1.   There are no right turns on a red light in NYC.  If there is a sign there specifically stating that such a turn is allowed, then it’s allowed.  Otherwise, it is prohibited in all five boroughs.  “I didn’t know” won’t cut it in court should it come to that.

2.  A red light camera ticket is not a moving violation.  The camera cannot identify a particular driver and a moving violation summons cannot therefore be issued against a particular person’s driver license.  Red light camera tickets are treated as parking violations and are issued to the registrant.  If you are the registered owner, you are officially on the hook if a camera snaps a picture of your car disobeying a red light regardless of who was driving just like you’d be responsible for a parking ticket regardless of who actually parked the car.

3.  There is no standard with respect to the length of time a yellow light phase lasts.  Some are shorter and some are longer.  It’s a product of engineering work done at each intersection which considers a number of factors including the traffic flow, the average speed of traffic and the typical visibility a motorist has when approaching the intersection.  The idea with setting the yellow phase is to minimize the number of drivers who enter the “dilemma zone” which is the point on the roadway, while approaching the intersection, where a driver is just not sure what to do and has to decide whether to stop at the intersection or continue through as the light is in the process of changing to red.

4.  Red arrows mean you cannot proceed in the direction the arrow is facing regardless of what other signals (such as an ordinary green disc) are facing you as well.  A flashing red light is the same as a stop sign.

5.  You are permitted to enter an intersection at any point prior to the light entering it’s red phase.  “Entering” the intersection means passing whatever is deemed to be the stopping point at the intersection.  A stopping point is usually a crosswalk or stop line but in some cases is simply the curb lines of the intersecting roadways.  Note that if you were issued a traffic ticket for disobeying a red light, the officer does not feel the light was anything other than red at the time you entered the intersection.

We know traffic tickets can be damaging. Insurance, fine, surcharges and potential suspension are always concerns and bring hundreds of potential clients to our office each month. Now, in a sudden and unexpected boon to traffic ticket lawyers throughout New York, you can add felony larceny and robbery charges to the list.

Police in upstate NY recently tracked down a bank robbery suspect using a traffic ticket that was actually used during the robbery. Irondequoit police said Damien Ponder, 27, of Rochester, N.Y., allegedly used the back of the traffic ticket Saturday to write a note demanding money from a teller at the First Niagara Bank.

Mr. Ponder was given an undisclosed amount of cash, which he dropped along with the note while leaving. He allegedly retrieved most of the cash, but left behind the traffic ticket. The ticket had his name and address which in turn led to his arrest and the felony charges of third-degree robbery and fourth-degree grand larceny.

This is why we advise everyone to handle their traffic tickets responsibly. Make informed decisions, adhere to deadlines and never use it to write a note that says something like “I have a gun. Give me all your money. If you have any further questions concerning this armed robbery I can be reached at…”

Traffic tickets are frustrating, expensive and time consuming…and hopefully the most serious legal problem the majority of us ever have to deal with.

Submitted by Scott Feifer

Getting a traffic ticket in New York can be a lot like buying jewelry or antiques.  Unless you have a trained eye, it’s almost impossible to know what to expect to pay.  Drivers should never assume they know what a traffic ticket will cost in fines, surcharges and other penalties without a full analysis from a traffic ticket professional any more than you’d agree to pay a price for a piece of jewelry or antique furniture without an evaluation by a trusted expert.

Let’s use a six point speeding ticket as an example.  Call it 52mph in a 30mph zone.  A relatively basic ticket with no major complications surrounding it.  If a potential client were to ask me how much this ticket may cost, here’s a rambling version of some of the issues and considerations I’d have:

