The city of York , and the surrounding York County , is full of people driving every day. With over 400,000 residents, the area’s busy roads are often full of drivers commuting to and from work, running errands, or traveling around or through the area.
But as with any area with cars and vehicle traffic, drivers in the York area can easily receive a traffic ticket. You may be one of those drivers yourself who has received a traffic ticket in York or in York County, and you may not be entirely sure of how to proceed with handling your ticket. If you live in the York area and have found yourself in this situation, our attorneys are available to assist you as you deal with your traffic ticket.
Although they may not seem like a big deal, getting a traffic ticket should be dealt with seriously and quickly. Many people do not fully realize the extent of the penalties that come with traffic tickets and how serious those penalties can be. Especially if this is you first traffic ticket, you may not know how Pennsylvania penalizes traffic tickets or what those penalties will mean for you, your daily life, and your finances.
The penalty that people most commonly associate with traffic tickets is the fine that you are expected to pay for many traffic violations. Fines for traffic tickets in Pennsylvania will vary depending on what the particular violation is and how serious the violation is considered to be. For example, fines for speeding tickets go up depending on how fast you were going and what the speed limit was. If you were only going ten miles per hour over the limit in a 35 mile per hour zone, you will pay a fine of $45. But if you were driving twenty miles per hour over the limit in a 65 mile per hour zone, your fine will be $72.50. Other violations also result in fines: not wearing your seatbelt could get you a fine of $10, whereas a first offense DUI with a BAC between .08% and .099% will result in a fine of $300.
But even if you pay this fine, you are unfortunately not done with the penalties from your traffic ticket. Pennsylvania traffic law also assigns a point value to most common traffic violations that you could receive a ticket for. Even if you pay your fine, you will still have those points added to your driving record, which can add up and result in even more penalties.
For example, running a red light in the York area will add three points to your record, and speeding 16 to 25 miles per hour above the posted speed limit will add four points to your record. Once the total on your record reaches six points, you will have to take a safe driving exam. The next time your record reaches six points total (even if you have successfully had points removed), you could have your license suspended for fifteen days. If you get a total of six points three or more times, your license could be suspended for 30 days.
In addition, your insurance company may decide to increase your monthly premiums because your ticket makes you a greater “risk” as a driver. You may also have to pay court costs and surcharges in certain situations.
So what do you do when you get a traffic ticket and are facing these serious penalties? Do you just accept your guilt and pay the fine, as well as accepting the points on your record and possibly having to pay even more in insurance rates and other fees? The good news is, you don’t have to. With the help of an experienced York traffic ticket lawyer, you can easily challenge your traffic ticket and have your penalties reduced or even have your ticket dismissed.
In order to fight your traffic ticket, you will need to plead not guilty to your traffic ticket. When you get your ticket, you will be assigned a court date at your district court in York County , where you will explain your situation to the judge. Keep in mind that the York police officer who wrote your ticket will also be at your trial, and they will also tell the judge their side of the story about why they wrote your traffic ticket. This means that you will need to need to have a strong and convincing defense in order to clearly show the judge that you do not deserve the full extent of the penalties on your ticket, even if the police officer argues otherwise. Let your York traffic ticket attorney help you build the best defense against your traffic ticket.