Minor traffic tickets: Do I need a lawyer?
by David A. Cardon, Esquire

I was pulled over for speeding 66 mph in a 55 mph zone while coming home from work in Virginia Beach. I have never before been convicted of any traffic or criminal offenses and I am very worried about going to court. Should I just pay off the fine? Should I hire an attorney and fight it? Could the judge send me to jail?

First of all, if this is your first driving offense, and you are not on probation for any other criminal or traffic convictions, you are not going to jail for going eleven miles over the speed limit. The most that the judge is likely to do is order that you pay a fine, complete community service, attend driving school, and/or pay court costs.

Should I pre-pay the fine? When you pre-pay a traffic fine, the advantage is, you do not have to take time out of your schedule to go to court. Sometimes, court can take the better part of a day. The problem is that when you pre-pay, you have no chance of having the charge reduced or dismissed. A judge may reduce or dismiss a case if you can show you have a good driving record and/or prove that your speedometer was defective. Whenever I represent someone for a speeding charge, I show the judge my client's DMV abstract if my client has a good driving record. Sometimes the judge will dismiss or reduce the charge after seeing a long driving history with no convictions. I might also present the judge with a speedometer calibration showing my client's speedometer was defective. Sometimes, the judge will reduce the speeding ticket to defective equipment when a calibration shows my client's speedometer was off by a significant amount. Defective equipment is not considered a moving violation and carries no negative points with the DMV. The bottom line is, there are several reasons why a judge will reduce or dismiss a speeding charge. If you do not go to court, however, you have no chance of having the charge reduced or dismissed. If you do decide to pre-pay the fine, the court will still make you pay court costs on top of the fine for speeding, even though you do not go to court. Therefore, do not think that by paying the ticket ahead of time, you are saving money by not going to court.
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