Traffic offenses happen daily, sometimes even by accident, but in the eyes of the law, rules will continue to get broken without penalties. In some cases, it might be that the ticket is issued wrongfully, but when a court appearance is required, you must show up to contest it.
A traffic court appearance becomes required when the driver is seen as a threat to themselves and other road users. You can also be required to make a court appearance if you are someone with multiple traffic-related offenses.
This indicates that the driver becomes deemed unfit for the road, leading to penalties like community service, jail term, and license suspension. Read on to find out how to deal with traffic ticket cases that require a court appearance and why you should be there.
How to check if you need to make a traffic court appearance?
When you are issued a traffic ticket, you must check the traffic citation to know if you must make an appearance in court. Under normal circumstances, when a traffic officer issues you a traffic citation requesting you to appear in court, it must state the date and time of this hearing.
However, not all tickets require a court appearance, so you should always check what is stated in the demarcated areas or a box ticked “must appear.” As the court date approaches, the driver will get a reminder notice, so you cannot claim ignorance.
Not showing up to traffic court is a serious offense that can lead to driver’s license suspension or permanent revocation. Then there is the issue of your traffic record to consider, which will carry this traffic offense charge.
Does a court appearance rule affect those out of state?
No one wants a run-in with the law when out of state because you are under a different jurisdiction. In most cases, you cannot choose to appear in your local traffic court back in your city if you won’t be able to stay until the stipulated date of your court appearance.
This will require you to extend your stay or travel back to the state of your offense, which is an inconvenience than paying the ticket’s fine.
The repercussion of not appearing on your court date
If, for any reason, you will not be able to make your court date appearance, there is room for rescheduling your court date. You will need an attorney to help you file for a change of date or better appeal so that they represent you in court.
“A failure to Appear Notice” is issued to an offender who ignores the summon of the traffic court. This is after no attempt was made to reschedule or no representative of yours has notified the court of any incident preventing you from showing up. When this happens, you will have to visit the court to deal with it. The penalties for not showing up include charges, fines, and arrests.
Contesting a traffic ticket requires legal counsel for both local and out-of-state incidences. So, you should always contact an experienced legal counsel, no matter how minor it might seem.