NJ Traffic Ticket Attorneys with the Experience You Need to Beat Points and Fines

About the Firm

Almost anyone who has had a driver’s license for more than a few months has gotten a traffic ticket at some time. Whether it was for speeding, making an illegal U-turn, or waiting to renew your vehicle registration until after it expired, everyone makes mistakes, and most of the time traffic tickets are just a minor annoyance. Most people simply pay their traffic tickets and then go on with life because sending a check in the mail is a lot less disruptive than missing a day of work to go to traffic court and parking in the county courthouse parking garage. In some cases, though, it makes sense to hire a lawyer to help you fight a traffic ticket. Traffic violations, have the potential to disrupt your life, taint your record, and cost you expensive fees. Tickets could even potentially bring you jail time. We have successfully defended tens of thousands of these traffic tickets. We know what kinds of evidence the court wants to see, giving you the chance to have your traffic violation thrown out or minimized. We see cases like yours every single day, and we are the professionals you need on your side. Don’t risk the possible penalties and disruption to your life. Let the skilled traffic ticket attorneys at The Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall fight for you.

Why You Should Hire an Attorney to Fight Your Traffic Tickets

Even though most adults have received and paid traffic tickets, most of us have never read the fine print on the back of the citation notice. You are just eager to write a check, go back to the gig economy to earn back the money you could barely afford to spend on a traffic ticket, and put the unpleasantness of getting a traffic citation behind you. If you read the fine print, however, you will find out that signing the citation notice and paying the fine indicates that you are admitting fault for the traffic violation. It is the equivalent of pleading guilty in a criminal case.

Yes, most people plead guilty in criminal cases, as it is usually the most logical thing to do, and no, traffic infractions are not exactly crimes, but they are violations of the law. By paying a traffic ticket, you are admitting that you broke the law. Traffic tickets do not seem like a big deal, but there are ways in which having a traffic violation on your record is something to avoid.  These are some reasons that you do not want a traffic violation to go on your driving record:

• Your driving records are searchable in pre-employment background checks, and they can harm your chances of getting hired at jobs where your duties involve driving.
• The more traffic tickets you have, the more expensive your car insurance premiums are.  Car insurance is less expensive for people who have gone three years or more without an accident or traffic ticket.
• For some traffic violations, the court can charge you with a criminal misdemeanor if you have committed the same traffic infraction multiple times. This is usually the case for traffic violations which are objectively dangerous, such as speeding or running stop signs.
• Even if you do not get criminal charges, some traffic tickets can result in driver’s license suspension after multiple infractions.

Once you realize that traffic tickets, especially multiple traffic tickets, can have long-term consequences, it makes more sense to hire a traffic violations lawyer. Do not just think about it in terms of the cost of the ticket versus the cost of hiring a lawyer. Think of successfully challenging a traffic ticket as similar to being acquitted of criminal charges.

Common Traffic Tickets Issued in New Jersey

You can get a traffic citation for violating almost any traffic law, but these are some of the most common reasons that law enforcement officers in New Jersey issue traffic tickets to drivers:

• Driving without a valid license – The state of New Jersey can suspend your driver’s license because of very dangerous driving behavior such as drunk driving or reckless driving, or as a penalty for missing a court appearance or failure to pay child support. If you drive while your license is suspended, you could face fines of up to $2,250 and even a jail sentence of up to five years.
• Leaving the scene of an accident – After a car accident, you should exchange contact information and insurance information with the other driver. If anyone was injured in the accident, you should stay until an ambulance arrives. Also known as hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident without attending to injured people or providing your contact information is against the law. It is even worse if the accident involved serious injuries or fatalities.
• Driving without insurance – All drivers in New Jersey must carry liability insurance.  You can get a traffic ticket if your car insurance has expired and you have not renewed it.
• Improper passing – It is against the law to pass a school bus. Likewise, certain areas of the road do not allow passing, and there are road signs to notify you of no passing zones.
• Excessive speed – If you drive more than 10 miles per hour faster than the speed limit, you can get a speeding ticket.  The higher your speed, the more expensive the fines, especially if you cause an accident.
• Distracted driving – New Jersey law allows police to issue traffic tickets for distracted driving to drivers who type on their phones while driving.
• Failure to obey road signs and traffic signals – You can get a ticket for running a red light or stop sign, making an illegal turn, or otherwise disobeying road signs and traffic lights.
• Not wearing a seatbelt – In New Jersey, all drivers and passengers must wear seatbelts, and young children must be in age-appropriate safety seats. The fine for not wearing a seatbelt is $46.
• Tailgating – You can get a traffic ticket for following the driver ahead of you too closely, also known as tailgating.
• Expired tags – The fine for driving without a valid vehicle registration in New Jersey is up to $100.

