TRAFFIC TICKETS

You can receive  a traffic ticket for speeding, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, or other traffic violations. There is usually a minimum and maximum fine for a traffic violation. The court has discretion when setting the fine within the statutory range. A traffic attorney in upstate New York area can help a driver try to avoid a fine or urge the judge to issue a lenient fine.

Once a traffic ticket is issued, you will likely appear in court for the first time. You can plead guilty or not guilty by completing a waiver on the traffic ticket. If you plead guilty, you have waived an attorney and trial, but this is generally not wise unless the charge is very minor and straightforward. When you plead guilty by mail, a fine and surcharge will be assessed, and if you do not pay them, your driver’s license can be suspended.  If you plead not guilty, a trial will be scheduled.

DRIVING WITH A SUSPENDED LICENSE

One of the most common traffic violations that a traffic ticket attorney handles involves driving with a suspended license. In New York, driving with a suspended license is called aggravated unlicensed operation. First-degree aggravated unlicensed operation is the most serious form of this offense. It can be charged if you operate a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs while having a prior second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation offense. It also can be charged if you committed this offense while 10 or more suspensions had been imposed on 10 different dates for failure to appear, pay a fine, or answer. It also can be charged if you perpetrated the offense while your license was permanently revoked due to three DWI convictions, two DWI convictions resulting in death or serious injury, or three refusals to take a chemical test. First-degree AUO is a felony, for which you can be fined $1,000-$5,000 and for which you can spend up to four years in prison. 

Jim Hughes is an experienced traffic attorney and former New York State Trooper who spent many years patrolling roads and highways in upstate New York. His background and firsthand knowledge of how police officers think, as well as his years as a City Court judge, provide him with a unique advantage in his defense of a motorist.