With thousands of pages of traffic laws it's inevitable that even safe drivers will eventually get stopped. In fact every time we drive we will technically break at least one traffic law. Today traffic tickets are expensive. The average ticket is about $150.00 with penalties and costs. But the real consequences are the insurance rate increases or cancellations, loss of points and possible loss of your license which makes it difficult to work and support yourself or your family.

That's why it's important to fight your first ticket and not wait until your third ticket when it may be too late. Remember three tickets and you're out. 175 million tickets are written each year.

The tips and tricks below are presented by Melvin D. Leiding, Attorney at Law, author of a book "HOW TO FIGHT YOUR TRAFFIC TICKET AND WIN!!! 206 TIPS, TRICKS AND TECHNIQUES".

What Should You Do If You Got a Ticket

So, it eventually happened – you have got a traffic ticket and you are not happy about it. What to do next, you wonder?
Here are some basic preliminary steps you should take which will get you started in the right direction.

1. What not to do. Please, do not think "I'm guilty so there is nothing I can do" and just send in the payment by mail. This is the worst thing you can do. You will be pleading guilty and paying the highest possible fine allowed by law. You can cut your fine at least in half in most cases. It's easy to pay the lowest fine amount and save yourself hundreds of dollars.
2. The first thing you should always do, no matter what the facts are, is PLEAD NOT GUILTY and ask for a court date. You can do this by certified mail, going to the clerks window or going to the court room. You are innocent until proven guilty so make them prove your guilt. Don't do it for them. There are numerous ways they can screw up and your ticket will get dismissed. Also with a little preparation and help you can win at the hearing or before. This will give you time to calmly consider your alternatives and make a better informed decision. It is also the first step in saving money on a fine.
3. The next thing you should do is delay the proceedings by getting as many continuances as you can. Continuances are usually fairly easy to get for things like - you're out of town, can't get off work or you are sick etc. Each continuance increases the chance that the officer won't be there when needed which will result in your ticket being dismissed. This happens 30% to 50% of the time depending on the court. I'd take those odds in Vegas any day.
4. Every time you go to court you should be prepared to fight your ticket in case it isn't continued and the officer is present. Educate yourself in traffic ticket defense and become your own lawyer. Know your rights and fight for them.
5. Get professional help by ordering "HOW TO FIGHT YOUR TRAFFIC TICKET AND WIN!!! 206 TIPS, TRICKS AND TECHNIQUES".

Next is a very interesting personal letter from Mr. Leiding followed by a newspaper article. Mr. Leiding is a practicing lawyer with 17 years of legal experience. He is also a referral attorney for the National Motorist Association and a member of their experts corner panel. Most lawyers will not share knowledge and strategies with anyone who is outside their profession. Mr. Leiding gladly shares it all without hesitation. We asked Mr. Leiding why he is revealing these techniques. He said he is tired of seeing people getting taken advantage of in traffic court by a system which usually favors the officers. His goal is to get more people to contest their tickets and to help them win.

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Personal Letter From: Mel Leiding, Anaheim, CA

Dear Friends and Fellow Victims,

The reason I got started in my campaign against unfair traffic tickets is because I have always felt like a victim whenever I have received a ticket no matter how well deserved. This feeling usually comes right after I get the notice that the extra 8 MPH over the limit will cost me $350.00. At that point I begin to feel like I've been robbed at the point of a radar gun by a masked (sunglasses) bandit in a black and white car or motorcycle who was hiding behind a huge garbage dumpster.

They always say they are writing these tickets in the interests of my safety. This may have been true at some point in the past before tickets became big business. Now I believe most are written to raise revenue, not for safety. If they were really interested in safety they would not hide behind walls and bushes but would be stationed out in the open where they can be seen and thus be a true deterrent to unsafe driving. The problem is that if they did this they would not make any money. Hiding behind buildings and bushes doesn't cause anyone to drive slower or safer. It only causes bad relationships between the driving public and the police.

You'll have to excuse me for being a little negative and cynical right now. Normally I can appreciate an officer's job but I just got two tickets within two weeks of each other. The last one really ticked me off because the cop had such a rude and condescending attitude. It reminded me of the worst ticket I ever got for speeding ( 59 MPH in a 50 MPH zone) early one Sunday morning on my way to the mountains. It was a wide four lane road by an industrial park with no one around except the cop hiding in the bushes. That ticket eventually got dismissed.

I once wrote an article titled "I'd Rather Get Mugged Than Get A Traffic Ticket". Basically I said that getting mugged was faster, cheaper and has no long term repercussions such as increased insurance premiums or loss of my license. If I get mugged, the guy is only going to get $20.00 or $30.00 sometimes less and its over in about 30 seconds. If I get a ticket, it will cost $150.00 to $500.00 or more. If I didn't have car insurance that ticket for no insurance will be about $1,350.00. The mugger would love a score like that.

Unfortunately the traffic ticket fine is just the beginning. If you don't fight each ticket you get points against your license which could lead to the loss of your driving privileges which could eventually lead to the loss of your job and your ability to support yourself or your family. The next thing you might face if you don't fight each ticket is an insurance rate increase or something worse like cancellation by the company you've been paying faithfully year after year after year. Insurance companies love to see us get tickets because they can raise our rates. Naturally they want the speed limits lower so we will get more tickets which means higher rates and more money for them. Did you know that insurance companies spend 26 million dollars a year checking peoples driving records? Believe me they are not checking to see if you have no tickets so they can give you a good driver discount. They are checking to see if you have any traffic tickets so they can increase your rates accordingly.

One last thing - in a mugging the mugger might get arrested but never the muggee. Sit in on any traffic court and you will hear the judge issuing arrest warrants for things like failure to appear, contempt or whatever else is on the agenda that day. I swear to you, I was in traffic court this morning and someone failed to appear in court. The judge threw the file to the clerk and said "issue an arrest warrant with $10,000.00 bail". If not taken care of properly, traffic tickets can escalate into something much more serious than a fine and traffic school.

Sincerely,

Melvin D. Leiding
Attorney at Law

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