Defending against a traffic ticket may seem like a waste of time and energy. You will have to go to court and hire a lawyer. If you think of the ticket as only causing a fine that costs a couple of hundred dollars, those actions may seem unnecessary.
However, traffic tickets can impact your insurance costs and also affect your licensing privileges. Defending against the ticket could help you keep your insurance costs reasonable and preserve your ability to drive.
Every ticket comes with points as well as a fine
When a police officer issues you a citation, the state add points to your license. Those points accumulated until they trigger certain penalties. Once you have six points on your license, you will receive a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation about a necessary exam. You will need to undergo state testing or potentially face the suspension of your license. When you pass the exam, the state will remove two points from your license.
The second time you reach the six-point threshold, you will have to attend a DOT hearing. An examiner will look over your record at that hearing and decide what action to take. They can do nothing, or they could suspend your license for up to 15 days or require that you take a special on-road test. If you don’t attend the meeting, the DOT will suspend your license for 60 days.
After a third or subsequent time reaching six points on your driving record, you will face a DOT haring again, this time potentially resulting in a 30-day suspension. Once you reach 11 or more points, the state will suspend your license for up to a year depending on the number of points and prior suspensions.
Tickets will also affect your insurance costs
Even a first citation will increase what you pay for motor vehicle liability insurance. Your insurance company establishes for premium depending on how much risk you pose for a major place. The more likely you are to cost the company money, the more you have to pay for coverage.
One ticket could increase what you pay by hundreds of dollars a year. Multiple tickets may even push you into a higher-risk policy pool that increases your costs even more. When you defend against the traffic ticket, you don’t just avoid a fine. You also prevent the points on your license that could cost you your driving privileges and increase what you paid for insurance.