If you live in Miami Dade or Broward County, there is a situation that you have probably already been in. If not, just wait and someday you will be. The situation is that a police officer has just handed you a traffic citation in Miami. If you drive, it’s unavoidable. You will get a ticket for something. If not for speeding or blowing a stop sign, probably from a Red Light Camera. The big question is what do you do after you get a traffic citation. As a lawyer in Miami for almost 15 years , I can offer some free advice.

BE NICE:

Don’t ever underestimate the power of being nice. You tried to charm your way out of the ticket. Maybe, you even begged and pleaded with the officer to no avail. You know the officer did not have to write you the ticket. He could have have given you a warning instead. Now, you are upset that he wrote the ticket. Your instinct might be to lash out at the officer. Don’t do it. If you get to a hearing and the judge learns that you called the officer a string of epithets, how likely do you think it is that the judge will be impressed? If you lash out at the officer, your chances of getting out of the ticket decrease dramatically. If you have to say anything at all to the officer, just say “Thank you, officer. Have a nice day.” Don’t be sarcastic about it. Say it as sincerely as you can. But, you do not have to say anything. You can just drive away. That is the best option.

DON’T PAT THAT TRAFFIC TICKET …. EVER:

Do not go home and get out your checkbook to send in the fine. Don’t. We say it all the time on this blog. If you do that, you will probably get points on your license, have to go to driving school and face an increase in insurance rates. Paying the ticket is one of the most harmful things that you can do. In some cases it can get your license suspended. You can even become person who has a criminal conviction on his or her record. NEVER pay a ticket without speaking to an experienced traffic ticket lawyer first.

LEARN YOUR OPTIONS:

Since you are not going to just pay the ticket, you need to find out what else you can do and when you need to do it by. You can’t simply throw the ticket away and forget about it. That will get you a suspended driver’s license. Some of the information that you need should be on the ticket itself. The ticket should tell you when you need to go to court. It may even tell you about driving school. We almost always tell our clients not to elect driving school. To see why, click HERE. For your other options, you will want to consult with a professional. You will want to talk to a traffic ticket lawyer in Miami or Broward depending on where you live and got the ticket. Our firm offers free consultations and we will be happy to discuss your options with you in person or on the phone.

FIGHT THE TICKET

After talking to an attorney about your options and what you need to do, it is time to fight the ticket. You can try fighting it on your own. However, you would be much better off employing a traffic ticket lawyer. Let the lawyer assist you to dispose of the ticket. The expertise can help you to get out of the ticket without any points against your license, no driving school and no increased insurance rates. You might not even need to show up in court at all. There are no guarantees, but we have have helped hundreds of thousands of clients to get out of traffic citations in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties without any further consequences. Just give us a call after you get your next unavoidable traffic citation if you want to know how we can do the same for you.