Speeding tickets may seem inevitable aggravations in a person’s day-to-day life, especially for commuters and people who drive frequently. Many Central New York drivers eventually have a lapse of judgment or an accidental increase in speed over the speed limit. Most drivers will receive at least one speeding ticket or another similar moving violation during their driving career.
Contact a Central New York Speeding Ticket Attorney
Speeding tickets are relatively common, but when a driver accumulates many of them over a short period, these tickets can transform into major problems. Additionally, speeding tickets involving high speeds carry significant penalties. If you’ve received a speeding ticket in New York, we recommend speaking to the New York Traffic Ticket Lawyers. We can work to beat your speeding ticket or get the penalties decreased. Contact the New York Traffic Ticket Lawyers as soon as possible to schedule your free initial consultation.
Speeding Ticket Penalties in New York
The penalties for speeding in New York are significant. The fines for a speeding ticket can be serious. For a first-time speeding ticket conviction, the fines usually range between $90 and $600. When a person speeds between 1 mph and 10 mph over the speed limit, the ticket will typically cost $45 and $150. When a person speeds between 11 to 30 mph over the posted limit, he or she will face between $90 and $300 in fines. Finally, when a person drives 30+ mph over the limit, he or she will face fines between $180 and $600.
Surcharges and Points for New York Speeding Tickets
In addition to paying a fine, New York automatically imposes an $88 or $93 surcharge. The amount of the fee will depend on the city or town in which the speeding offense occurred. The defendant must pay this surcharge in addition to the fine. The New York Department of Motor Vehicles will also assess points on the driver’s license as follows:
- 3 points for speeding between 1 to 10 mph over the speed limit
- 4 points for speeding 11 to 20 mph over the speed limit
- 6 points for speeding 21 to 30 mph over the speed limit
- 8 points for speeding 31 to 40 mph over the limit
- 11 points for speeding 41 miles per hour or more over the limit
Your driver’s license will be in jeopardy if you have enough points on your driver’s license. Accumulating 11 points or more during 18 months will often result in a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license. Under a new law, the state of New York will keep traffic convictions on your record for up to 25 years. Avoiding points on your license is crucial if you are a New York State driver.
Car Insurance Premium Increases and the Driver Responsibility Assessment Fee
One of the most expensive aspects of speeding tickets involves an increase in your car insurance premiums. The increase will depend on the points assessed on your driving record. Typically, the more points on your driving record, the higher the increase in premiums. However, you could see your insurance rates increase with only one speeding ticket. Many different studies have found that one speeding ticket or another traffic ticket can lead to a 30% increase in the driver’s premium.
Drivers who have six or more points on their license due to violations that happened within an 18-month time frame will be subject to an additional fine. This one is called the driver responsibility assessment fee, and it costs $300. For each point over the 6 point mark, the driver will pay an additional $75. These charges are in addition to the fines and surcharges.
The Benefits of Hiring a Central New York Traffic Attorney
If you’ve gotten a speeding ticket in New York, you may think that your only option is to pay the fine and accept the ticket. Many people make the mistake of writing a check, putting it in the mail, and accepting the points on their driver’s licenses. Doing so isn’t always the smart choice, however. The consequences of a speeding ticket can be more significant than many people realize. If there’s any way to contest a speeding ticket, it’s best to do so with the help of a traffic attorney. A speeding attorney will review your case and help you explore your legal options. An experienced speeding ticket attorney can fight to:
- Protect your driver’s license
- Get your charges completely dismissed
- Reduce or eliminate the points
- Help you keep your insurance premiums from increasing significantly
- Protect your commercial driver’s license (CDL)
- Advocate avoiding jail time, fines, and court costs
Defenses to Speeding Charges
Speeding tickets often involve the word of the law enforcement agent who issued the ticket against the word of the driver. There are many reasons law enforcement officers give traffic tickets to innocent drivers. Perhaps the law enforcement officer wasn’t correctly using the radar gun. The officer may not have had enough justification to pull a driver over for speeding in other cases. There are many different legal defenses to speeding tickets in New York.
A traffic ticket attorney will create a legal defense based on the police officer’s explanation. When you fight a speeding ticket, you’ll have a chance to listen to what the police officer who issued the ticket has to say. Your attorney can cross-examine the law enforcement officer. You and your attorney can work together to frame your legal defense to address what the law enforcement officer says. For example, suppose law enforcement focuses on dangerous weather conditions. In that case, you may want to testify to the excellent weather conditions, such as good visibility, to show that you were driving reasonably under the circumstances.
Discuss Your Speeding Charges with a Central New York Traffic Ticket Lawyer
At the New York Traffic Ticket Lawyers, our traffic ticket attorneys have a proven track record of successfully fighting speeding tickets. After reviewing your case, we will fight your speeding ticket. Working with an attorney increases the likelihood that you’ll have to pay the fines, increase car insurance premiums, and avoid a driver’s license suspension. We will go to court for you. Contact us today to schedule your free initial consultation.
The New York Traffic Ticket Lawyers handle Speeding Tickets throughout Central New York including Albany County, Broome County, Cortland County, Cayuga County, Erie County, Jefferson County, Madison County, Oneida County, Onondaga County, Orange County, Oswego County, Saratoga County, and Warren County.