Traffic ticket

A motor officer writes a traffic ticket for a motorist he alleges was speeding

A traffic ticket is a summons and citation issued by police officers to motorists and other road users who fail to obey traffic laws. Traffic tickets generally come in two forms, citing a moving violation, such as exceeding the speed limit, or a non-moving violation, such as a parking ticket. Traffic tickets are generally heard in traffic court.

Generally, a ticket is a notification that one has committed a minor or sometimes major legal infraction, for which a fine must be paid and postmarked and sent by the due date, and/or an appearance in court must be made (See: summons). Typically, this means a parking ticket for parking in an unlawful manner or allowing a parking meter to expire, or a traffic ticket for a moving violation such as speeding. The latter are usually issued after traffic stops.

United States

File:Ohio Uniform Traffic Ticket.jpg

United States: The Ohio Uniform Traffic Ticket prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio

In the United States, most traffic laws are codified in a variety of state, county and municipal ordinances, with most minor violations classified as civil infractions. Although what constitutes a "minor violation" varies, examples include: non-moving violations; defective or unauthorized vehicle equipment; seat belt and child-restraint safety violations; and insufficient proof of license, insurance or registration. A trend in the late 1970s and early 1980s also saw an increased tendency for jurisdictions to re-classify certain speeding violations as civil infractions. In contrast, for more "serious" violations, traffic violators may be held criminally liable, guilty of a misdemeanor or even a felony. Serious violations tend to involve multiple prior offenses; willful disregard of public safety; death, serious bodily injury or damage to property.

Each state's Department of Motor Vehicles maintains a database of motorists, including their convicted traffic violations. Upon being ticketed, a motorist is given the option to mail in to the local court -- the court for the town or city in which the violation took place -- a plea of guilty or not guilty within a certain time frame (usually ten days, although courts generally provide leniency in this regard). It has been estimated that approximately three out of every ten drivers in the United States will receive a traffic ticket within the time span of one calendar year.

If the motorist pleads not guilty, a trial date is set and both the motorist, or a lawyer/representative representing the motorist, and the ticketing officer, are required to attend. If the officer or representative fails to attend, the court judge will often find in favor of the motorist and dismiss the charge, although sometimes the trial date is moved to give the officer another chance to attend. The court will also make provisions for the officer to achieve a deal with the motorist, often in the form of a plea bargain. If no agreement is reached, both motorist and officer, or their respective representatives, formally attempt to prove their case before the judge, who then decides the matter.

If the motorist pleads guilty, the outcome is equivalent to conviction after trial. Upon conviction, the motorist is generally fined a monetary amount and, for moving violations, is additionally given "points" demerits, under each state's point system. In the cases where the motorist is registered in a different state from where the violation took place, individual agreements between the two states decide if, and how, the motorist's home state applies the other state's conviction. If no agreement exists, then the conviction is local to the state where the violation took place. In some instances, failure to pay the fine may result in a suspension to drive in only the city or state to whom the fine is owed, and the motorist may continue to drive elsewhere in the same state.

Canada

In Canada, traffic laws are made at the provincial level. Some serious violations are considered criminal (such as Drinking and Driving) are located under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Each province maintains a database of motorists, including their convicted traffic violations. Upon being ticketed, a motorist has a chance to plead guilty, not guilty or guilty with an explanation. The motorist or their representative must attend the court for the town or city in which the violation took place to do so. Though the back of the ticket states the motorist has up to 15 days to enter their pleas, the courts do not generally convict the accused for up to 45 days depending on the court.

If the motorist pleads not guilty, a trial date is set and both the motorist, or a lawyer/Paralegal representing the motorist, and the ticketing officer, are required to attend. If the officer fails to attend, the court judge will often find in favour of the motorist and dismiss the charge, although sometimes the trial date is moved to give the officer another chance to attend. In some provinces, officers are now paid time and a half to attend traffic proceedings. The court will also make provisions for the officer or the prosecutor to achieve a deal with the motorist, often in the form of a plea bargain. If no agreement is reached, both motorist and officer, or their respective representatives, formally attempt to prove their case before the judge or Justice of Peace, who then decides the matter.

If the motorist pleads guilty, the outcome is equivalent to conviction after trial. Upon conviction, the motorist is generally fined a monetary amount and, for moving violations, is additionally given "points" demerits, under each province's point system. Jail time is sometimes sought in more serious cases such as Racing or Stunt Driving.

If a motorist is convicted, he must accept the penalties or try to appeal the ruling. An appeal will typically only be granted in cases where there were errors in the law or proceedings.

