There are two broad categories of traffic tickets. Knowing which you have is important when determining what to do in your situation.
A lot of times when you have a minor violation and it wont result in any points on your license its best to go ahead and pay it and avoid trying to challenge it in traffic court.
Traffic violations come under two main headings. They can either be moving violations or non moving violations. They usually involve smaller fines and can be something as simple as a parking or headlight ticket.
These can be a nuisance but at least they wont go on your driving history or be reported to your auto insurance.
Non moving violations can be things such as not wearing your seatbelt, a broken headlight or improperly parking your vehicle.
In most cases these should just be paid. It can be a big hassle to go to traffic court for these kinds of violations. The reason is the fines for these are usually no more than $50 or so, and you could end up being in traffic court for hours. Not worth it in my judgment.
But if you felt the ticket was given unjustly, you should always attempt to resolve it in some way. For example a broken head light ticket will usually be tossed if you show proof you fixed it.
Moving violations are a violation of the law committed while the vehicle is in motion, and this term ‘motion’ distinguishes it from a non moving violation. While most moving violations are considered misdemeanors or infractions, more serious violations can be felonies.
In most places, moving violations involve fines which must be paid as well as punitive points assessed to the license of the driver. As a driver accumulates points, he or she may be required to attend defensive driving lessons, re-take his or her driving test or even surrender his or her license.
Here in the United States, citation fines are nominal dollar amounts, usually between $50 and $500. In some countries, however, they are proportional to the violator’s income and fines in excess of $100,000 can be assessed to wealthy individuals.
More common moving violations can include speeding (THE most common), failure to secure a load, failure to yield right of way, violating high occupancy vehicle lanes, or not stopping for a pedestrian.
Some of the more serious types of moving violations can include racing, driving under the influence, and vehicular homicide.
A traffic violation can also be civil or criminal in nature. They both carry points and fines, but only a criminal charge can wind you up in jail. The sentence in a criminal case can result in an order to pay a fine, a sentence of probation or time in a jail.
The sentence imposed in a criminal case is an obligation that a person has towards the “state” for violation of law; that is, it is a punishment for the act that was committed. The ’state’ could be a local township, municipality, city, county, state or the federal government. These are moving violations to avoid at all costs, obviously.
Learn more about different moving violations. Stop by Steven Swihart’s site where you can find out all about fighting traffic tickets for your individual needs.
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