New York Traffic Ticket Lawyers

What a New York traffic ticket really costs you

A traffic ticket lawyer is an attorney who appears in court for you and works to get a ticket reduced or dismissed before it ever reaches your driving record. In New York that happens in town, village, and city courts across the state, and at the DMV Traffic Violations Bureau in a handful of cities. You usually do not have to be there.

A traffic ticket is rarely just a fine. A conviction in New York adds points to your license, and the New York State DMV may suspend your license once you reach 11 points within 24 months. Hit 6 points inside 18 months and the DMV bills you a Driver Responsibility Assessment of $100 a year for three years, separate from anything the court charges. Then your insurer sees the conviction and raises your premium, often for three years or more.

A traffic ticket lawyer negotiates with the prosecutor to reduce or dismiss the charge before any of that attaches to your record. Whether you feel wrongly charged or you are trying to keep points off your license, having an attorney who knows New York traffic law and the local courts is a smart move. We handle every type of traffic violation, and the list below covers the ones we see most rather than everything we take. If you have been charged, contact us today, or upload your ticket and we will look at it before we speak.

Speeding

Speeding is the most common ticket we defend, and the points scale fast with the speed. Going 1 to 10 mph over the limit carries 3 points, 11 to 20 mph over carries 4, 21 to 30 mph over carries 6, and anything more than 40 mph over the limit carries 11 points, which is the suspension threshold on a single ticket. Fines climb the same way and a mandatory state surcharge is added on top. Instead of pleading guilty, talk to a traffic attorney about a reduction to a lower or non-point violation.

Texting While Driving

Using a portable electronic device to text, email, or browse while driving violates New York Vehicle and Traffic Law and carries 5 points, one of the steepest point counts for a non-criminal traffic offense. Fines start around $50 to $200 for a first offense and rise for repeat convictions within 18 months. For drivers under 21 holding a probationary or junior license, a conviction means a license suspension rather than points. These cases often turn on what the officer actually observed, which is worth examining before you plead.

Handheld Cell Phone Use

New York bans holding a phone to your ear to talk while driving, separate from the texting statute, and it also carries 5 points. Calls have to be hands-free, with the phone mounted or otherwise not in your hand. Drivers are often ticketed under this section when the phone was being used for navigation or was simply in their lap, which is a meaningful distinction under the law. If you believe you were charged unfairly, we can review the stop.

Uninsured Motorist

Driving without insurance in New York is treated seriously. Your license and registration can be revoked for at least one year, and the DMV adds its own civil penalty on top of the court fine before it will restore your driving privileges. The revocation applies even when the lapse was a paperwork problem rather than a deliberate choice. An attorney can address both the court case and the DMV consequence, which are handled separately.

Leaving the Scene of an Accident

New York law requires you to stop and exchange license and insurance information after a collision. Leaving the scene of a property-damage accident is a traffic infraction, but leaving the scene of an accident involving injury is a misdemeanor or a felony depending on how serious the injury is. The difference between those charges is large, and so is the difference between handling it with a lawyer and without one.

Failure to Comply

If you miss your court date or ignore a traffic summons, the court notifies the DMV and your license can be suspended until the case is resolved. Driving while that suspension is in place exposes you to an aggravated unlicensed operation charge, which is a criminal matter rather than a traffic infraction. If you have already missed a date, an attorney can often get the case restored to the calendar and the suspension lifted.

Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device

This 2-point charge covers running a red light, ignoring a stop sign, and disregarding posted signs or pavement markings. It is also the charge prosecutors most often offer as a reduction from a speeding ticket, because it carries fewer points and a smaller insurance impact. Understanding what your ticket can realistically be reduced to is most of the value an attorney brings to a routine case.

Improper Lane Change

An unsafe lane change, passing improperly, or drifting left of center each carry 3 points in New York. These tickets are usually written after an officer observes a maneuver from a distance, and the officer’s vantage point is a legitimate thing to question. Contact Nave Law to learn how we can help.

Unsafe Passing

Passing in a way that interferes with another vehicle’s safety is illegal in New York, including passing on the right where it is not permitted and passing without a clear view of oncoming traffic. These charges frequently arise out of a near-miss or a complaint from another driver rather than something the officer watched from start to finish.

Tailgating

Following too closely carries 4 points and a fine that can reach several hundred dollars, and it is often written alongside an aggressive driving allegation after a collision. Because 4 points puts most drivers two-thirds of the way to a Driver Responsibility Assessment, this is a ticket worth fighting even when the fine looks manageable.

Failure to Yield

A failure to yield ticket carries 3 points and is typically issued after a crash, when the officer arrived to a scene rather than witnessing what happened. Right-of-way cases turn on angles, sight lines, and timing, and a ticket written from a post-accident reconstruction is more open to challenge than most drivers assume.

Failure to Stop

This charge applies when you do not come to a complete stop at a stop sign, red light, or other signal requiring one, and it carries 3 points. Rolling stops make up most of these tickets, and where the officer was positioned relative to the intersection frequently matters to the outcome.

Reckless Driving

Reckless driving is a misdemeanor in New York, not a traffic infraction, which means a conviction creates a permanent criminal record. It carries 5 points, a fine, and up to 30 days in jail even on a first offense. Because the standard is driving that unreasonably interferes with the use of the highway or endangers others, it is a subjective charge and often a negotiable one. If you are facing it, you need an experienced attorney, and you may also want to read about our criminal defense practice.