Be Prepared To Present The Facts And That Your Lawyer Knows All The Details Of Your Case
You will only have a few minutes to make your case. Keep it simple, and keep it about the law. Do your research on traffic law. Traffic court is about legal claims, not fairness ones. The judges have heard it all. Hearings can be stressful and confusing. Many drivers find that having a traffic lawyer in NYC who knows the nuances of the law is incredibly helpful.
Never Plead Guilty To A New York Traffic Ticket
Pleading guilty to a New York traffic ticket is the equivalent of being found guilty in a court of law and opens you up to all of the fines and penalties described above, regardless of which state you hold your drivers license in.
The best thing to do with out of state traffic tickets is to fight them. A skilled attorney will be able to have your points and fines reduced and, in some cases, have the case dismissed altogether. And, for most New York cases, an attorney can appear on your behalf to save you a trip to court.
About the Author: Adam Rosenblum is the principle of The Rosenblum Law Firm which focuses on traffic tickets in New York State. For more information about New York traffic tickets or if you need a New York traffic ticket attorney visit TicketDefenseLaw.com or call 888-883-5529.
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How Many Points For A Speeding Ticket In Ny
In New York, motorists can get 3 to 11 points for one speeding ticket. If you get too many points within a certain timegenerally 18 months to three yearsyour license can be suspended. Convictions: Others states keep track of the number of traffic convictions on your record and impose suspensions for too many.
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What To Do Immediately After The Traffic Stop
As soon as is reasonably possible after the traffic stop, the driver should review the information on the ticket. A New York State speeding ticket contains a lot of information about the driver, the vehicle, the details of the stop, the charge, the court where it can be challenged, and how to enter a plea .
All of this information is important. In particular, the driver must take note of the date by which one must either pay or challenge the ticket. Failure to respond to a speeding ticket on time carries its own penalties .
Likewise, it is important for the driver to write down as much information about the traffic stop as possible. Details such as the lighting in the area, the amount of foliage around, how visible the speed limit sign was, the level of traffic , etc.
What Does The Surcharge Pay For
The state surcharge was the subject of a recent news story which detailed where the money raised from these fees goes. According to the article, for every $88 surcharge assessed, the states crime victim assistance fund receives just over five percent at five dollars.
The biggest portion of the feea total of $55is given to the fund that pays for court-appointed attorneys. If this funds annual allotment has been met for a given year, this amount is then directed to a general fund. The remaining $28 goes to the states general fund.
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Better Understanding New York Traffic Tickets
In New York, speeding and cell phone tickets are some of the most common moving violations. Here are the points and fines associated with these offenses:
- Speeding 1-10 MPH over the speed limit = 3 Points $243 Maximum Fine
- Speeding 11-20 MPH over the speed limit = 4 Points $300 Maximum Fine
- Speeding 21-30 MPH over the speed limit = 6 Points $300 Maximum Fine
- Speeding 31-40 MPH over the speed limit = 8 Points $600 Maximum Fine
- Speeding 41 mph or more over the speed limit = 11 Points $600 Maximum Fine
- Cell Phone/Electronic Device Ticket = 5 points $150 Maximum Fine
In addition to the fines, each ticket also carries a $93 mandatory court surcharge.
Once you accumulate 6 points in New York State, the New York Department of Motor Vehicles slaps you with another penalty known as the Driver Responsibility Assessment . This applies even if you are an out of state driver.
At 6 points you will be fined $100 each year for 3 years. For every point above 6 points, you will be charged an additional $25 per year for 3 years. For example, the DRA for 8 Points in New York will be $450 .
If you accumulate 11 points on your New York record, your New York driving privileges will be suspended. That means if you are caught driving in New York you will be charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation which is a criminal offense. Maryland may or may not enforce the suspension within its borders.
Trial Before A New York Judge
trial before a New York judgeexpected to pay the fines that dayfile a notice of appeal within 30 days
Pro-tip: Check your New York driving record to make sure it accurately reflects the result of your traffic ticket case. Incorrect information could lead to issues including unwanted fines and penalties.
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How To Get A Speeding Ticket Reduced In New York
Getting a traffic ticket in New York is always a pain. Not only do you have to deal with the cost of the actual traffic violation, but you also have to pay related surcharges, possibly a Driver Responsibility Assessment Fee, and worry about points being assessed against your driving record. To add insult to injury, your car insurance premium will also go up significantly for two moving violation convictions within 36 months .
Based on all of these reasons, you may be wondering if there is a way of getting the ticket reduced to something less damaging. If so, what are the available possibilities? How can you prepare for your hearing? And can an attorney help?
