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There have been, over the years, some pretty pathetic defense strategies when it came to fighting a traffic ticket. Someone would read some information somewhere or use some advice from a relative or friend.

In this article we will go over the 5 most common mistakes used by people when trying to fight their traffic ticket. Use these as a guide of what not to do.

Mistake #1- Delaying the traffic court date

Almost every other book I’ve read on traffic tickets advises you to postpone the trial by asking for a continuance. They claim the longer your traffic court trial is from the original infraction, the greater the chance the officer will fail to show up to court on your traffic ticket.

Delaying the court date will not improve your chance of having your traffic ticket dismissed.

My question is what if you do postpone your traffic court date and the officer still shows up?

This may be a little known fact, but police officers get overtime pay to be in traffic court.

Mistake #2- Request the Prosecution’s Evidence Before Trial.

You have the right by law to see any information the court plans on using to convict you. The process is called discovery. And it would be useful if you were charged with murder, but this is traffic court. Don’t do this, it can hurt your chances of successfully getting your traffic ticket dismissed.

Requesting evidence before any kind of trial tells the prosecution you are planning a defense. He will see this as a challenge and will undoubtedly prepare accordingly, making your chances of winning almost impossible.

Don’t request anything or even contact the courthouse at any time prior to your trial about your traffic ticket. DO NOT let them know you are familiar with the traffic court process.

Mistake #3- Doing a lot of needless research

How many of you like to spend your free time at your local courthouse researching piles upon piles of law books? There’s absolutely no need to do this research. It’s time consuming and not to mention boring.

Although in some cases it may be wise to look up a certain law and see how it is worded, there really is no need to do it with all traffic ticket trials.

Mistake #4- Going after the police officers credibility

Going to traffic court with the sole purpose of making the police officer look like an idiot will backfire on you and any plan you had of getting your traffic ticket thrown out. Claiming things like, “the radar gun was faulty”, or “the officer clocked the wrong vehicle”, or “the officer singled you out”, or “the officer hasn’t had adequate training with the radar/laser gun” are all useless defenses.

Don’t ever go into traffic court with the idea you are going to challenge the police officers training on the use of the radar gun. This will only draw scrutiny from the judge, who will accept the officers testimony that he is properly trained on the use of the equipment.

The officer will NOT have to prove his training qualifications in the courtroom. Let’s face it, the officer has been properly trained and knows how to work the radar/laser gun. No question about it. If you try and go this route you will be disappointed when the judge asks you to provide evidence supporting your claim.

Mistake #5- Showing up to traffic court unprepared.

This is by far the biggest mistake people will make when fighting a traffic ticket. They go to court, thinking they’ve done their homework, when in reality everything they did leading up to the trial was in vain. They’re research was done the WRONG WAY and as a result, they lose their case before they even had a chance to defend themselves.

And then there are those who don’t do any research and think that they can tell there side of the story and the judge will have pity on them. Yeah right!

Look, I know the thought of going to traffic court can be a little scary for some, but this isn’t a murder trial. It’s just a simple traffic ticket. Traffic court is set up to be extremely ‘user friendly’ due to the large amounts of people who go there every day.

If you avoid these 5 mistakes you will have a better chance of claiming your victory in traffic court, and hopefully getting that traffic ticket thrown out.

Learn more about traffic tickets and hoe to fight them. Stop by Steven Swihart’s site where you can find out all about traffic violations and how to protect yourself against them.

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.

These can be a nuisance but at least they wont go on your driving history or be reported to your auto insurance.

Common non moving violations can include failure to use your seatbelt, improper registration, no license plate or lamps, improper parking, and a broken or non working taillight.

In most cases these should just be paid. It can be a big hassle to go to traffic court for these kinds of violations. The reason is the fines for these are usually no more than $50 or so, and you could end up being in traffic court for hours. Not worth it in my judgment.

But if you felt the ticket was given unjustly, you should always attempt to resolve it in some way. For example a broken head light ticket will usually be tossed if you show proof you fixed it.

A moving violation on the other hand, is any violation of the law, committed by the driver of a vehicle, while it is in motion. The term “motion” distinguishes it from ‘non-moving’ violations. While parking tickets are charged against a vehicle (which will be towed if violations go unpaid or are frequent), moving violations are charged against the person driving. Moving violations are usually classified as infractions or misdemeanors, but serious violations can be considered felonies.

In most places, moving violations involve fines which must be paid as well as punitive points assessed to the license of the driver. As a driver accumulates points, he or she may be required to attend defensive driving lessons, re-take his or her driving test or even surrender his or her license.

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!

