When you’ve been issued a speeding ticket in Fresno County, CA, you need legal advice you can trust.
Many will say it’s pointless to fight it, the state always wins, and it will only cost you more to hire an attorney. That’s not always true. In fact, your odds of winning are greatly enhanced by hiring a traffic attorney to challenge your speeding ticket in court.
Furthermore, traffic attorneys usually charge a flat fee to represent you in traffic court, don’t require you to be there (most would rather you weren’t), and they could save you hundreds or more than a thousand dollars in increased auto insurance premiums.
The typical savings for a CA driver is $700 per year in increased auto insurance, based on the average premium of $2,190 per year. The lost good driver’s discount is $438, and the increased risk after a speeding ticket conviction (less than 100 mph) is another $262.80 per year.
What Are What Are our Options with a CA Speeding Ticket?
When you get a speeding ticket, you typically have four choices:
- Ignore the speeding ticket (this is not wise because it will only trigger a bench warrant from the traffic court judge, you could be found guilty in absentia, fined, and an administrative fee of $300 added to the fine if you don’t pay before a date determined by the court, plus, you could receive another violation for a misdemeanor charge of failure to appear (FTA) that carries a possible $1,000 penalty and jail time.
- Plead guilty, pay the fine, and accept Traffic Violator’s School (TVS) before your court date. TVS is not always the wise decision, and not all speeding tickets are eligible for TVS. You should consider discussing TVS with a traffic attorney before making your decision.
- Plead not guilty at your arraignment and represent yourself. Another less than optimal choice because you do not have the legal training and experience in the local courts to give yourself the best shot at beating the ticket.
- Hire a traffic ticket attorney to challenge the speeding ticket in court.
Consulting a traffic attorney is by far the best option because they have the legal expertise to determine your chances of winning a dispute in court, whether you are eligible for TVS, and if not, request a traffic court judge’s approval when you are not eligible, and it makes sense to attend. Remember, they sit through hundreds of trials like yours and can use that information to save you money.
Usually, if you can avoid the DMV assessing NOTS points, either through a reduced no-point agreement with the court or attendance at TVS, you can save hundreds or thousands of dollars in increased auto insurance premiums.
The Real Cost of a Speeding Ticket
When you look at some websites online, they’ll list the base fine for speeding based on the mph over the posted speed limit or safe speed based on conditions such as weather, visibility, traffic, school zones, construction, and others. The base fines are:
- 1 to 15 mph over is $35.
- 16 to 24 mph over is $70.
- Twenty-five or more mph over up to 99 mph is $100.
- Speeding more than 100 mph typically is $200 to $500.
The CA legislature and the Governor have approved ten separate surcharges, penalties, and assessments for court construction, night court, DNA ID, EMS training and certification, and others that could make the total amount of actual fine:
- 1 to 15 mph over about $238.
- 16 to 24 mph over about $360.
- Twenty-five or more mph over up to 100 mph, about $490.
- Speeding more than 100 mph between $900 and $2,500.
Despite what seems like an exorbitant amount for a speeding ticket fine, those are merely the “tip of the iceberg.”
If you are convicted, and without legal representation, you most likely will be, the DMV will assess one or two (for 100+ mph over) negligent operator treatment system (NOTS) points. At renewal, your insurance provider will discover your conviction or paid fine, pull your “good driver’s discount” of 20%, and add the risk associated with your speeding ticket.
Speeding 25 or more mph over needs a judge’s approval for TVS, and speeding 100+ mph is not eligible for TVS but has a mandatory court appearance, which you’d be wise to hire a traffic attorney to challenge your speeding ticket in court.
It is a major infraction, and a conviction could cost up to $13000 or more in increased premiums during the seven+ years the conviction would linger on your motor vehicle driving record (MVR).
Consult the Bakersfield Speeding Ticket Attorneys, Bigger & Harman, to Challenge Your Fresno County Ticket
Call Bigger & Harman, APC, at (661) 349-9300, use the online contact form, or email for a one-time free consultation about your speeding ticket in Fresno County.
Se habla Español (661) 349-9755.
“Awesome attorney! Definitely shows results! One ticket dismissed another reduced to non-point violation ... and I still got to keep my traffic school. ...” Bigger & Harman client.
Email: attorney@biggerharmanlaw.com.
References:
The 2021 CA Driver Handbook English y Español.
The Bankrate article, Average cost of car insurance in California for 2022.