Traffic Cases

Why should I hire an attorney to deal with my ticket?  Shouldn’t I just pay the fine and/or take traffic school?

There are several reasons why you might be better hiring an experienced traffic to handle your ticket. First, traffic school might not be available to you. Generally, if you’ve taken traffic school within the last eighteen (18) months, the court won’t let you take traffic school to avoid the point on your driver’s license. Yes, there is a twelve (12) hour level II traffic school that the court, within its discretion may let you take if you can’t qualify for regular traffic school. But this option is completely up to the discretion of the traffic commissioner. So you can’t assume you will be able to use this option.

Second, if you have a commercial driver’s license, you cannot take traffic school.

Third, if you’ve been charged with driving over 100 mph, you cannot take traffic school for this offense.

Fourth, if you just pay the fine and can’t qualify for traffic school, your auto insurance WILL go up and you will pay an increased premium for at least the next three (3) years.

Last, you may want to save your traffic school option for when you really need it. I’ve found that for many of my clients, when they get one traffic ticket, they usually get another one within the next six months.

Sometimes it’s good to have that ace up your sleeve for the traffic violation that may not be defendable at trial.

Should I go directly to traffic trial or use the trial by declaration option?

Trial by declaration is a great option for many cases. If you choose this route, you file a declaration stating your defense and whatever facts you may choose to allege. If the officer doesn’t file a response, you win. If the officer does submit a response and the court rules against you, you have the right to a trial de novo, so long as you file the request for a de novo trial within twenty (20) days after the entry of the court’s order. In other words, trial by declaration allows you to get two bites at the apple if you don’t like the result from the first decision by declaration.

Keep in mind that to use the trial by declaration option you will be required to post the entire bond with the court; if you win the entire amount will be refunded to you. If you lose, that bond will be used to satisfy whatever fines are imposed.

Also, you should keep in mind that in a traffic case, just as in a regular criminal case, you have a right against self-incrimination and also that the government must prove its case against you with proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, you may want to consult with an attorney to determine what facts, if any, you should include in your declaration and what defense you should include.

My tickets are in collections and the court clerk told me I cannot get a court date. Is that true?

It depends. It is generally true that if you failed to appear or handle your ticket that the court probably conducted a trial by declaration in your absence and essentially entered a default judgment against you. If you were prevented from handling your case due to being out of the country, or being in the military or being seriously ill, you may be able to petition the court to have your case retrieved from collections and get a court date. If you cannot prove one of these circumstances there may be other ways to retrieve the case from collections.

What is the speed trap defense?

A speed trap in California is not a cop hiding behind a large billboard on his motorcycle waiting to catch speeders. A speed trap as defined by the California Vehicle Code is a section of road with what is called a prima facie speed limit which is enforced by radar or lidar and which speed limit is not justified by a traffic and engineering survey. In such a situation if the officer cannot produce an admissible copy of a traffic survey which justified the posted speed limit, the officer will not be allowed to testify or introduce any radar of lidar evidence to prove his case. In short, you will win.

The speed trap defense is always applicable when you are charged with violating California’s basic speed law (VC 22350) on a road with a posted speed limit of less than 55 mph.

I have been charged with VC 22349(a) (violating maximum speed). Can I use the speed trap defense?

That depends. Many times if an officer catches you exceeding 55 or 65 on a city street he or she will write up the ticket as a VC 22349 violation instead of a VC22350 basic speed law violation. The officer who does this is thinking that there’s a better chance of having the ticket upheld because the speed trap defense is not available for VC22349 violations. While that may be true if you were caught driving on a highway with a 55 or 65 mph speed limit, it is not necessarily true where you are charged with a VC 22349 while driving on a street with a posted speed limit of less than 55 mph.

I have been charged with a camera violation and it clearly shows me as the driver. Shouldn’t I just pay the fine?

Not necessarily. Remember, as a defendant in a traffic case, you still have most of the same constitutional and procedural rights as a regular criminal defendant (with the exception of a right to trial by jury). The government still has to prove its case by admissible evidence. Also, there are various specific defenses available in these camera violations that you may with to first consider before simply pleading guilty.

I’ve had a trial in traffic court and lost. What are my options?

You have a right to an appeal. If you don’t get justice in the first court, sometimes you can get a better result in the court of appeals. Keep in mind, however, that the appeals court is not a second trial: you will be limited to the record you preserved in the trial court and can only get a reversal if you can show a legal error that prejudiced your case or if you can show that there was insufficient evidence to legally support the conviction.