If a trial date takes more than a reasonable amount of time, and the accused had nothing to delay it, a Charter of Rights violation can be filed and pleaded. The reasonable length of time changes from court to court. In most cases this is typically 1 year. A Charter of Rights Violation must be filed with the Attorney General of Canada, Ontario and with the courts themselves and then argued on the court date.

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, a traffic ticket (which is mailed out to the driver) is in the form of a notice alleging that some crime — traffic offences are all criminal offences — has been committed, but stating that if a payment of a certain amount is made to An Garda Síochána within 28 days, or the amount increased by 50% is paid within 56 days, the driver will not be prosecuted for the alleged offence. Some tickets carry penalty points as well as the fine.

India

Traffic violations in India are listed out in the Motor Vehicle Act of 1988. The state government has the rights to decide on the officials who are to do traffic rule enforcement and how traffic citations are issued. Generally the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) and Traffic Police (which is part of the general law and order police force) are allowed to book traffic violations. Officers of and above the rank of Asst. Motor Vehicle Inspector (A.MVI) and Sub-Inspector in charge of the Traffic Police wing have the right to levy on-the-spot fines from the violators. This is known as compounding an offence. Fines would be paid on the spot and a Challan (receipt) would be given to the driver. Off late officers on Highway Police duty are also authorised to levy spot fines.

Other officers issue a Vehicle Check report which lists out the violations noticed on the driver or on the vehicle. The notice would contain the relevant sections in which the driver is charged and also a date to appear in court. The accused can plead guilty by sending a Postal Money order (MO) to the court indicating that he is pleading guilty. Otherwise he/she can appear in person in the court and contest the case. The police officers who prepared the check report and charge sheet would be in the court. The court which handles these cases are the Judicial First Class Magistrate Courts and the trial is a summary trial (which means if a person is found guilty, he/she cannot appeal to higher courts).

For drivers who drive under the influence of liquor or other narcotic substance, on-the-spot fine cannot be levied. The driver would be taken to a hospital and a medical report made out. The accused should appear in court.

Indian Police forces do not have mobile credit card readers, so the fine is generally paid in cash/hard currency.

Ticket superlatives

The fastest speeding ticket in the world allegedly occurred in May 2003 in Texas. It was supposedly 242mph in a 75mph zone. The car was a Swedish-built Koenigsegg, which was involved in the San Francisco to Miami Gumball 3000 Rally. The fastest convicted speeder in the UK was Daniel Nicks, convicted of 175 mph on a Honda Fireblade motorcycle in 2000. He received six weeks in jail and was banned from driving for two years. The fastest UK speeder in a car was Timothy Brady, caught driving a 3.6-litre Porsche 911 Turbo at 172 mph on the A420 in Oxfordshire in January 2007 and jailed for 10 weeks and banned from driving for 3 years.

In the Canadian province of Ontario, the government has passed a law to combat extreme speeding, stunting, and racing. If a police officer feels you are in violation of the law, he can immediately impound your car for 7 days and suspend your licence for the same duration. Those found guilty of this charge lose 6 demerit points and face a licence suspension of up to 2 years and up to $10,000 in fines.

The most expensive speeding ticket ever given is believed to be the one given to Jussi Salonoja in Helsinki, Finland, in 2003. Salonoja, the 27-year-old heir to a company in the meat-industry, was fined €170,000 for driving 80km/h in a 40km/h zone. The uncommonly large fine was due to Finnish speeding tickets being relative to the offender's last known income. Salonoja's speeding ticket was not the first ticket given in Finland reaching six figures.

Film actor and director Harry Myers received the world's first speeding ticket in 1904, Dayton, Ohio, police ticketed Harry Myers for going twelve miles per hour on West Third Street.

Another early speeding ticket was given out in 1910. The ticket was issued to The Prime Minister of Canada's wife, Lady Laurier, in 1910 in Ottawa, Canada (the capital of Canada). She was speeding at 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.

Countries that use a point system

• Australia - see also List of demerit points in New South Wales
• Brazil
• Canada (some provinces)
  • Ontario
• China - see also Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China
  • Hong Kong
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• New Zealand
• Qatar
• Norway
• The Netherlands
• Ireland
• Poland
• Romania
• Singapore
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom
• United States (some states)
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • California
  • Florida
  • Illinois
  • Michigan
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Texas
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin

See also

• Assigned risk
• Jaywalking
• Moving violation
• Parking ticket
• Point system
• Beating a Traffic Ticket