Fight a Traffic Ticket: 5 Strategies That Work

When fighting a traffic ticket, you want to present the strongest legal defense possible. In most cases, you’ll only have one chance in traffic court to convince a judge to dismiss your citation. Ensure your argument is strong and supported by relevant evidence.

A good place to start is to reference your actual citation. You should see the name of the violation, like “running a red light“, along with the traffic law code section. Understanding the traffic law the police accused you of violating will help you select the most effective defense.

In this article, we’ll discuss five reliable defense strategies for fighting traffic tickets and a few other things to consider before you start planning your trip to traffic court. If you’re currently fighting a traffic citation and feel overwhelmed or uncertain, consider contacting a local traffic ticket attorney.

Know Your Deadlines

If you expect any chance of having the judge dismiss your citation, you must respond before the deadline on the ticket. Most traffic tickets have a deadline of between 15 and 30 days. Missing the deadline and not appearing in court means you’ll have to pay the ticket. In addition, the judge may issue a bench warrant against you.

Some of the other consequences of missing the deadline include:

• Automatic default judgment
• Late fees/penalties
• Driver’s license suspension
• Loss of the right to contest

Note the response deadline when you receive the ticket. The clock starts ticking as soon as it’s handed to you.

When responding to a traffic ticket, you have three main options:

• Pay the fine
• Request a trial in open court
• Explore other alternatives, such as negotiating a lower ticket with the prosecutor

We’ll discuss some of these alternatives later in this article.

Calculate the True Cost of Your Ticket

Before deciding whether to pay the ticket, make sure you know exactly how much it will cost. If you plan to pay the fine in court, you will have to pay the fine listed on the citation as well as court fees. If you plan on hiring a traffic law attorney, you’ll also have to pay their fee.

In addition to paying the actual costs of the ticket, you’ll also incur the long-term costs of being guilty of a traffic violation. Some of these include:

• Insurance premium increases, often for bewteen three and five years
• License reinstatement fees if the judge suspends or revokes your driver’s license
• Points on your driving record

Let’s use the example of receiving a ticket for $150 for running a red light. You can either plead guilty and pay the fine or fight it in court and risk losing. If you plead or are found guilty, your insurance will likely increase by $300 to $500 per year. Over the course of three years, you’re looking at a total cost of between $1,050 and $1,650 from the ticket and the increase in your insurance rate.

An experienced attorney’s fee to fight the ticket will likely be anywhere from $300 to $500. When compared to the immediate and long-term costs of pleading guilty, it may make more sense to get legal assistance from a lawyer.

Your attorney will attend your court appearance in person and try to negotiate a better deal with the prosecutor. Since most prosecutors are more likely to agree to a dismissal or plea bargain with an attorney than with a pro se defendant, having a lawyer on your side can make a big difference.

Traffic Ticket Defense Strategies

Whether you handle your traffic case yourself or decide to hire a traffic ticket lawyer, you’ll have to present a strong defense. Your strategy will, of course, depend on the specific facts of your case. For example, if you receive a parking ticket, your defense strategy will differ from receiving a ticket for reckless driving or DUI.

Here are five common defense strategies that may prove effective when challenging a traffic ticket:

1. Dispute the Police Officer‘s Personal Opinion

Law enforcement officers often cite drivers for driving unsafely, such as making unsafe turns or lane changes. These citations usually require the officer to set aside their opinions to arrive at an objective conclusion. However, this can be difficult to do. Police officers are human, and it can be challenging for them to discount their personal opinions. If you got a ticket and feel the officer wasn’t being objective, you can challenge their judgment.

For example, suppose a police officer pulls you over for making an unsafe lane change. You can argue that your lane change was safe, given the weather and traffic conditions. To further support your argument, you could point out that the officer was driving in front of you and may not have been able to witness your lane change. The officer would’ve paid more attention to the road rather than a car changing lanes behind them.

Some states grant law enforcement officers greater flexibility in determining whether a motorist has committed a speeding violation. In states like California and Texas, the posted speed limit is not always a clear-cut law. Drivers can travel at a safe speed in their motor vehicles as long as road and traffic conditions permit. If you received a speeding ticket in one of these states, you can challenge the officer’s opinion if you can prove that your speed was still safe, given the conditions.

2. Dispute the Police Officer‘s Presentation of Evidence

There are some types of tickets where you cannot challenge the officer’s judgment. These tickets involve clear-cut infractions, like running a stop sign or making an illegal U-turn. Challenging a ticket for violations like this involves questioning whether the officer saw you commit the violation.