Common moving violations include: speeding (by far the most common violation) , running a stop sign or red traffic light, failure to yield to someone with the right of way, failing to maintain a single lane, not stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, crossing the gore (striped area), failure to secure a load to a truck, driving in a car pool lane illegally, or driving too slow for road conditions, particularly in a left-hand lane

Some of the more serious types of moving violations can include racing, driving under the influence, and vehicular homicide.

Also, traffic violations can either be criminal or civil. They both come with fines and points on your record, but a criminal violation is the only one that can get you jail time.

Sentences imposed in criminal cases are obligations owed to the state for violation of their laws. The term state can be applied to cities, towns, state or federal governments or any other kind of municipality. Obviously these are the moving violations you need to avoid at all costs.

Learn more about different moving violations. Stop by Steven Swihart’s site where you can find out all about fighting traffic tickets for your individual needs.

On average, over 100,000 drivers get speeding tickets every day. Thats 36,500,000 traffic tickets yearly.

One in every six drivers will be ticketed for speeding this year.

The average speeding ticket costs $150.00.

$150 x 36,500,000= $5,475,000,000! Thats almost 5.5 BILLION per year in speeding ticket fines.

The average raise in insurance costs for one speeding ticket over the course of 3 years is $900.00.

Multiply 900 by 36,500,000 and you get $3,285,000,000 (3.28 BILLION dollars) in extra insurance money the insurance industry makes in a single year just from speeding tickets.

More than 95% of drivers who get speeding tickets will simply pay the fine and not fight it in traffic court.

The other 5% who make an effort to fight their ticket usually have their case dismissed or receive reduced charges that don’t get reported on their driving record.

In the US there are almost 200 million licensed drivers.

40% of the time the police officer doesn’t show up in traffic court. This is grounds for dismissal.

The first city in the US to use the photo radar was Paradise Valley, AZ in 1987.

The first city to mandate the wearing of seat belts was Brooklyn Ohio in 1966.

Drivers aged 17-24 receive the majority of speeding tickets.

More males than females receive speeding citations.

More women fight their speeding tickets than men.

Seventeen year old drivers are more likely to be involved in an accident than any other age group.

In July 1879, two men are fined for speeding horses in Seattle.

The first automobile made by Henry Ford in 1894 only went forward.

At a London intersection in 1868, pedestrians and horse drawn buggies were the first to use traffic lights. They were lanterns that glowed either red or green.

Since 1999, Washington, D.C. cameras have issued 2,421,841 tickets worth $182 million.

The earliest known speeding ticket on file was issued in 1910 to the Prime Minister of Canada’s wife. She was traveling at a whopping 10 mph over the limit.

Speeding tickets are handed out to doctors more than any other type of profession.

In salary and benefits an average police officer will cost a city around $75,000 a year. He will also make the town an average of $150,000 in that same year. Cops are good investments.

The top ten states for writing speeding tickets are:

1. Ohio 2. Pennsylvania 3. New York 4. California 5. Texas 6. Georgia 7. Virginia 8. North Carolina 9. Massachusetts 10. Connecticut

Looking to find advice on how to beat your speeding ticket? Then visit www.Paytrafficviolation.com to find the best advice on beating traffic violations in traffic court.

Have you been pulled over and received a speeding ticket? Then rest assured there are ways you can fight speeding tickets, without a lawyer.

Gather evidence: When fighting speeding tickets, ask the traffic court to see the official documents, like calibration records for either the radar gun or speedometer used to clock your car. File a discovery request with the prosecutor so you can always examine documents in advance for flaws. But note that if you subpoena documents, you’ll remind the officer of the incident, which may prompt him/her to show up in court.

One thing that can help you fight speeding tickets is to know that devices that measure your cars speed such as radar and laser detectors can be subject to human error. Traffic tickets have been dismissed in some instances because the ticketing officer failed to document proper positioning of the speed detecting instrument.

Fight speeding tickets with technicalities. Simple things missing from the ticket can get it thrown out. It may be rare but if something as simple as the lack of the officers signature missing, or if it or the badge ID number is not readable then it could be dismissed.

Be Brief: When fighting speeding tickets, keep in mind that judges don’t have a lot of time. Give a brief report. Additionally, use of visual evidence, such as a photo of a road sign obscured by foliage may help your case.

Officers rarely have a good reason for missing traffic court. If you go to court to fight speeding tickets and the officer isn’t there and the court asks for a continuance you should respectfully object. This is an example of winning your case by default and it happens more often than you might think.

Car insurance rates can be raised for a long time after having speeding ticket points go against your driving record. Obviously the best way to avoid having to fight speeding tickets in the first place is to not get one at all. But eventually there might come a day when you need to face traffic court head on. Do your research and come out a winner.

Want to find out more about how to fight speeding tickets? Then visit Steven Swihart’s site for all things traffic violation related, and learn the in’s and out’s of the traffic court system.