So, there you are, sitting alongside I-5 with a law enforcement officer (LEO) busy writing another trucker traffic ticket for you that you know you will have to fight in traffic court.
You’re a trucker; that’s your livelihood and your life, so you know you cannot pay the fine and keep driving. For one thing, this is not your first. It’s not even your first traffic ticket this year.
One more thing you know is that you will not have to appear in traffic court. It makes better sense to hire a traffic attorney who knows the system in traffic court. What’s more, if you’re not there, the judge can’t ask you if you did it or not if you testify. Self-incrimination is how many guilty verdicts are reached in traffic court.
Why You Should Always Fight a Trucker Traffic Ticket in Traffic Court with the Help of a Traffic Attorney
Actually, there are five solid rationales for fighting a trucker traffic ticket:
- Keep your CDL and Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP) record clean.
- Avoid negligent operator treatment system (NOTS) and Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) severity points.
- LEO might not show up, have the right paperwork, or testify correctly.
- Possible dismissal or reduced charge.
- You increase your options and the chances of keeping your job.
The DOT FMCSA regulation makes it mandatory to inform your employer of any moving violations and traffic convictions regardless of where you received them. Therefore, you face possible termination by the fleet manager if you are a fleet driver.
Any time a driver using their DOT number gets a moving violation, it could increase their fleet insurance premium. Whenever they fire a driver with a moving violation conviction, their fleet insurance premium could go down.
Then, with that mark on your PSP, you will need to find a new position with an employer who must screen the PSP of every driver they hire. The high-paying fleets will not consider you regardless of your previous driving record. You could have a clean driving record for 20 years and get one ticket—that wipes out all those years of driving excellence. Therefore, you’ll have to accept a position with a firm paying much less. It doesn’t seem right.
When your traffic attorney represents you in court and gets a dismissal or reduced no-point conviction, much like a parking ticket, there is no moving violation conviction. You keep your driving record clean, and you are still eligible to apply to the higher-paying firms with a clean PSP.
Trucker Traffic Tickets & NOTS Points
Each conviction leads to a DMV assessment of NOTS points. Speeding, following too close, an unsafe lane change, failure to stop at a stop sign or red light, an illegal U-turn, and many others are infractions that are assessed 1.5 NOTS points for a commercial driver.
Reckless driving, driving without a proper endorsement, speeding 15 or more mph over the 55 mph statewide speed limit for commercial vehicles, and others are misdemeanors that require a DMV assessment of 3 NOTS points.
Once you accumulate four within a year, six within two years, or eight within three years, you could be deemed a negligent operator and face a six-month suspension and 12 months of probation.
However, you could request a DMV NOTS hearing to request additional leeway based on miles driven in a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). If most of your tickets come from driving your private vehicle, you might need a traffic attorney to remove one or more traffic tickets from your record to avoid suspension and probation.
You stand a much better chance of never accumulating that many NOTS points if you fight every traffic ticket. Keep your driving record clean by hiring a traffic attorney every time.
Consult Bigger & Harman in Woodland, CA to Fight Your Trucker Traffic Tickets
When you get cited by LEO for a trucker traffic ticket around Woodland, CA, contact the office of Bigger & Harman (661) 349-9300 or by email.
We use a fixed rate to fight your traffic tickets or represent you at a DMV NOTS hearing. Give us a call to find out how inexpensive our fee can be.
Se habla Español (661) 349-9755.
Email: attorney@biggerharmanlaw.com.
References:
The DMV Portal CA Commercial Driver Handbook Copyright 2022.