It’s common for a person to come see me after receiving a speeding ticket and ask “what is my defense?” or “what questions should I ask?” in traffic court to get the speeding ticket dismissed. “If I go to speeding ticket court, what trial questions will be asked and how should I answer them?” Before I even get into specific questions, I say to first consider the following:

• Did you answer the ticket and enter a plea of not guilty? Before we worry about a defense or questions for cross examination, I like to make sure everything is current with the case status. If a deadline to respond to the ticket has passed, your license can be suspended for failure to respond. Moreover, a (traffic) court could issue a warrant (”traffic ticket warrants” as my clients like to call them). You may not make America’s most wanted list if a traffic ticket warrant has been issued but it certainly won’t further your defense or case in general and probably won’t reflect well in traffic court.
• Forget all that stuff you heard or read such as “the officer must do this” or “that method of enforcement has been proved fallible in court”. There are no “systems” or “programs” or some individual set of questions and defenses that work in every case. Every state is different (different laws, procedures, accepted arguments, etc.) and there are often differences from county to county within a state. The only advice you should accept, whether it’s from a book, website or traffic ticket attorney, should be advice specific to your jurisdiction and your court.
• Be careful when you consider offering traffic court a “defense” or “justification”. In many situations, you will essentially be testifying that you “were speeding, but should not be found guilty because…” If the Judge doesn’t believe or accept your argument you will have basically admitted you were speeding and just about lost your chance for the speeding ticket dismissal. I always warn clients and potential clients to be very careful before going this route.
• Is plea bargaining your speeding ticket to a lesser violation an option? In any conflict, I’ll always recommend an attempt at negotiating before fighting. Before getting involved with an “all or nothing” traffic court speeding ticket trial, if a favourable deal can be negotiated it should certainly be considered.

With that out of the way, I then inform clients and potential clients that it is very difficult to set forth, in advance of the trial, specific court trial questions for a speeding ticket case. I think people want to hear that there is a magic bullet-”isn’t there some case law which proves radar is fallible?”-but there is very rarely such a magic, premeditated argument. In a typical speeding ticket court trial case, the questions we ask the police officer will be determined mostly by the testimony he offered. For example, if he forgets to mention his training, I’d focus on that. If his numbers with respect to distance and/or time don’t seem to add up, then I’d focus there.

The more practical issue when proceeding to trial is “what to listen for”. Of course, “what to ask” is still important but it’s completely dependent on what you hear in the first place. The “correct” questions to ask are dictated by what the officer says (or perhaps fails to say) during his testimony. If you do end up defending yourself at a speeding ticket trial, I recommend focusing on the officer’s discussion/description of the following:

• Who, what, where and when. A prosecuting attorney or officer trying one traffic court case is likely trying many. Files and paperwork can easily get shuffled. Make sure your name, the speed cited, the date/time and the location of the speeding violation offered by the Prosecution at trial all match what was written on your traffic ticket.
• How did the officer measure your speed? Was it a visual estimation, a mechanical device (laser or radar) or both? If laser or radar was used, how does the officer know it was working? Were there tests performed, are there repair/test logs kept by the police department?
• When was the officer trained and who trained him? Visual estimations, laser and radar all require training. This training must be offered by someone qualified to train and this training must have taken place prior to the issuance of the speeding ticket in question.
• Was there notice of the speed limit in question? A Judge can’t find someone guilty of doing 50 in a 30 unless the officer testified that the motorist passed a visible 30 mph sign in that area.

In my opinion, the facts as set forth by the officer surrounding these issues are the building blocks of a successful defense in traffic court. That said, I do feel that it takes experience and skill to build that defense. When I notice a red flag (for example, questions about the officer’s training) I know what to ask as a follow up, when to ask, how to get the answer I want from the officer before the officer can anticipate where I’m going and cover for his mistake, etc. While some people will represent themselves and recognize mistakes and perhaps follow up appropriately, more people are likely to fail to recognize a potentially helpful argument if one should emerge.

