There are two main differences between traffic violations. Knowing which kind you have can be very important when determining how to handle your particular situation.
A lot of times when you have a minor violation and it wont result in any points on your license its best to go ahead and pay it and avoid trying to challenge it in traffic court.
Traffic tickets fall under one of two categories: non-moving violations and moving violations. Non-moving violations typically involve parking your car illegally or minor ‘fix-it’ tickets. These violations are not as serious as their counter-parts (moving violations) and usually involve much smaller fines.
Plus, as a bonus they do not show up on your driving record, which means your auto insurance company won’t find out about them.
Non moving violations can be things such as not wearing your seatbelt, a broken headlight or improperly parking your vehicle.
The fines for non moving violations are normally small, like around $50 or less. So its usually better, just from a hassle stand point, to pay these types of violations and not waste hours in traffic court.
However, if you feel you were unjustly ticketed for any reason, you should always make an attempt to try and resolve the matter in some way. For instance, a broken tail light ticket can usually be beat by showing a recent receipt that you have fixed the tail light.
On the other hand, a moving violation is any law broken by the automobile driver while the vehicle is in motion. This type of violation is distinguished by the term ‘motion’. While a non moving violation is charged against the vehicle, a moving violations are charged against the driver of a vehicle. While usually only classifies as infractions or misdemeanors, serious violations can be felonies.
In most locations moving violations involve both a fine and points being assessed to the record of the driver. As points accumulate harsher punishments can be imposed such as being ordered to take driving classes, or even having your license suspended.
You may think we have it bad in the US, and we do, because traffic fines can go all the way up to $500 and more. But in some countries around the world, traffic can be set according to an individuals income, and in some rare cases be more than $100,000!
Some of the more common moving violations include speeding, failure to stop at a stop sign or red light, failure to yield, crossing the median, violating HOV lanes or driving too slow for current road conditions.
Some examples of serious moving violations are drunk driving, racing on a public road, road rage and vehicular homicide.
Traffic violations are also broken down into either civil or criminal. While they both have points and fines associated with them, only criminal violations can wind up you up in jail.
The sentence imposed in a criminal case is an obligation that a person has towards the “state” for violation of law; that is, it is a punishment for the act that was committed. The ’state’ could be a local township, municipality, city, county, state or the federal government. These are moving violations to avoid at all costs, obviously.
Looking to find the best information on the internet about traffic tickets? Then visit www.Paytrafficviolation.com to find the best advice for beating your traffic ticket.
Tags: automobile insurance, car insurance, driving, family, law, law enforcement, speeding tickets