Some of these tickets only require you to pay a fine. Others can result in points on your driver’s license or a requirement to participate in safe driving education programs. If you get too many points on your driver’s license, this can result in suspension of your driver’s license. For the most severe traffic violations, especially if you do them more than once, you can even go to jail.  Therefore, you should take traffic tickets seriously and not ignore them; unpaid traffic tickets can also result in suspension of your drivers’ license.

What to Do if You Get a Traffic Ticket

All traffic citations have instructions printed on them about how to pay the fine or contest the citation. The less expensive ones only come with the option to pay the fine or challenge it. For more serious traffic violations, the officer who issues the ticket will schedule a court date where you must appear in traffic court and plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest to the traffic infraction.

Some infractions that require attendance at traffic court are easy enough to resolve without hiring a lawyer. For example, if you get a ticket for a broken taillight, you can just get your taillight fixed before the scheduled court date. At your court appearance, bring a receipt from the repair shop and a picture showing that your taillight is now working. When asked to enter a plea, you should choose no contest. If you do all of this, the infraction will be resolved.

If driver’s license suspension is at stake, you cannot afford not to hire a lawyer. Losing your driver’s license is a major obstacle because your ability to drive enables you to fulfill other obligations. For example, it would be much harder to commute to your job without your driver’s license. Likewise, many court-ordered parenting plans specify which parent is responsible for driving the children where on which days. Therefore, you need your driver’s license in order to comply with an existing court order. If you hire a lawyer in your traffic infraction case, your lawyer may be able to persuade the court to let you keep some of your driving privileges; for example, the court might restrict the hours when you can drive and the destinations to which you can drive, without taking away your driving privileges completely.

Another situation in which it is helpful to hire a New Jersey traffic ticket lawyer is when, in addition to the state issuing you a traffic citation after an accident, a driver, passenger, or vehicle owner who suffered injuries or financial losses because of the accident is suing you in civil court.  Your traffic infractions lawyer can advise you on what to say and do in your traffic court case in order to avoid putting yourself at a disadvantage in a civil case. For example, if you plead guilty in traffic court or in criminal court, this means that the plaintiff will automatically win their personal injury case against you, which is related to the same accident. In cases like these, it might be better to plead no contest, or even not guilty.

Former Prosecutors Fighting to Reduce Your Points and Dismiss Your NJ Traffic Ticket

Our lawyers have more than 200 years’ collective experience in municipal court, handling New Jersey traffic tickets. Our attorneys have prosecuted in over 25 municipalities throughout the state. When you hire our team, you know that you are getting representation that has fought on both sides, and knows tactics that get results.

Beat Your Traffic Ticket By Hiring an Experienced Lawyer

People often think they are stuck with what they are charged with, and that they have no choice but to plead guilty to whatever the ticket says. With a powerful law firm backing you, you can achieve great results in reducing points and having your tickets dismissed. Our presence is felt in municipal courts throughout the state, and town prosecutors know that we get results.

Call our office today, toll-free, at 1 (877) 450-8301 and find out how we can help you put the odds back in your favor.