating points resulting in the loss of your license or increasing insurance rates. At Ianniello Anderson, P.C. our experienced team of criminal defense attorneys regularly represents drivers in eastern upstate New York, particularly in the Albany, Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs, Troy and Clifton Park areas, who want to fight their traffic tickets. We serve clients from the entire Albany, Amsterdam, Clifton Park, Glens Falls, Schenectady, Saratoga, and Troy metropolitan areas.