Where a good attorney might very well ask a number of speeding ticket court trial questions in an effort to get a speeding ticket dismissal, it’s rare that these questions are all set prior to the trial. It’s therefore very difficult for me to simply tell someone what questions to ask at a speeding ticket trial. A successful defense at trial starts with someone who knows both what to listen for and what questions to follow up with based on what he does or does not hear when an officer testifies. This is why I tell everyone who gets a ticket to speak with an attorney first. A good, local attorney can let people know what to do from the minute a ticket is issued and, if the case ends up in a traffic court for a trial, should have the skills to maximize their chances of success.

The majority of people ask me what to do after they’ve received a traffic ticket. While there is clearly much to be said about that, this article is instead for those who may want some advice on how to avoid getting a traffic ticket in the first place.

I usually tell people it’s pretty simple. First, don’t get pulled over. Drive carefully in every sense of the phrase and the odds of receiving a ticket will drop dramatically. Sounds obvious, but it’s a simple first step that’s often overlooked—people I talk to seem to want to attribute being pulled over for speeding to everything other than the fact that they might actually have been speeding.

If you are pulled over, do not assume you are being issued a traffic ticket. While I have no official statistics, casual conversation with the police officers I’ve dealt with over the years suggests that maybe 25% or more of car stops do not result in a traffic citation. Perhaps it’s a minor equipment malfunction or other issue that will simply result in a warning or perhaps the officer is just in a good mood. My advice is to talk, act and think as if there is still a chance that you can avoid being issued a traffic ticket (because there is).

With that in mind, here is what you can do (or not do) or say (or not say) after you are pulled over but before you are issued a traffic ticket that may help you avoid being charged with a traffic violation.

• Take a deep breath and don’t panic. If the officer is directing you to pull over, use your signal if you need to change lanes or direction of travel. Look for a safe place to stop but also look to stop as quickly as possible. You don’t want the officer thinking “this person has no idea how to drive” while approaching your vehicle simply because you had a momentary lapse in reason once you saw the sirens behind you.
• Avoid moving around while waiting for the officer to approach your vehicle. The officer’s first task is to ensure his own safety. If he thinks you are trying to hide something (weapons, drugs) he could become agitated. Keep your hands on the wheel and stay still.
• Keep your seatbelt on. Yes, you know the officer will ask for your license and registration. Wait until he asks and then unbuckle your belt and reach for these items. First, by avoiding unnecessary movement, you are less likely to make the officer nervous. Second, you’re not tempting the officer to issue you a seatbelt summons—let him see that you were wearing it all along.
• Be polite. Maybe the officer was just going to warn you about some minor equipment failure he noticed. Don’t give him a reason to turn that warning into a summons. Moreover, officers tend to have better recollection of cases where there was some confrontation on the road. When it comes time to deal with the officer later, you don’t want to stand out as a motorist who gave him a hard time.
• If you have a PBA card or other document or information which you feel might discourage the officer from issuing a summons, use it wisely. Don’t shove it in an officer’s face as soon as he gets to your window. Be polite, and while you are giving him the paperwork he requested you can show or tell him why he may want to reconsider and why you are sorry. If you are mentioning an officer in particular, know which town or precinct he’s in and be prepared to explain your relationship.
• Know where your paperwork is. Your insurance and registration and driver license should all be readily available. If you don’t have something or can’t find it, now you are essentially asking the officer to give you two warnings (one for the underlying reason for the car stop and one for the missing paperwork). The odds of the officer letting two violations go will naturally be less than the odds of the officer letting one violation go.

Some officers are going to issue the traffic ticket no matter what you do. However, it’s certainly worth doing whatever you can to maximize the chances that you will drive away with a mere warning.

If you are ultimately issued a traffic ticket, my advice is to talk to a local traffic ticket lawyer. A good traffic ticket attorney will simplify your situation and let you know what options are available to you. Different people have different needs, different driving records, different potential consequences, etc. Everyone’s situation is a little different and everyone can benefit from knowing what they are facing after a traffic violation summons has been issued. Most attorneys offer some kind of a free consultation and I’ll always recommend pursuing that option first and foremost so you can make educated decisions going forward.

