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Always proceed with EXTREME caution at the TVB

New York Traffic Ticket Lawyers | Feifer & Greenberg » New York Traffic Violations » Always proceed with EXTREME caution at the TVB

Always proceed with EXTREME caution at the TVB

After dealing with an issue yesterday, we thought it was worth a quick reminder.  If you have a traffic ticket answerable to the TVB (mostly NYC traffic tickets, also includes Suffolk County, Buffalo and Rochester) be very careful how you handle it.

The Administrative Law Judges in the TVB have a great deal of discretion.  They are actual employees of the DMV and with that comes the power to suspend people for just about any reason.  Yesterday, we saw an individual suspended and he never saw it coming.

Apparently, he had a prior hearing date and rescheduled it online.  Completely on time, no problems.  It was then rescheduled for a later date.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it on that date so he came in the next day to explain.  The TVB gives a 30 day cushion to come to court if you miss a hearing date so obviously he was well within that.

The motorist appeared in front of a judge as per the clerk’s instructions.  The judge told him “here’s a new date, in June, but you are suspended until then”.  Did it with ZERO explanation.  The motorist was forced to pay the ticket on the spot because he needed his license.

The penalty?  Approximately $270 due to the court, a $450 state surcharge due to New York and eight buy viagra online amazon points on his license.  The judge knew what he was doing–$720 in fines and surcharges, points, likely insurance increases…and all this guy wanted was another date in court.

The law is supposed to err on the side of giving people their day in court.  Suspending someone so quickly, when their request for another hearing date was so reasonable, is just ridiculous and mean spirited.  No other way around it.

This isn’t an indictment of the system itself other than the fact that such discretion is given to each ALJ.  Most judges would have rescheduled this case no questions asked and many judges will actually exercise their discretion to help the motorists in certain situations.  Moreover, there are some situations that fully merit suspension where motorists are abusing the system, obviously delaying or otherwise clearly at fault.

This is just a warning.  This situation did not merit a suspension by any standard except some twisted standard this particular judge employed this particular day.  The thing to remember here is that you never know who you are appearing in front of when you have a case at the TVB and anyone planning to appear there should be very careful and gather as much information as they can before proceeding.

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Your office is in NYC. How do you handle cases statewide?

We have organized a statewide network of attorneys. In our network are both attorneys who work for Feifer & Greenberg and attorneys who work for other firms that regularly provide of-counsel representation to our clients. This statewide network allows us to match clients in a particular county or court with local attorneys who regularly appear on similar matters in the same county or court. It enables us to help clients anywhere in New York State and in our opinion provide particularly effective and affordable representation for our clients. Local attorneys can draw on their particular local experiences and, with travel time and expense removed from the equation, help us keep our legal fees low.

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We can only guarantee that we will provide the best possible client service and legal representation. We can’t guarantee results. These are legal proceedings and we can’t promise you that every case will end in our favor. We will always honestly assess your case (both good and bad) and set realistic expectations during your consultation. We’ll discuss our goals and objectives but no attorney can ever guarantee how a case will conclude.
Should I just pay my ticket or should I fight?

We recommend fighting almost all tickets. Even if the current NY traffic tickets aren’t particularly harmful, you have an incentive to keep your record clean for the future. Convictions quickly lead to surcharges, insurance increases and other complications. You should strongly consider any decision to pay a ticket without fighting.

How can our traffic ticket lawyers help you?

Our lawyers are experienced, prepared attorneys who understand the nuances of fighting traffic tickets. Experience, preparation and good decision making help us to help our clients avoid points, surcharges, insurance increases and the other negatives that can easily result from a traffic ticket.

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