Committing a traffic violation might not be the crime of the century, but the effects of a traffic ticket can interfere with your driving rights in some cases. Depending on the rules of your state, you might face points on your license for serious traffic offenses, which could eventually lead to a license suspension. If you are accused of more serious driving offenses like DUI or reckless driving, you might even face jail time.
If you were ticketed by an NJ State Trooper or a local police officer in New Jersey, you might need to fight that ticket in New Jersey to keep yourself out of jail or avoid paying high fines and facing potentially serious penalties like a driver’s license suspension. For help with your case, call the Law Offices of John J. Zarych. Our Atlantic City traffic ticket lawyers for out-of-state drivers might be able to help you keep your record clean. To schedule a free legal consultation, call our attorneys today at (609) 616-4956.
Fighting NJ Traffic Tickets as an Out-of-State Driver
Most of the states around New Jersey work with each other on traffic violations. This typically means that if you were charged with a serious traffic offense in any of these states, they will report the infraction back to your home state so that the Department of Transportation, Department of Motor Vehicles, or other proper authorities can properly apply those driving infractions to your license. This means that even if you committed a driving offense in another state, you might face points on your license back home, or your driver’s license might even be suspended. To keep this from happening, you will have to beat the traffic ticket back in New Jersey.
New Jersey cannot tell Pennsylvania, New York, or any other state to suspend a driver’s license or issue points. Instead, NJ only has the power to suspend your privileges to drive in New Jersey. However, agreements between the states typically mean that your home state will take their own steps to apply traffic infractions in other states to your record. They usually do this by looking at the New Jersey statute and seeing which of their driving laws has an equivalent offense. They will then put points on your license or enact a license suspension as if that conviction occurred in your home state. There might also be rules requiring you to report out-of-state tickets to your home state.
Even though you might face penalties back home, the case itself needs to be handled in New Jersey. When New Jersey police ticket you, you will be issued a summons that tells you what you were charged with, when your court date is, and which court to go to. Your ticket might also tell you how much the fine will be. Since the court location will be in New Jersey, you will need to physically show up at that court to fight the ticket. This could mean traveling a long way, especially if you live far away from New Jersey.
Many drivers will forego fighting the ticket and accept the fine. You can typically pay tickets online or by mail, which would satisfy the obligation at the cost of pleading guilty to the offense and accepting the penalties. However, if the offense is more serious – such as a drunk driving offense – you might be summoned to appear in court. You cannot miss these court dates without potential consequences, and you should speak to a lawyer before arriving in court. If you show up to court without a lawyer, then later decide you want an attorney, you may need to come back for additional court dates later, so using a lawyer from the beginning can help reduce the number of court appearances you will need to travel to New Jersey for.
Fighting Traffic Tickets in Atlantic City, NJ
Traffic tickets are not technically considered criminal offenses in New Jersey because they are typically issued under other sections of the New Jersey Revised Statutes outside of the criminal law section. However, these charges can sometimes result in jail time and high fines anyway, as well as other penalties like a suspended driver’s license.
Some of the most serious traffic offenses will actually lead to arrest in most cases. For instance, most people accused of drunk driving in New Jersey are arrested so that police can perform breath tests or blood tests and get accurate blood alcohol concentration results to use against them in court. Additionally, any tickets that show serious safety concerns might also result in an arrest, like charges for reckless driving or vehicular homicide.
Challenging traffic tickets can be more complex than one might expect. Especially if there is potential jail time for the offense, the traffic charges should be taken as seriously as other criminal charges, and you should have your lawyer fight the case in court. In other cases, such as speeding cases, challenging the police officer’s timing devices, memory of the event, or other aspects of the case might be enough to show a judge that there were sufficient errors that it is worth dropping the ticket. Moreover, simply appearing in court might be enough to get charges dropped if the officer does not show up or is called away on police business.
Call Our Atlantic City Lawyers for Traffic Tickets for Travelers and Tourists
If you received a traffic ticket in New Jersey but you live in another state, you may be required to fight the ticket in the State of New Jersey. Call our Atlantic City traffic ticket lawyers for out-of-state drivers today to schedule a free legal consultation and learn more about the potential penalties you could face at home and in New Jersey for the traffic offense. For your free legal consultation, call the Law Offices of John J. Zarych today at (609) 616-4956.
