If you have read any article on this blog, then you should know there are many reasons why you should never pay a Florida traffic ticket. You know that traffic ticket attorneys in Florida always tell you that you should fight every ticket that you get. Some people who are armed with that knowledge decide that they do not need to take the next step and hire an experienced attorney to represent them. Instead, they decide to go to court and fight the ticket themselves. What usually happens when people decide to represent themselves in traffic court is that they lose. They are ordered to pay the fine. That would be bad enough, if that is the only thing that happens when you represent yourself. It’s not. When you lose in traffic court, you also have to pay court fees. These are fees that you have to pay the court because the court was kind enough to hear you out before telling you that you have to pay the ticket anyway. These fees can be substantial and the amount that you have to pay is not a fixed cost. The same judge that tells you that you lost your case and have to pay the ticket also has the discretion to tell you how much you have to pay for that information in court fees. There are four factors that generally go into how much you have to pay in court fees

HOW THE JUDGE DECIDES COURT FEES/FINES 

1. How nice you were to the police officer who wrote the ticket. It’s not fair, but if the officer testifies that you mouthed off to him or her, you are guaranteed to pay a higher court fee than you would if you were polite to the officer. Being difficult with the police puts judges in a bad mood.
2. What type of ticket you received. Every Florida traffic ticket has a maximum amount that can be charged in court fees.
3. Your driving record. If you have a lot of tickets on your record you will be ordered to pay more in court fees than someone who has only a few tickets.
4. What judge you get. Some judges are nice and looking to give breaks. Other judges aren’t.

That judges can award different amounts in court fees to different people is not the fairest thing in the judicial system. Fighting one Palm Beach traffic ticket does not necessarily cost the court any more time than fighting another Palm Beach traffic ticket. However, that is the way that the system is designed and it makes court fees a real danger when trying to represent yourself in traffic court. There are other pitfalls as well. Most people try and use defenses that are frankly not defenses. Like, “I was keeping up with traffic.” Or, “I only took off my seat belt for a moment” These are losing arguments. Essentially, you are confessing in open court and will end up paying up for the seat belt ticket fines or speeding ticket fines plus court cost.

If you know that you should fight a traffic ticket in Florida, then you are only half way there. You also need to hire an experienced Florida traffic ticket lawyer to represent you. The lawyer knows how to deal with your ticket in a way that minimizes or even eliminates court fees. Considering that traffic ticket lawyers can also help with not getting points against you driver’s license, not having to go to traffic school, and not having to pay increased auto insurance rates, you should have enough incentive to hire one. When you take court fees into account there is no reason in the world that you should not call our firm for a free consultation whenever you get a traffic ticket in Florida.