Why Leaving Traffic Tickets Unpaid or Unchallenged Can Cause Financial Strife
Monday, March 16, 2020, 6:00 AM | Leave Comment
Even great drivers make mistakes. Unfortunately, some of those mistakes are punished with traffic tickets.
While some choose to ignore tickets and others pay them off as quickly as possible, both of those choices can lead to financial difficulties.
Below are just a few of the impacts of not challenging (or paying) your tickets.
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The Basic Costs
Traffic tickets are expensive. Even a relatively small fine is usually enough to cover one of your usual bills, and these fines can add up if you don’t pay them off quickly. Unfortunately, even paying a ticket without challenging it is still expensive – and if you were innocent of the charge, you’re going to end up paying that you shouldn’t really have to owe. However, there are no legal penalties for fighting a ticket, so you have little to lose by showing up to contest the charge.
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Fines and Fees
You won’t just be looking at the cost of paying for your tickets when you go to court. If you choose not to pay your ticket, you’ll end up paying additional fines. If you choose to simply pay your ticket without challenging it, you’ll likely end up paying fees. In many cases, it can be cheaper to hire a traffic ticket lawyer than to pay all of the fees and fines that are added on to your initial offense.
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Missed Work
When you finally have to go to court, you’ll be forced to miss work. Most traffic courts won’t give you a precise time for your hearing – they’ll simply let you know on what day you’ll be expected to go to court. If you’re not lucky enough to have your case heard that day, you might have to come back later. Whether you end up burning off vacation time or actually losing hours at your job, you’ll definitely end up losing money at court.
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Reputation Problems
Finally, you’ll want to think about the financial strife that can be caused by your damaged reputation. Few things are worse than being arrested, but being arrested on a bench warrant due to unpaid tickets is a particularly embarrassing incident. Your personal and professional reputations can be damaged by this arrest and you might even lose job opportunities once the news gets out to those in your field.
You should always talk to a lawyer if you get a ticket. The worst-case scenario is that you end up paying your fine – and you might even find a way to get out of paying anything at all. You deserve a defense even for such a minor incident and a good lawyer will help you to protect your interests.
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Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan also enjoys researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
