If you received a speeding ticket in the state of Florida, you may be wondering whether it is worth your while to fight the ticket or whether you should just pay the ticket and move on. While paying the ticket may certainly seem the easiest way to deal with your speeding ticket, when you pay the ticket you receive a conviction for your offense, which adds three points to your driving record—or four points if you were driving more than fifteen miles above the posted speed limit. These points can cause your auto insurance premiums to go up significantly, and if you accrue sufficient points, you could even lose your license for a period of time.
Solid Speeding Ticket Defenses
If you are like most Americans, you depend on transportation on a daily basis. You go to work, to school, take your children to school and after-school activities, run errands, visit friends and family and many other tasks which all require a vehicle. By hiring an experienced Florida traffic attorney, you may be able to have your ticket dismissed entirely, or, at the very least, have your charges reduced in order to lessen the number of points added to your driving record. Even better than taking traffic school (if you are eligible) is to hire a knowledgeable attorney who will present a professional, solid defense on your behalf. There are a number of possible defenses your Florida traffic attorney may use, including the following:
- You may be able to challenge the police officer’s (subjective) view of what happened when you received your ticket. If your attorney can show the officer was not in a good location to accurately view your speed, or that he or she was busy with other tasks, then the visual assessment of your speed may have been inaccurate.
- Your attorney may be able to prove mistaken identity—either for you or for your vehicle. If you were not driving the speeding vehicle, then it is a case of mistaken identity, or if your vehicle was not the vehicle actually speeding, this is another case of mistaken identity. It is possible for radar especially to tend to bounce off a larger vehicle, therefore you may not have been the one speeding if there were larger vehicles around you.
- If you had a valid emergency which required you to drive your vehicle above the posted speed limit, your attorney will present evidence to back up your claim.
- Your attorney may be able to show that the officer who issued your citation was not within his jurisdiction when he or she issued your speeding ticket.
- Depending on the method used to determine your speed, your Florida traffic attorney may be able to challenge the officer’s assessment of your speed. You must know that method the officer used, then the attorney will base the challenge on the method of determining your speed.
- Laser and radar guns must be calibrated professionally every six months, and must be calibrated at the beginning and end of the officer’s shift, using accepted practices. Your attorney can question the officer about the calibration testing done on the machine used to clock your speed.
- The officer must also be trained in the use of radar or laser, and your attorney will ask him or her to produce documentation which proves this training.
- Your attorney may be able to challenge the officer’s identification of your vehicle, particularly if your vehicle is similar to many others on the road.
- If the officer measured your speed via aircraft, then both the aircraft officer and the ground officer must show up for your court hearing. If one of them does not show up, your attorney may request your charges be dismissed.
- If the officer measured your speed via pacing, your attorney may be able to challenge whether the officer maintained a specified distance between the vehicles for at least 2/10ths of a mile.
How an Attorney from The Law Place Can Help You
The attorneys at The Law Place believe a speeding ticket is never “just” a speeding ticket and that every speeding ticket can have potentially serious, far-reaching consequences. Our attorneys have significant experience helping our clients obtain the very best outcome possible after receiving a Florida speeding ticket. The Law Place attorneys will fight your charges tenaciously, with a goal of having the charges dismissed entirely. We understand that you simply cannot afford to have points added to your driving record, and will work hard to prevent those points from causing you trouble.
