ST LOUIS SPEEDING TICKETS
Nobody likes getting pulled over by the police. Especially if the end result is a St Louis traffic ticket.
But the real test comes after the ticket is written, and it is now in your hand. What do you do next?
If you’ve received a St Louis speeding or traffic ticket, you have two main choices in how you handle it:
ST LOUIS TRAFFIC TICKET ATTORNEY
1) You could simply pay the fine listed on the back of the ticket. The cost will be around $150. That will eliminate any court hearing, risk of a warrant, or the problems associated with an outstanding ticket.
But here’s the catch: When you pay that fine (the one listed on the back of the ticket), you are pleading guilty to the charge of speeding (or improper lane change, or running a stop sign, or whatever).
And if you plead guilty to a St Louis speeding (or other traffic) ticket, the state of Missouri will automatically put a certain number of points on your permanent driving record.
FIXING SPEEDING TICKETS IN ST LOUIS MISSOURI
If there are points on your driving record, your automobile insurance will spike through the roof. So for instance, if you plead guilty to a “No Proof of Insurance” ticket in St Louis, the state will put up to two (2) points on your driving record. That will bump your car insurance up by about 35% above your current rates. But if the ticket you plead guilty to is a “Driving While Suspended” ticket, then the state will smack you with twelve (12) points (and your insurance will jump by at least 50% above current rates).
So what’s the total cost to you? There will be the initial fine of approximately $150 that is paid to the municipality in which you got pulled over. But the amount you’ll pay in higher car insurance is where you really get hit in the nose. Because even if you only get a couple of points on your driving record, that increase of 35% above your current rates will last, month after month, for at least the next three years (when your state of residence usually clears driving records). In other words, its not as if you’ll only end up paying the increased 35% for one or two months. It’ll last for a significant period of time. And if at the end of that three-year period you were to calculate all the extra money that you paid, it would make you faint. That’s a lot of extra money going out the door!
If that kind of deal doesn’t sound all that great, don’t worry, there is a second option!!
2) You could contact us to fix your St Louis traffic ticket. The way we fix tickets is very simple. Our attorney will first let the court and prosecutor know that your ticket is now being handled by us. This first step in the process is important, because it frees you (most of the time) from having to make any appearance in court. Why? Because once the attorney has taken over your St Louis speeding ticket, the court and/or prosecutor will deal directly with our law firm.
The next step in the process will involve us negotiating a deal with the prosecutor to get your traffic ticket reduced from a moving violation (like a common speeding infraction) down to a non-moving violation (like Illegal Parking, or Excessive Vehicle Noise). This will be the primary objective. Why? Because non-moving violations do not have any points attached to them.
In other words, a successful negotiation with the prosecutor (i.e. getting your ticket amended to a non-moving violation) will eliminate any chance that your car insurance will go up. Since non-moving violations do not carry any points, there is nothing negative to report to your auto insurance company. Your monthly insurance premiums will remain the same.
It is also worth pointing out the fact that having a St Louis speeding ticket lawyer handle your ticket(s) all but eliminates any chance of your matter moving into warrant status. When unrepresented people deal with a traffic ticket on their own, there is an increased risk that they will forget about the ticket, lose the ticket, or inadvertently end up missing a required court hearing (all of which can easily lead to your ticket going to warrant).
So what would be the total cost to you in this scenario? If you hire us to represent you on a basic traffic ticket (like a St Louis speeding ticket in which you were traveling 10-15 miles above the limit), the cost starts at $30. If you have a more serious kind of ticket (like if you have a speeding ticket in which you were going 30 miles over the limit), the cost would likely be more (because there would be a great deal more work for us to get it resolved). Once we get the ticket reduced to a non-moving violation, the municipality or county will assess a fine. That fine will be a bit higher in this kind of situation. Instead of $150, the fine will likely be closer to $250. Why the higher cost? Because the prosecutor knows that if you had plead guilty to the ticket (as outlined above in #1), your car insurance would skyrocket. But by reducing your ticket to a non-moving violation, the prosecutor also knows that he/she is saving you a ton of money (because your car insurance will not go up if the ticket has been amended down to a non-moving violation). And because of this extra benefit to you, the municipality feels very comfortable assessing a slightly higher fine.
As you can see, it is far more beneficial to you (in terms of cost, hassle, time, and effort) to hire us to take care of your traffic matters in the St Louis area! Just give us a call, and we will make sure you receive the best possible outcome. We look forward to hearing from you!!