Many would not consider hiring a traffic attorney as a method to save money to resolve a traffic ticket. That is evidenced by the fact that only about five to ten percent of drivers who get a ticket challenge it in court with a traffic attorney.
Saving Money by Hiring a Traffic Attorney
Quite likely, most drivers consider that hiring an attorney would cost more than the fine for the traffic ticket. Whereas that line of thinking is correct in many cases, the fine is only around 25 percent of the total expense from a traffic ticket conviction or paid fine. They hear the horror stories from divorce or custody cases costing $300 to $500 per hour for a knowledgeable attorney or the criminal lawyer that requires an expensive retainer.
Typically, a knowledgeable and experienced CA traffic attorney uses a flat fee to resolve a traffic ticket.
What many neglect to consider is the resultant rise in auto insurance premiums that will last as long as the conviction remains on their motor vehicle driving (MVR) record. For a minor infraction, which is three years, which adds approximately $1,000 to how much a conviction without a traffic attorney would cost. When you add in the fine, it will cost about $1,200 for a minor infraction. Most traffic attorneys won’t charge anywhere near that much to resolve your ticket in traffic court.
Saving Time & Trouble by Hiring a Traffic Attorney
If you have a mandatory court appearance or decide to represent yourself in traffic court, you could miss one or two days of work or school. When you go to traffic court for an arraignment, you must be there before the court session begins in the morning, and you could wait until late afternoon before your name is called.
When you intend to plead not guilty, you might have to come back to present your case on another day. What’s more, in the case of a speeding ticket, for instance, you might have trouble finding out how to request or subpoena the radar or lidar device’s calibration record or the law enforcement officer’s (LEO’s) training records on the device used to measure your speed.
Similarly, you might not be familiar with the elements the state must prove to find you guilty of the violation they cited you for. Let’s look at a basic speeding ticket, for example. CA Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 22350, Speed Laws states, “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.”
You must first keep in mind that the state has “the burden of proof.” Yes, even in traffic court, you are “innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” even though there is no jury. Many believe the traffic court judge will take the word of the LEO over the driver. And often that is true. But the judge is legally obligated to dismiss if there is a reasonable doubt.
For the state to prove you were guilty of speeding under this section of traffic code, they must prove that your speed was “greater than” what was “reasonable or prudent” given the “weather, visibility and traffic.”Raising a “reasonable doubt” could be as easy as pointing out that it was a clear day with light traffic.
However, you must know the traffic code section, technicalities and the legal wording required to get a dismissal or reduced charge. Good traffic attorneys spend long hours per week in traffic court. Plus, many more hours writing legal justifications for a request for dismissal or a reduced charge.
In many cases, a no-point conviction for a minor infraction could save you nearly $1,000, even when you have to pay the fine because there are no NOTS points that would justify an increase in your auto insurance premium. You must look at the total package, not just the fine.
Consulting a traffic attorney could save you money, time and trouble.
Call the Traffic Attorneys Bigger & Harman, APC to Save Money, Time and Trouble
Call Bigger & Harman, APC at (661) 349-9300 when you have a traffic ticket from I-5, SR-99, or other roadways in Fresno County, CA. We represent clients using a flat fee that doesn’t change regardless of the number of court appearances we must make. You will never get a surprise fee from us.
Se habla Español (661) 349-9755.
Email: attorney@biggerharmanlaw.com.
References:
The 2021 CA Driver Handbook English y Español
CVC Section 22350, Speed Laws