I’d first ask which court it was in because in the NYS TVB (NYC mostly) there is no plea bargaining so I’d know that we couldn’t reduce the charge.  A reduction is important because at 6 points there is an additional $300 state surcharge (the DRP-Driver Responsibility Program) and if we stay below that there is no surcharge.  Of course that all changes depending on if the person has prior convictions, what the convictions were for and the date the prior traffic tickets in question were issued.  Anyway, in the TVB there are no reductions and in thelocal county, town and village courts a reduction is generally a possibility.  An exception at the TVB is sometimes a judge will find you guilty only of a lower category speed if you are just a few miles per hour into a higher category so a TVB judge may consider turning this into a 50/30 which would save two points and potentially $300 in state surcharges.  However, there are no set rules for this so some judges will move as much as 5mph and others won’t move at all so then it just depends on which judge you are randomly assigned to.  In a local court that is willing to negotiate, it’s important to know whether the ticket was issued by a NYS Trooper or a local officer because NYS Troopers are banned from negotiating on tickets due to an ongoing situation regarding their overtime pay.  However, most (not all) courts have found a way to work around this.  If the ticket is reduced, what about the fine?  Some judges/prosecutors will lower the fine as the severity of the charge is lowered but others may raise it as part of the quid pro quo for the reduction.  In any case, at least you are protected by some statutory maximum fines–good luck locating them by the way–unless the judge imposing the fine chooses to ignore these statutes or simply doesn’t know what the maximum fines are as was the case with a NY judge who recently admitted as much after a complaint was made against him.

Confused yet? We could go on for quite some time…

I know it’s rambling, but it’s not much of an exaggeration.  For a person coming into this 52/30 with one prior conviction for two points, he might expect to pay approximately anywhere from $125 in fines and surcharges to $700 in fines and surcharges.  Note that we haven’t even mentioned automobile insurance, arguably the biggest factor when traffic ticket costs are considered.

The moral here is to never assume the cost of a traffic ticket.  Whatever you base the assumption on—personal experience, articles on the Internet, discussing with friends—it is likely to be different than anticipated.  Talk with an experienced traffic ticket attorney who can help go through the analysis with you and figure out what your potential liability may be and how much time, effort and money you may want to put towards contesting the charges. Always remember that during an initial consultation, your attorney should not be there to convince you that you need an attorney. He’s there to review with you and rationally analyze your situation and help you make informed decisions moving forward.

Submitted by Scott Feifer

Megan Mullally, in an episode of Will and Grace, explains that she had a couple of good reasons for speeding.

No driver or officer can deny the fact that there are inherent differences between men and women.  However, a recent study shows that these differences are unlikely to alter the chances of simply receiving a warning instead of a ticket when pulled over.

At least as far as Wisconsin is concerned, women and men actually receive the same proportion of tickets compared with warnings when pulled over by State Patrol officers.

While it may not pay to be a woman when it comes to getting pulled over in Wisconsin, it does seem to pay to be an actual resident of Wisconsin itself.  The study revealed that Wisconsin drivers are given some consideration that out of state drivers are not.  Illinois drivers got slapped with tickets a higher percentage of the time than Wisconsin drivers.

This information is all according to an analysis of more than 150,000 citations and warnings issued by the Wisconsin State Patrol in 2008.

We don’t know if these patterns would hold for New Yorkers under a similar study, but it’s food for thought in the event you are driving in another state or you are planning to rely on certain “assets” if you happen to get pulled over.

Yesterday the Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency fired six employees for fixing more than 100 tickets. News reports didn’t mention that they were actually selling their “fixing” services. It seems the tickets in question were for themselves, friends and family.

The investigation apparently started with an individual who was issued several Nassau County traffic tickets.  Some of the charges, including a driving on the sidewalk, driving the wrong way on a one-way street and a speeding ticket were dismissed outright. Other charges were delayed longer than a case typically would be within the court rules and some fines and surcharges imposed on other cases were simply removed from the computer system.

Turns out this man had a relative working in the court and this relative was one of the six employees fired.

The ticket fixing cost Nassau County an estimated $25,000 in revenue. Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice is investigating the possibility of criminal charges against them.

Nothing has been proven yet, according to the Civil Service Employees Association representing the employees. The President of the Association believes the employees will be vindicated. He claims that in most cases, a judge signed off on the dismissals of the tickets in question.

The NCTPVA is one of the better courts in the state to deal with and, based on my observations and those of my colleagues, the staff there (including some of those involved in this unfortunate incident) have been professional and helpful in the past.  I’m hoping that these individuals are indeed vindicated in the long run.

We’ll follow the story as it develops.