St. Louis Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Because pleading guilty to a moving violation will result in the state of Missouri assessing a certain number of “points” to your permanent driving record. As points accumulate, your automobile insurance carrier will increase your monthly rates. But there are ways of avoiding such an outcome.

When you get pulled over, and are issued a St. Louis traffic ticket, you have a few different ways to handle it. The first option would be to simply sign the back of the citation itself, and mail in the associated fine. This takes care of the ticket (as far as the state and court are concerned). But the state will then have an opportunity to assign points to your record. Points are like little red flags that make you look like a bad driver. This is what the insurance company uses as its excuse to raise your rates.

In addition, you should keep in mind that the more points you get, the more of a likelihood there is that your driver’s license will be taken away. For instance, if you receive eighteen (18) points in an eighteen month period of time, the state will suspend your license for one year.

The worst case scenario is that the judge will issue a bench warrant for your arrest. This can also happen if you hired an attorney to work out a deal with the prosecutor, and you did not pay the associated fine by the due date.

When you receive a St. Louis speeding ticket, the ticket itself will indicate the court date, time, and place. It will also give you information pertaining to the traffic infraction that you committed, and the amount of the fine involved. One choice would be to simply sign the back of the ticket, and mail in the associated penalty fines. Of course by doing so, you are pleading guilty to the infraction, and the state will then assess points to your permanent driving record.

But if you do not take care of the ticket, and your court hearing on the matter comes and goes, then a warrant will be issued. This means that if you are subsequently pulled over on an unrelated offense while driving (or if a police officer runs your driver’s license), the officer will see that an active warrant is in place, and he/she will likely arrest you on the spot.

If you have been pulled over for a St. Louis traffic ticket and were issued a citation, most likely the ticket has a court date on it. This is the date you have to appear in front of the Judge and either plead guilty to the charge or declare your intention to fight it. Some people choose to ignore the issue and decide not to attend that hearing; other people have conflicts and legitimately cannot make it. Regardless of the reason, the court appearance is not optional, and the Judge will not be interested in your excuse.

If you fail to appear in traffic court, the Judge will issue a warrant for your arrest. This means that if you get pulled over again, you will likely be going to jail. If you get arrested, you will get booked, fingerprinted, put in a cell, and asked to post bond.

So what can you do if you have missed a court date and have a warrant? If you find yourself in this situation, you should contact a St. Louis speeding ticket lawyer for help. A St. Louis traffic attorney can have the warrant withdrawn, get a new court date, and ask the court to issue a recommendation to amend the charge. A recommendation will typically amend the charge to a lesser offense that doesn’t include points. For example, if you were issued a citation for speeding, you can have three points added to your Missouri driver’s license. However, a St. Louis traffic lawyer can get that charged amended to something like littering, which is a non-moving violation. This means you won’t have points on your license. Receiving too many points is a certain period of time can result in the suspension or revocation of your driving privileges.

Yes, you can. In fact, such a scenario can play out in a couple different ways.

A suspended driver’s license can occur when you receive too many points on your permanent driving record. “Points” are like tiny little red flags that make you look as if you are bad driver. When points accumulate, they can cause you automobile insurance rates to rise. But if you get too many points in a compressed period of time, the state will suspend your license. For instance, if you receive eighteen (18) points within an eighteen month period, the state of Missouri will suspend you for one full year.

Another scenario in which you may lose your license is when you fail to pay your St. Louis speeding tickets. When you get pulled over, and are issued a traffic citation, it is highly advisable to have it taken care of by an experienced traffic law firm. For instance, our St. Louis speeding ticket attorneys will work with the local prosecutor to get the ticket reduced to a non-moving violation. In this way, no points are assessed to your record (and you generally do not have to make an appearance in court). But if you do not allow a lawyer to take care of the St. Louis traffic ticket for you, there is a huge risk that a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest.

The benefits of getting the ticket fixed by a lawyer far outweigh any other option. I could list many reason, but I will stick to just a few main ones.

First of all, it is possible to take care of a St. Louis speeding ticket without the aid of an attorney. You can simply sign the back of the ticket, and mail in the associated fine. This would take of the things, but the unseen consequences of doing so can be harsh.

If you do not allow an attorney to handle your St. Louis traffic ticket for you, there is a very good likelihood that you will have points assessed to your permanent driving record. “Points” are like little red flags that make you look as if you are a poor driver. This in turn will allow your automobile insurance provider to increase your monthly premiums. And if you receive too many points in a compressed period of time, you can lose your license.

To be perfectly honest, the easiest manner in which to handle a St. Louis speeding ticket to have an experienced St. Louis speeding ticket attorney take care of it for you.

When you are pulled over for driving in excess of the posted limits (i.e. speeding), the police officer will issue you a ticket. This citation will give you all the information you need to know about the type of infraction, how fast you were going, and the court date and time. One option would be to simply pay for the ticket (the back of the citation will typically list out what the associated fines are for the infraction you were pulled over on). But doing this will have certain ramifications.

When you sign the back of the St. Louis traffic ticket and mail in the fine, you are actually pleading guilty the charges. This will result in the state assessing a certain number of points (usually two points) to your permanent driving record. “Points” are like little red flags that make it look as if you are bad driver. This in turn gives your automobile insurance carrier the chance to increase your monthly rates (because any chance they have to label you as a risky driver, which allows them to raise your premiums, they most certainly will jump at it). In addition, getting a certain number of points in a compressed period of time can also result in your driver’s license being suspended (for instance, if you receive eighteen (18) points within in an eighteen month period, your license will be suspended for a full year).

The amount of time you will have in order to take care of a St. Louis traffic ticket will actually be listed on the face of the citation itself (along with the court date, time, and place). Usually, you will have about thirty (30) days. But there is a bit more you should know first before you take any other steps.

When you are pulled over by a police officer and issued a St. Louis speeding ticket, you have a few options. One would be to simply sign the back of the ticket, and pay the associated fine. But doing so will give the state the ability to assess points against your permanent driving record (as more points build up over time, the greater the risk that you will have your driver’s license suspended).

On the other hand, you could have an experienced St. Louis traffic ticket attorney take care of the speeding ticket for you. An attorney has the opportunity to negotiate a deal with the prosecutor to get the citation lowered from a moving violation to a non-moving violation. A non-moving violation does not come with any points. This means that you automobile insurance will not be affected, your record will stay clean, and you will likely not have to make any courthouse appearance.