Should You Fight Your Traffic Ticket or Pay It?

Nobody likes getting traffic tickets, but sometimes court can be even worse. You have to wait several hours for your case to be called, and sometimes the police officer who issued the ticket doesn't even show up. Even if your case is dismissed, it can take all day to settle this matter, so is it worth it to you to fight the ticket?

It really depends on how paying your traffic ticket will affect your driving record, your insurance and your driver license. In some states, drivers lose their licenses after they've accumulated a certain number of points from traffic violations, and some laws put your right to drive in the balance right from the start. The point here is to weigh the cost, time and inconvenience of going to court over the detrimental effects of having a ticket on your record.

For example, a first-time traffic ticket that carries only a fine as punishment is probably not worth fighting in court. You can pay the ticket, then take defensive driving to ensure it doesn't land on your record, and your insurance premiums won't go up. You should also know that in most states, you can set up a payment plan if you can't pay the full amount of the ticket up front.

If, however, the you've been issued your sixth traffic ticket in as many months, it might be worth it to fight the ticket in court. If the officer doesn't show up, your case might be dismissed, or you could convince the judge that the ticket was issued in error. Police officers aren't infallible and they do make mistakes; if you have a legitimate reason for disobeying the law, the judge might side with you.

My advice is to visit your local law library and look up each violation with which you've been charged. The language might be confusing, but you'll be able to find the type of law you've broken and the circumstances around which you can be written a ticket. In some cases, you'll find that the police officer was in error and that you shouldn't have been issued a traffic ticket in the first place. These cases are the ones that are definitely worth fighting in court.