Fight Every Commercial Driving Ticket, Period
There is no downside to fighting most tickets. If we plead “not guilty” and set the ticket for trial, the cop gets ordered to go to court. If he doesn’t show up, the case gets dismissed. This means, if he is on vacation and doesn’t show up, if he is on training and doesn’t show up, if he is injured and doesn’t show up or for any other reason, if he doesn’t show up, the case goes away.
If he does show up, you can:
- Try and negotiate a better settlement with him, or
- You can still plead “guilty” before the trial and get the same deal (or better) than you had before.
So, what’s the catch? There is none. It just takes a bit of time and effort. Or, if you are inclined to do so, you can hire a lawyer to help with this, but you certainly don’t have to. However, if you do hire a lawyer, please make sure it is someone who will actually go to court and try his best to get the case resolved. Don’t hire some mill who has a sign on a billboard near the freeway. Don’t hire a lawyer you never speak with. And, finally, if what the lawyer says seems too good to be true, hire someone else.
So, if you have a commercial driver’s license, you should absolutely, positively set each ticket for trial. Remember, this is how you make your living. If you lose your job, bad things could happen.
If you don’t have a commercial license, you should still take the same advice. Many people tell me they will just do traffic school. Commercial drivers cannot go to traffic school when they get tickets in commercial vehicles. Non-commercial drivers can only get traffic school once every 18 months. Some tickets are not traffic school eligible. If you don’t have a California license, you cannot do traffic school. Save traffic school for when you need it, don’t do it because it’s a fast way out.
If you got a traffic ticket in Los Angeles or Ventura County, don’t just pay the fine. Fight the ticket. If you don’t fight, you can’t win!.
If you want to talk to a lawyer about your ticket, I would be happy to speak to you about how I can help. It’s almost always a free consultation.
Attorney Jeffrey Vallens (818) 783-5700 or email me: vallenslaw@yahoo.com