Most states assess penalties, sometimes referred to as "points" against an individual's drivers license for certain guilty pleas or convictions. The more serious the offense the greater number of points, with some violations resulting in an immediate loss of license in and with it, the right to drive. Typically points are assessed primarily for a moving violation such as speeding, careless and imprudent driving, failure to stop at a light or sign, etc., although points may be assessed in certain states or under certain situations even for non-moving violations. We understand the point system in the states in which we handle traffic citations and can advise you of the consequences of a guilty plea or conviction of the traffic citation as charged. At the same time, if you are interested in avoiding additional points on your license, which may result in loss of the right to drive, we can seek a plea bargain that will reduce or perhaps eliminate this type of penalty.
While no attorney can guarantee success in any endeavor, because of our extensive experience throughout the states in which we handle traffic citations, we usually have a pretty good idea of what the prosecutor will do before we ever contact him. In turn, if we know going in that the prosecutor will not negotiate a plea bargain, perhaps due to the fact that an accident or injury was involved, we will tell you that up front and suggest that you not retain our services thereby avoiding an unnecessary attorney fee.
People can and do lose their driver's license and their right to drive for specific periods or indefinitely because of points violations and that can seriously affect your life. You may not be able to drive to work, to shop, to visit friends or carry on many other activities. While there is the possibility of retaining a hardship driver's license that costs yet more money both in the form of attorney fees and increased insurance rates. It is better to try to negotiate a traffic ticket down to a violation that will not result in loss of your license rather than deal with these consequences of losing your privilege to drive.
It is a common practice of insurance companies these days to require someone seeking coverage to list all traffic convictions on their application. While this is usually limited to the last three to five years and requests only moving violations, that is not always the case. In addition, since your driving record is generally available to the public, insurance companies routinely access these records at renewal time or to cancel policies of insureds who have a bad record. No insurance company wants to insure a bad risk and one of the indicators of that risk is whether or not their driver has been convicted of a number of moving violations, such as careless imprudent driving, speeding or failure to stop at a light or sign, as these habits may lead to accidents.
While no one but the insurance company can state its individual policy regarding how traffic convictions affect your insurability and premium, it clearly is an important factor in their determination of whether to insure you and then at what rate. Again, no one but the insurance company can state whether or not your rates will increase depending upon the risk perceived through your traffic citation history, but it certainly happens if you are responsible for an accident. It is much better to avoid the issue by being able to state on the application that you have not received any convictions for a moving violation within the time period specified and be sure that your state driving record backs you up.