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Failing to Pay Traffic Tickets Carry Heavy Consequences

Last year, 16,300 people in New York City alone received speeding tickets. New Yorkers that chose to challenge these tickets may have a heavy battle before them. The initial battle however, is whether or not to pay the traffic ticket in the first place.

If you do not pay your traffic ticket, the Traffic Violations Bureau will send a notice to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your license will be suspended. You will not have a valid license until you pay the fine and the mandatory surcharge. There is also a $70 termination fee due to the Traffic Violations Bureau.

Driving with a suspended license just leads to more tickets. The fines for driving with a suspended license are $200-$500 and may include imprisonment or probation. It is important to note that the suspension does not indicate that you are guilty of the offense ticketed, just that you are guilty of failing to respond to the ticket.

If you choose to ignore the ticket after the Traffic Violations Bureau has suspended your license for failing to respond, you will next receive a default conviction. A default conviction means that you are guilty of failing to respond to a ticket. If this occurs, the termination fee will double and you will owe a total of $140 to the Traffic Violations Bureau. You will have to pay this in addition to the original fine and surcharges.

If you have ignored tickets on twenty different dates, you may receive a higher conviction of “aggravated failure to answer tickets.” This carries even heavier fines and imprisonment.

Navigating challenging a traffic ticket can be a complicated process. A traffic ticket attorney may be of great help to New Yorkers who are going through this process.