New York Speeding Ticket Fines And Points
Speeding No Nos
Speeding is one of the top most common moving violations. Speeding will cause you to incur points to your license, pay costly fines, may cause your license to be suspended or revoked or in some cases even land you in jail.
Points: Heres the breakdown of how many points you usually get on your driving record for speeding in NY, based upon how many miles per hour above the limit you are driving:
- 1 to 10 mph= 3 points
- 11 to 20 mph= 4 points
- 21 to 30 mph= 6 points
- 31 to 40 mph= 8 points
- 41 mph and up= 11 points
Fines and penalties :
- 1 to 10 mph= $138 to $243 fine
- 11 to 20 mph= $183 to $393 fine and up to 15 days of jail time
- 21 to 30 mph= $483 to 693 fine and up to 15 days of jail time
- 31 mph to 40 mph up= $723 to $1143 fine and up to 30 days of jail time
- 41 MPH and up=$1098 to $1518 fine an automatic license suspension and up to 30 days of jail time
Speeding in a work zone: When you speed in a work zone, a portion of the fine is doubled for the total of an additional $93 above the price listed above. A second conviction for a work zone speed results in a license suspension. The points assessed are based on the respective speed as listed above.
Speeding in a school zone: It takes 3 speeding in a school zone charges to be suspended and the points assessed for speeding in a school zone are based on the speed as listed above. Both the minimum and maximum fines amounts are higher as follows:
Some examples are
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Penalties For New York Commercial Drivers
You must notify your employer within 30 days of a traffic ticket conviction if you are convicted in another state.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration outlines the following commercial driver penalties:
First Offenses
Your CDL can be suspended or revoked for at least one year if you:
- Operate your commercial motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.04% or higher.
- Operate any vehicle under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance.
- Refuse a blood alcohol test.
- Commit a felony with a vehicle.
- Leave an accident scene without reporting it.
- Causes a fatality with your CMV including, but not limited to, criminally negligent homicide and vehicular manslaughter.
- Operate your CMV while your CDL is suspended, revoked, or cancelled or after you’ve been disqualified.
Note that:
- You’ll lose your CDL for 3 years if you commit any of these offenses while operating a CMV placarded for transporting hazardous materials.
- You’ll lose your CDL for life if you use your CMV to commit a felony involving controlled substances.
Second Offenses
If you commit any of the above offenses a 2nd time, you will lose your CDL for life.
Serious Traffic Offenses
You can lose your CDL for at least:
- 60 days if you have committed 2 serious offenses with your CMV during a 3 year period.
- 120 days if you have committed 3 serious offenses with your CMV during a 3 year period.
Serious offenses include:
What Happens When You Get A New York Traffic Ticket With An Out Of State Drivers License
Anytime a driver gets a New York traffic ticket things can get complicated especially if it is an out-of-state driver. Those motorists may need some professional assistance. Too often, drivers who receive out-of-state speeding tickets or other moving violations do not contest the charge. Maybe these visitors think doing so would be a tremendous hassle. Some drivers may believe that points will not transfer onto their out-of-state license. Many times, these conclusions are incorrect, and an experienced and knowledgeable New York ticket lawyer can often help in several ways.
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Is Every Speeding Ticket Fair
Speeding tickets are headaches that nobody wants to deal with, but most drivers receive them at some point in their driving career. As police officers give tickets in a seemingly infinite number of circumstances, it makes you wonder if every ticket is given fairly. Unfortunately, there is evidence that suggests that some speeding tickets are subjective and unfair to drivers.
Data On New York Speeding Tickets
New York State law enforcement agencies hand out an average of 700,000 speeding tickets each year. According to the New York State Traffic Safety Statistical Repository , over 670,000 speeding tickets were issued in 2019 and, unfortunately, speeding injured over 11,000 people and led to 235 of the 881 fatal accidents reported in the state.
Early data from the DMV shows New York State law enforcement issued 562,684 speeding tickets to drivers in 2020. This is a 16% decline from most years due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline in overall traffic throughout the year. Despite this, speeding tickets made up a larger-than-normal proportion of traffic tickets in the state at nearly 25%. Most years, speeding makes up just shy of 20% of all traffic tickets.
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Fine Payable To The Court For The Speeding Ticket
Judges have some discretion when setting the fine amount for speeding tickets in New York and the amount varies for the alleged speed. Note that a conviction for a speeding ticket in New York also carries a mandatory state surcharge and I will include that in the analysis below. As of 2013 the surcharge on speeding tickets was $93 per ticket .
For a speeding ticket of 1-10 MPH over the speed limit the minimum fine and surcharge is $138 and the maximum fine and surcharge is $243.