By Scott Feifer
Feifer & Greenberg, LLP
NYTicketHELP.com / TicketHELP.com

Sometimes we get caught up in traffic ticket defense and fighting moving violations to the extent we forget that many of the traffic rules and much of the traffic enforcement is indeed about safety. Case in point is a recent news item concerning a man who may indeed owe his life to receiving a seatbelt ticket. Driver Says Traffic Ticket Saved His Life by Barbara Pinto, 5/27/08, abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4937505.

Tim Ignasiak was driving to work like he does every day. He saw the sirens behind him and he knew what was about to happen. He was issued an Illinois traffic ticket for failing to wear his seatbelt. He buckled up and drove off.

Moments later, another vehicle disobeyed a red light and smashed into his jeep. His vehicle was in bad shape but Ignasiak walked away without a scratch because of his seatbelt.

It’s the rare case where the recipient of a traffic ticket actually thanks the issuing officer afterwards. In fact, the man’s wife called the police officer to personally thank him.

It’s a nice story and a good reminder both to buckle up and at least consider, next time you are pulled over, that the police officer is to some extent trying to make the roads a little safer.

By Scott Feifer
Feifer & Greenberg, LLP
NYTicketHELP.com / TicketHELP.com

What happens, however, when the conversation turns to how to prevent individuals from speeding in the first place? Cynics among us will argue that no one has an interest in reducing the number of people speeding. They will argue that the only focus is on issuing more tickets and generating more fine revenue. While that might be true in some instances, there are certainly a very large number of people from different segments of society who are genuinely interested in safety and reducing the number of speeders on the road.

Measuring the number of people who exceed speed limits on our roadways is not as simple as counting the number of speeding traffic tickets that are issued. Sometimes, the increase in speeding summonses is attributable to an increase in the number of officers enforcing the speed limit or an increased effort (crackdown?) by the existing enforcement officers. Consider a situation where 2 out of 10 people speeding are issued speeding tickets on one day and 4 out of 10 people speeding are issued speeding tickets the next day. The number of speeding tickets issued has doubled but the number of individuals exceeding the speed limit is exactly the same. Speeding tickets measure the number of people caught and not the number of people who were actually speeding.

The difficulties in measuring aside, debates on how to best reduce the number of individuals who exceed the speed limit continue in communities around the country. Focus is generally on:

Increased speed enforcement. An increase in enforcement works in two ways. More enforcement generally means more speeding summonses issued and more speeding tickets today should lead to more cautious drivers tomorrow. In addition, the simple visual of more enforcement officers on the road (and fear of receiving a speeding summons) is likely to cause more people to slow down and obey the speed limit. The arguments against increased speed enforcement include the costs involved, removal of enforcement officers from situations where they could be preventing more serious crimes and a public relations backlash (people will assume increased enforcement is about revenue generation even if it is truly in place for safety purposes).

Increased speeding ticket fines. Some argue that if people were more worried about the direct costs associated with receiving a traffic ticket that they would slow down. While very large increases may serve that purpose, it’s unlikely that such large increases would ever be approved. Instead, opponents say that if the existing fines, surcharges and potential insurance increases are not enough of an incentive to slow down another $50 or $100 or even $250 is unlikely to make a difference. Moreover, there is a public relations issue similar to what we see with increased enforcement as many are likely to view an increase in fines as more about revenue generation than about public safety.

Physical speed controls. While not really an option on highways, many local communities consider controls like speed bumps and more stop signs to be the answer. These serve to physically prevent individuals from speeding. While it is unlikely that anyone will argue that these controls are about revenue generation more than safety, opposition does exist. Certain controls like speed bumps can be controversial because of the damage they can cause to cars. The issue of who is liable comes into play and it’s a headache some communities look to avoid.

As long as there are speed limits there will be drivers who continue to exceed the speed limit. Enforcement officials are presented with the challenge of walking a fine line—control speeding while avoiding the appearance they are motivated by money, not safety. As automobile safety evolves and the technological war between speed enforcement and speed detection rages on, this same issue of how to get people to slow down is likely to exist throughout it all.

By Scott Feifer
Feifer & Greenberg, LLP
NYTicketHELP.com / TicketHELP.com