Considering fighting a speeding ticket in Colorado Springs? Speak with a traffic lawyer first so you have a strategy for winning your case.
Fighting a Speeding Ticket in Colorado Springs
You lead a busy and hectic life, as most of us do. This involves spending a lot of time driving – to work, dropping the kids off at school, running errands, or taking care of 50 other things on your to-do list. Sometimes, when you’re in a hurry or your mind is thinking about something other than the speed limit sign you just passed, you’ll find yourself cruising down the road well above that speed limit. You may even do that on a fairly regular basis. But one day, those dreaded flashing lights may appear in your rearview mirror, ruining your day and leaving you with a costly Colorado Springs speeding ticket. In fact, you could just as easily wind up wrongfully ticketed for speeding while driving under the posted speed limit.
Just Pay the Fine or Fight Back?
When you get a speeding ticket, you have a choice to make: do you just pay the fine and move on or do you fight the ticket? If you choose to fight your speeding ticket, you then have another choice to make: do you hire a lawyer to help you or do you try to make your case on your own?
First, you should think long and hard before you decide to pay your speeding ticket. Paying the fine also means that you are admitting guilt, just as if you were standing in a courtroom before a judge. As with any guilty plea in any criminal case, there are consequences you should understand and consider before you choose that course of action.
Traffic offenses go on your driving record and accumulate “points.” An adult driver (over 21 years of age) cannot receive 12 points or more in a year period, and 18 points in two years. If a person receives 12 points or more than that person’s license will be suspended for up to 1 year.
Additionally, as points accumulate, your license can be suspended and you may even face imprisonment. Accumulating points can also result in higher insurance premiums or the inability to find coverage altogether.
Hiring a Speeding Ticket Lawyer Can Be the Right Call
For these reasons, fighting your ticket may be the more prudent course of action. And hiring an experienced Colorado Springs traffic lawyer to help you is an even better call.
A lawyer that knows how to fight speeding tickets will fully understand the law, the rules of procedure and evidence, and the practical, informal, unwritten rules of dealing with judges and prosecutors. If you show up to court and attempt to defend yourself, you could get steamrolled by these rules. Evidence or testimony you think may help you may not be admissible. Statements you make in court could actually hurt your chances rather than help them.
Additionally, a speeding ticket lawyer may be able to attack the accuracy of the radar gun the officer used to clock your speed. Such devices are far from perfect and if they are not properly calibrated, recalibrated, and maintained, they can produce incorrect readings.
If you’re worried about the cost of hiring an attorney to fight a speeding ticket, the reality is that a successful defense can cost you less than the fines that you would have to pay if you were found guilty, not to mention the other potential costs of pleading guilty or losing your case.
If you’ve been charged with speeding in Colorado Springs, don’t treat it lightly. You have a lot at risk when facing the possibility of a conviction. Contact an experienced Colorado Springs speeding ticket defense attorney who can evaluate your case, advise you of your options, and work to either beat the charges or keep the consequences to a minimum.
James Newby is a criminal defense attorney in Colorado Springs and the managing attorney of the criminal justice law firm Newby Lindley Slater. James got into law because of a deep-rooted passion for helping good people that may have made a poor choice that could have lasting consequences.