What Happens If I Don’t Pay My NYC Traffic Ticket?

By Feifer & Greenberg LLP
8:47 pm

Traffic tickets are fairly easy to get in New York City. Unfortunately, New Yorkers are busy people and sometimes it can be just as easy to forget the deadlines for addressing them. Whether you intend to fight the ticket with the help of a traffic ticket attorney in NY or you’re willing to simply pay the ticket, not performing the necessary actions on time can result in bigger fines, additional penalties, suspension and more headaches in general.

Penalties for Ignoring an NYC Moving Violation Ticket at the Traffic Violations Bureau

When issued a ticket for a moving violation in NYC, you’ll notice on the face of the ticket a note that you must answer (respond to the ticket) within 15 days of the date the ticket was issued. The 15 days really isn’t a true deadline–nothing different happens on day 16. Nothing at all really happens until around the five-week mark but still, there’s no reason to wait that long. Do your research, figure out what you are doing and enter a plea one way or another as soon as you can.

If you are unsure what to do you can plead not guilty just to satisfy this first deadline–you can always change your plea to guilty later on if that’s what you really want to do.

If you fail to enter a plea one way or the other, you’ll eventually get a notice around that five-week mark. This notice will set a couple of deadlines to enter a plea.

If no plea is entered by the first deadline, your license will be suspended. You will need to see a judge to have this lifted and pay an additional $70 to clear the suspension.

If no plea is entered by the second deadline, a conviction by default will automatically be entered as well as a second suspension on the same ticket. You will then have no choice but to pay the fine and two separate $70 suspension fees on top of the fine to clear the now multiple suspensions.

What if you enter a not guilty plea, set a hearing date and then miss the hearing date? The court allows for a 30 day grace period to come in and explain yourself. The judge may not accept your explanation but you do have 30 days to try. If you don’t fix the situation within 30 days, a suspension will kick in (and the extra $70 suspension fee). If you don’t fix the situation within 60 days a default conviction will kick in (and you’re paying the fine and now two separate $70 suspension fees).

What if you do everything on time up to the hearing date but are convicted and fail to pay the fine on time? A suspension will kick in after the fine due date and another $70 will be added to your bill.

Notice all the ways you can be suspended for failing to remain timely? In many cases, these suspensions lead to a more serious related issue–Aggravated Unlicensed Operation (driving while suspended). This is a misdemeanor answerable in criminal court. Get caught driving while suspended for simply being a day or two late on a mere traffic violation and you are subject to an arrest and criminal proceeding.

Avoiding traffic tickets can be difficult sometimes. Beating traffic tickets in court isn’t always easy. Staying timely though IS easy. It’s in your control. Don’t make the situation more of a hassle and more expensive. Handling everything as per the deadlines is imperative.

Penalties for Unpaid Parking Tickets and Red Light Camera Tickets in NYC

While our firm does not handle parking and camera ticket in New York City (no points, nothing on license, no insurance increases = no lawyer necessary), here’s a brief rundown on some of the consequences for failing to stay timely from what we can tell after a brief look online.

You can take a close look at the ticket form to see where you are expected to respond and what your deadline for a response may be. Typically, you have 30 days from the date your ticket was issued to respond. A proper response is defined as either paying the ticket in full or requesting a hearing to dispute it.

Should you choose not to respond in time, your parking ticket accrues the following penalties, according to the New York City Resources website:

Once 30 days passes, your fine increases by $10
After 60 days, the fine increases by $20 on top of the initial increase
After 90 days, your fine increases by $30 on top of both initial increases, equalling a $60 penalty total
After around 100 days, the case is entered into judgement, and 9% interest per year is added to the total amount due until the debt is paid in full

Camera tickets issue the following penalties:

To enforce ticket debt further, vehicles may be subject to towing or booting once the registered owners total debt eclipses $350. Additional fees are added for the tow or boot in addition to any applicable storage fees.

Don’t Ignore Your NYC Traffic Tickets; Fight Them With a Traffic Ticket Attorney in NY

Ignored and delinquent tickets only become more and more expensive and problematic. Don’t delay. Do your research as soon as possible after you receive a ticket. Get the information you need and take the appropriate actions to handle the case at hand. Contact a NYC traffic ticket lawyer or a New York speeding ticket lawyer to learn more about the deadlines and other issues you may be dealing with.

You can receive a free case evaluation when you call Feifer & Greenberg today or contact us online.

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FAQ

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.

Do you guarantee results?

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.

What Happens If I Don’t Pay My NYC Traffic Ticket?