For a speeding ticket of 11-30 MPH over the speed limit the minimum fine and surcharge is $183 and the maximum is $393.
For a ticket of more than 31 mph over the limit the minimum fine and surcharge is $273 and the maximum fine and surcharge is $693
Again note the exact fine amount is in the discretion of the Acting Judge of the Court where the ticket was issued. Also note that the fine payable to the court is increased if you have prior convictions within 18 months and the fine structure is much higher for both work and school zone speeding tickets.
How To Plead Not Guilty To A Speeding Ticket In Ny
When you want to plead not guilty to a speeding ticket in NY, you just have to select that option on your citation and mail it in. Make sure that you choose the right one, because otherwise you will definitely be stuck paying the ticket. The outcome of this will vary per officer or per state, so if youre in Virginia, you might have a different strategy .
Take a look at your ticket and you will see a section for admitting guilt and not guilty . There will be detailed instructions on the citation explaining everything.
Pleading not guilty doesnt automatically mean that your ticket is going to be dismissed. It is ultimately up to the judge to make this decision. It is always better to speak with the prosecutor to see if you can negotiate deal. If the prosecutor does not offer you a deal of any kind, you can appeal directly to the judge.
Final Thoughts
The state has some fairly strict laws regarding speeding, and getting speeding tickets in New York is never fun. You should always try to avoid getting a ticket , but if you end up getting one, you have numerous options to explore. You can choose to plead guilty and pay the fine, go to a good traffic school , or go to court to fight it. It is a good idea to weigh your options carefully before making a final decision.
For speeding costs and ticket info in California, head on over to this article: .
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Do Out Of State Tickets Go On A Ny Driving Record
An out-of-state driver who is convicted of a New York speeding ticket or other New York moving violation will always receive points on his or her New York driving record. What happens is that New York State creates an ID number for that out-of-state driver and, then, adds the convictions and points to that record. An out-of-state driver who accumulates too many points can be suspended in New York. That suspension will often be honored in other states after a bureaucratic delay for the suspension to be reported and acted upon.
Further, some states will honor out-of-state convictions and, as a result, add points to the drivers license in the home state. Other states do not honor out-of-state convictions. And yet others will assign points but not as many as assessed in New York.
New York Traffic Ticket Fines And Costs
Fines and other costs associated with traffic tickets vary. Generally, these variations are called surcharges,” but they boil down to aspects such as the nature of the violation, where the driver received the ticket, and additional factors such as:
- Accumulated points.
- Suspensions related to failure to respond and default convictions.
- Driving with a suspended or revoked license.
- Driver responsibility assessments.
- Fines and civil penalties.
In addition to these factors, court-related surcharges will vary depending on the court. For example, a village court might charge more or less than a city court to handle the same type of traffic ticket.
In short, if you receive a speeding ticket in Buffalo, you might pay more or less than someone who receives the same speeding ticket in Long Island.
Check your traffic ticket for the exact fine then, call the institution in charge of handling your ticket and ask the clerk about associated surcharges or other fees.
NOTE: If ticketed by the NY State Police, you will be notified of your fine only after submitting a guilty or not guilty plea.
Can’t find your ticket? Check our section on replacing lost traffic tickets.
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Ready To Talk About Your Ticket
We are ready to listen. Call us 845-566-5345 or send us an email. Our legal team represents local, out-of-town and out-of-state drivers cited for excessive speeding and other serious traffic violations on Interstates I-87 or I-84, U.S. Route 9W, the Palisades Interstate Parkway, State Routes 6, 17 or 59, and other roadways.
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How Many Points Will Go On My Record
While your initial concern after being issued a New York state speeding ticket might be the fine, a far greater consequence could be the points it adds to your record. The New York DMV uses apoint system for violations to keep track of your driving history.
If you accrue 11 points in an 18-month period, you may have your drivers license suspended by the DMV. A single speeding ticket can add quite a few points to your driving record, depending on how fast you were driving above the speed limit.
Points for speeding violations in New York:
- 1 to 10 mph over the limit: 3 points
- 11 to 20 mph over the limit: 4 points
- 21 to 30 mph over the limit: 6 points
- 31 to 40 mph over the limit: 8 points
- 40+ mph over the limit: 11 points
In addition to the risk of a license suspension, accumulating points on ones license can result in higher auto insurance premiums making a $500 speeding ticket potentially cost thousands of dollars over time. Excessive speeding could even result in criminalreckless driving charges, which can carry jail time, up to five additional points on your license, increased auto insurance rates, and expensive fines.
To learn more about how to fight New York state speeding tickets,contact us today.
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