Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on the NMA Blog in March 2018.
Did you ever feel that you were already considered guilty when you received a traffic ticket even though, under the US Constitution, you are innocent until proven guilty?
This includes any kind of traffic ticket coming from either a law enforcement officer or an automated camera ticket-writing machine. The expectation is that you will just pay for the ticket.
Make no mistake, the courts are intimately entangled in the traffic ticket industry. Traffic tickets are the only significant revenue source, besides taxes, for the court system. Most cities and towns with a police force place the amount expected from traffic tickets as part of their yearly budget. Conflict of interest bleeds through the entire system. This is why traffic ticket defendants are guilty until they prove their innocence, police officer testimony is automatically given more credence than that of ticket recipients, and those same officers are allowed to testify via scripts that have little bearing on reality or facts.
There is a delicate balance of threats, indifference, bribes (plea bargains), “good cop/bad cop” routines, and inconveniences, all designed to discourage traffic ticket defendants from taking their case to court. Keep in mind that there are tens of millions of traffic tickets issues every year.
Even though ticket quotas are illegal in some states, there are stories every week about police departments caught up in some sort of traffic quota scandal. Police officers are frequently reprimanded if they do not produce enough traffic enforcement tickets. Ticket quotas undermine public trust, take away police discretion, and focus on arbitrary numbers rather than public safety. The US Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bases federal highway traffic safety grants on data-driven enforcement and a yearly traffic safety plan for each state.
The average person’s experience with the police is nearly always with a traffic stop, and most of us are nervous about this singular encounter. The expectation is that you have been caught doing something against the law, and the expectation is that you will just take the punishment of paying the fine.
But what if you feel you did not violate the law? The NMA always encourages anyone to FIGHT YOUR TICKET, whether they think they are guilty or not! If just ten percent of all traffic tickets went to trial, the court system would cease to function.
You can fight your speeding ticket with simple math! You can Fight Your Ticket on your own! Stay focused on the basics when you represent yourself in traffic court! There are many good reasons why you should fight your out-of-state speeding ticket!
The average person certainly has little experience challenging “authority,” using the legal system or representing themselves in a courtroom situation. When viewed from the outside, the process can seem stressful and intimidating. To some degree, the “insiders” —judges, clerks, prosecutors, and attorneys—strive to maintain this impression.
Elements of arrogance, annoyance, bureaucratic indifference, and condemnation are not uncommon. The reasons range from inflated egos and job protection to the need to protect the system from being overwhelmed by citizens who realize they are being exploited, cheated, and abused by their own government.
But there are far more practical reasons for fighting your traffic tickets.
Let’s start with the negative; you just pay for the ticket and eat the points.
Not only have you lost your money, but in a sense, you are encouraging the government to continue this exploitative system. Of course, your insurance company is in on the game, and your insurance is jacked up for three or more years.
Run into a spate of bad luck, and your license might be suspended, perhaps resulting in the loss of your job. This is your reward for taking the path of least resistance.
Once you commit to fighting your ticket, a whole new situation evolves, and you increase your chances of avoiding a financial penalty or jeopardy to your license.
Another possibility is that your financial penalty will be reduced, your license points protected, or both. And if you do go to trial, win or lose, you will have eliminated any ‘profit’ the government would have otherwise realized from your ticket.
Could you receive a larger fine or lose more points by fighting your ticket? You could, but it would be an extremely rare event. It is far more common for a fine to be reduced at trial, even when the defendant is found guilty.
Fight Your Ticket!
If you would like to help spread the word on encouraging motorists to fight their tickets, JOIN the National Motorists Association TODAY! If you become a member, you would be eligible for the NMA Traffic Justice Program—a great way to help you win even if you lose fighting your ticket! (Qualification criteria apply.)
