Always fight your traffic ticket.  The ramifications of just paying it are far too great.  I had a client come in to see me because he had received an order of suspension, and he just didn’t understand why.  He told me that he had paid all of his traffic tickets in a timely manner, and like most people who just pay traffic tickets, he thought he was being a responsible citizen.  Many people do so thinking that it will keep them from getting late fees or a suspension.

Unfortunately, if you get several Miami-Dade traffic tickets and just pay them, there is a cumulative effect.  The fines are just the tip of the iceberg.  The issues that can arise range from points being assessed against your license, hikes in your insurance rates, or even, like my client, suspension of your driver’s license for up to five years.  Just because you don’t go to court, doesn’t mean that you are not viewed as a habitual traffic offender by the court system.  I have seen it happen a lot.  You forget to pay a ticket so your license gets suspended and you may not even know it if you simply forgot about the ticket.  You get pulled over for a traffic violation and when he runs your driver’s license, that’s when you find out about your license suspension.  It’s a double whammy.  You get a traffic ticket for whatever the cop pulled you over for and another ticket for driving on a suspended license.  You, being the responsible citizen that you are, pay both tickets so you can get your license reinstated.

If you are not well acquainted with a courtroom setting, it can be a daunting experience, so much so that you may feel pressured to plead either guilty or no contest.  If you go to court to fight your traffic tickets(s), the Florida Supreme Court mandates that the judge must tell you that pleading guilty or no contest could end up in an immediate license suspension or revocation.  Do this three times in five years and you are considered a habitual traffic offender and will face an automatic revocation of your license for five years.

FIVE years…that’s a long time to have to rely on public transportation which in South Florida is insufficient and the buses that we do have are awful.  They don’t adhere to schedules very well and sometimes don’t show up at all.  Sure you can buy a bicycle, but between the South Florida sun, the afternoon rainstorms, and the traffic in Miami-Dade, you really are taking your life into your own hands.  It won’t take very long before trying to bum rides everywhere gets taxing.  Hey wait!  You could always take a taxi, but think about how much that will cost you over the course of five years.  A traffic ticket attorney is a LOT less expensive!

Don’t allow yourself to be deprived of what most of us consider a personal freedom – the ability to drive.  I certainly encourage you to fight your traffic ticket, but keep in mind that an experienced traffic ticket attorney will never plead no contest or guilty on your behalf.  We also are in our element in Miami-Dade traffic court, so we know how to work within the system and are not intimidated by judges who preside there or the police officers who write the tickets.  Give the Traffic Ticket Team a call at 954-967-9888 for a free consultation.  We will be happy to try to help keep you mobile in Miami-Dade.