THE PEOPLE’S COUNSEL IS YOUR #1 CHOICE FOR ST CHARLES COUNTY MISSOURI TRAFFIC TICKETS
A speeding or traffic ticket from St Charles County MO does not have to end up badly. In fact, we can handle your ticket pretty easily. All you have to do is give us a call here at The People’s Counsel.
The state of Missouri uses something called a ‘Points System’ to process all its traffic matters. And this is the best place to start when discussing how traffic tickets are handled in St Charles Missouri.
If points end up on your permanent driving record, then your car insurance rates will spike quite a bit. Why? Because the automobile insurance industry views points on your record as an indication of your willingness to obey the law. And the more points you have, the more it tends to indicate a driver who flouts the law altogether.
EXPERIENCED ST CHARLES MISSOURI SPEEDING TICKET LAWYER
So the first problem with points accumulating on your driving record is increased cost. Even one or two points will lead directly to a jump of 35% above the rates you are currently paying each month for car insurance. And if you receive any more points (especially if those they come within the same year), your insurance will spike even higher, to something closer to 50% above current rates.
Believe it or not, that is a great deal of extra money you’ll have to push out the door over the next three (3) years. Why three years? Because that is how long it takes before the state of Missouri might be willing to scrub those points to clear up your record. So just to make sure it is clear, you will end up paying this increase cost, month after month, for the next thirty-six (36) months. It is far more effective to write it out like that because reading this sentence tends to bring the increased cost into focus.
NO POINTS – NO INCREASED CAR INSURANCE
Okay, so it is clear that the insurance industry does not like points! But how does someone get points on their driving record to begin with? Do they simply fall out of the sky, and magically land on your head?
There is one, and only one, way that the state of Missouri way assesses points to your permanent driving record: You must first plead guilty to some sort of moving violation.
So how does someone plead guilty to a moving violation? Let’s say you receive a St Charles MO speeding ticket. You take a look at the back of the ticket, and you notice some information about paying the fine. It basically tells you that if you pay the fine (either in person, over the phone, or online), you will not have to appear on the court date and time listed on the front of the ticket. And that the municipality will then consider the matter closed.
Sounds good, right? Who wouldn’t want to dispose of a traffic ticket in such a simple, straightforward manner?
But what the back of your St Charles Missouri traffic ticket will not tell you is that by paying the fine listed, you are pleading guilty to the charge of speeding. Traveling in excess of the posted speed limit is described as a “moving violation” (i.e. you committed the infraction while the motor vehicle was in motion).
As mentioned above, it is the act of pleading guilty to a moving violation that allows the state to assess points to your driving record. So you’ll definitely want to avoid that outcome!
But if your ticket is in fact a moving violation (like a speeding ticket), then what are you supposed to do?
Well, you first option would be to represent yourself. This will likely entail a trial, at which time you are given the ability to call witnesses and present exculpatory evidence. But unless you are able to provide some pretty compelling facts (like the area in which you were pulled over had a speed limit that was actually higher than the police officer listed on in the charges), then the judge is almost certainly going to find you guilty.
Your other option should be apparent! You could give us a call at The People’s Counsel, and one of our St Charles Missouri speeding ticket attorneys will get the citation reduced from a moving violation down to a non-moving violation.
How do we accomplish this task? After we notify the court that we are representing you on the ticket, we will immediately begin a negotiation with the prosecutor. This process is called working out a “plea bargain,” and it almost always results in the prosecutor reducing the citation down to a non-moving violation (such as Illegal Parking).
And again, non-moving violations do not come with any points, which means you won’t have to worry about increased costs (like car insurance, or driving on a suspended license). So give us a call, and we will help get you out of this mess (and make sure that none of the above negativity occurs). We look forward to hearing from you!