In these cases, you have a high burden to overcome. That doesn’t mean you have to lie down and give up. Some of the best arguments and evidence you can use to defend yourself against these citations include:

• Eyewitness statements from passengers, other drivers, or pedestrians who can confirm your story
• Diagrams that show where your car was in relation to the officer at the time of the citation, such as fighting a red light by proving the officer didn’t have a good view of the intersection
• Photographs of the scene of the alleged traffic offense that show concealment or obstruction of signage, such as an overhanging limb covering a stop sign or a traffic signal

Depending on the details of your alleged infraction, other methods of questioning the officer’s evidence may present themselves.

3. Present Evidence That the Traffic Violation Was a “Mistake of Fact”

For certain tickets, like driving the wrong way on an empty one-way street, you can present evidence showing that you made a “mistake of fact.” A mistake of fact is a mistake a driver makes that is beyond their control. Mistakes of fact help prove that you honestly and reasonably believed you were following the law. For example, you may be able to show that you drove the wrong way down a one-way street because the “One Way” sign was covered with graffiti and you didn’t see it.

4. Argue That Circumstances Justified Your Driving

Admitting to illegal driving might sound like a weird defense, but it can work if you present information that proves your behavior was justified. For instance, if you got a speeding ticket, you can present evidence that you were passing a potential drunk driver. The other vehicle was drifting across lanes and otherwise driving erratically. In this situation, you were trying to keep yourself safe and avoid an accident.

This defense won’t work if the officer can prove that you continued at a high speed after passing the other vehicle. It would also strengthen your argument if you reported the potential impaired driver to law enforcement by calling 911. Other examples of justified driving include getting a seriously ill person to an emergency room or fleeing a potentially deadly situation.

5. Argue That Your Driving Was Necessary To Prevent Harm

For this defense, you must demonstrate that you violated the traffic laws to prevent immediate harm to you or others. An example of this would be swerving to avoid hitting a pedestrian lying in the road. A ticket for using your cell phone while driving might be dismissed if you can prove you were calling 911 to report a dangerous accident or driver, and pulling over wasn’t possible.

Alternatives to Fighting Your Ticket in Court

There are other options beyond either paying your ticket (pleading guilty) or fighting it in court. Some municipalities offer different methods to compensate for a transgression. Some of your alternative options for dealing with a traffic ticket include:

Traffic School/Defensive Driving

• You should be eligible for this option if you’re a first-time offender and have a clean record.
• Completing traffic school can prevent points from being added to your license and protect your insurance rates.
• The cost for this option is whatever the court fee is, plus tuition for school ($50-150 range)
• You must complete the course within 60-90 days of the date of your ticket.

Plea Bargaining

• You can negotiate a plea bargain with the prosecutor before your court date
• The prosecutor may reduce your case to a lesser charge or a non-moving violation
• You must still pay a fine, although it is usually less

Deferred Adjudication

• The court may offer you a chance to put off any final adjudication
• You must pay the relevant fees upfront
• You must maintain a clean driving record for a probationary period (90-180 days)
• If you complete the terms of the deferment, the court will dismiss the ticket
• The ticket won’t appear on your driving record

If you’re interested in taking advantage of any of these options, talk to an experienced attorney. They’ll explain how the programs work and help you request assistance from the court.

What Not To Do: Ineffective Defenses

There are some well-known strategies for fighting a traffic ticket that are rarely effective. Some people assume that these “tricks” work. However, judges and prosecutors can quickly identify when someone is being dishonest or trying to avoid a ticket.

Some of the least successful defenses you can try in traffic court include:

• Claiming ignorance: Saying you weren’t aware of the speed limit or didn’t know your lane change was unlawful usually doesn’t work, as all drivers are expected to know and follow the traffic laws
• Looking for a loophole: Minor errors on a traffic ticket, like having your name misspelled, usually don’t invalidate a citation
• Faking a personal emergency: Saying you were speeding due to an urgent situation (like a sick child or pet) isn’t a viable defense unless you can show strong evidence

Experienced traffic court judges and prosecutors will have heard all of the tricks before. Trying to pull a fast one on them isn’t likely to succeed.

Get Legal Help From a Traffic Ticket Attorney

No rule says you must hire a traffic ticket attorney to contest a traffic citation. Given how a ticket will significantly increase your auto insurance rates or lead to a driver’s license suspension, it could be a good idea to contact a traffic law expert to help.

A traffic ticket lawyer can offer legal advice and help you determine the best course of action. An attorney who can convince a judge to dismiss your ticket can save you money on insurance premiums, preserve your driving record, and help you keep your driver’s license.

See FindLaw’s How To Fight a Ticket section for more articles and resources.