Paying a traffic ticket often seems like the best solution. It is faster than trying to defend against the citation by going to court. It may seem like the simplest and therefore most efficient option.
However, paying a ticket and trigger more consequences than drivers may initially realize. What many people fail to understand about paying a citation is that they have effectively pleaded guilty to the claim against them by doing so.
Admitting guilt leads to consequences
Paying a traffic ticket means accepting the accusation made by the police officer and paying the fine as the penalty imposed for breaking the law. Depending on a driver’s circumstances, paying a ticket and admitting that a traffic violation occurred could have many serious consequences.
For those who have commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), tickets issued while they are in their own vehicles could affect their ability to continue driving professionally. For those who have prior citations in recent months, another traffic ticket could be enough to cost them their driver’s license.
Citations are also indicative of illegal or unsafe behavior in traffic, which can provide insurance companies with justification to increase a driver’s rates significantly. An attorney can help a driver challenge the citation on technical grounds or provide an explanation for behavior that seemed inappropriate to the police officer who issued the ticket.
Anyone facing a traffic ticket has the right to defend against that citation, just like those accused of a crime can prove their innocence in court. Reviewing a ticket and other relevant concerns with a ticket defense lawyer could help people avoid the worst case scenario in which a citation causes professional setbacks, the loss of driving privileges and/or drastic insurance rate hikes.
