Michael Kramer, Attorney at law

1311 Mamaroneck Ave
Suite 340
White Plains, NY 10605
mk@michaelkramerlaw.com

Call for a Free, 20-min,
Traffic Ticket Strategy Session

(914) 709-7161

Michael Kramer, Attorney at law

Interviewer: What traffic offenses could cause you to lose your license even for a first time offense?

Michael Kramer: Accidents involving serious personal injury. If there’s a reckless driving involved, certainly when drinking is involved. Being ticketed for extremely excessive speeds that would result in 11 points or more is assessed against your license. Speed contests in which other people were placed in danger and you might subject to a reckless endangerment charge in addition to the speed contest charge.

It’s usually the accumulation of tickets that result in suspensions or revocations. However, if the tickets accumulate to a certain point, it can lead to a suspension of your driver’s license. Reinstatement of your license will require the assistance of a Traffic Violations Attorney in White Plains, NY.

Your Insurance Company Can Assess Tickets That Results in Higher Premiums for 36 Months

Interviewer: How long does your insurance company enforce higher premiums due to traffic infractions?

Michael Kramer: All offenses are always on your DMV record. It’s a question of how far back the insurance company can legitimately go to assess tickets against you. Usually it’s 36 months.

High Risk Auto Insurance

Interviewer: What is high risk insurance? When does a driver have to purchase that type of insurance?

Michael Kramer: If you’re determined by the rules and regulations of the individual insurance company to be considered by them a high risk driver, then you’re put into a separate pool. You can either be thrown out of the insurance company or asked to pay excessive fees. This is not determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles or by the courts. This is the individual policies of each corporate insurance company. A Traffic Violations Attorney in White Plains, NY may be able to help get the insurance rates from going so sky high.

Are There Differences between a Criminal Court Hearing and a Hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles?

Interviewer: What are the differences between a criminal court and a DMV trial or hearing?

Michael Kramer: The DMV hearing is held at the DMVs and their administrative in nature. They are not criminal in nature and they’re not a traffic court. They are not a sanctioned court in New York that has to abide by certain rules of evidence.

They’re a power unto themselves set up by the Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s not a judge that you would appear before but it’s a hearing examiner who works for the Department of Motor Vehicles. If you need legal assistance in this matter, make sure to contact our White Plains, NY Traffic Violations Lawyers.

The DMV Hearings Are for Drivers That Want to Appeal a DMV-Levied License Suspension

Those agencies hear cases with regard to individuals contesting the suspensions and revocations and assessments levied against them by the Department of Motor Vehicles. There’s an appeal process within the Department of Motor Vehicles and those individual courts handle those matters.

The Administrative Courts Handles Traffic Tickets Differently Throughout the Counties of New York State

In addition, New York City has administrative court set up to hear traffic matters unlike the outer counties which hear traffic matters in courts of record in New York, which are overseen by judges. These administrative courts handle these traffic tickets much differently than, for example, courts in Westchester County.

You’re before a hearing examiner who works for the Department of Motor Vehicles and they do not permit plea bargaining in those courts. This means you can’t go there and try to make a deal for a lesser charge. Your basic alternative is to participate in the trial or to plead guilty.

You can always take a chance also that the police officers, as busy as they are in New York City, won’t show up. If they don’t show up on at least a couple of occasions, the ticket might be dismissible. But someone has to be there on each and every occasion, which is what an attorney does rather than a motorist inconveniencing him or herself.

Traffic Violation Police Stops Do Not Usually Entail an Arrest of the Driver So the Miranda Rights Are Not Read

Interviewer: In a traffic incident, when do Miranda rights come into place?

Michael Kramer: They don’t really come into play. Miranda rights come into play when you’re in custody. A traffic stop is not necessarily a custodial situation. If that were the case then each and every time you were stopped for a traffic matter, the first thing police officer would do would have to give you your Miranda rights. That’s not a requirement.

If You Are Taken into Custody Instead of Being Issued a Ticket, and Questioned about the Offense, Then the Police Must Read the Miranda Rights

However, the police could decide to take you into custody as they technically have a right to do. They don’t have to issue a ticket and tell you to come back to court to answer on another occasion. They could take you into custody. Once they take you into custody and then intend to question you about the incident, they have to show that they gave you Miranda rights.

Traffic Offenses and Commercial Drivers

Interviewer: Are the consequences for traffic violation different for someone that has a commercial driver’s license?

Commercial Drivers Are Regulated by Different Rules and Subject to Different Penalties

Michael Kramer: Commercial driver’s license has their own separate rules and regulations which are stricter than typical motorist licenses. They have a different system under which licenses are revoked and suspended, different standards. They have different standards with regard to whether you’re entitled to be issued a restricted or conditionally used license. All of those rules and regulations are governed by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

If someone calls me and says I have a commercial license, we discuss what effect this particular ticket is going to have on the license. We would certainly discuss those separate consequences that are unique to commercial drivers. As a White Plains, NY Traffic Violations Attorney, I have handled numerous cases involving commercial drivers.

Michael Kramer, Esq.

Call for a Free, 20-min,
Traffic Ticket Strategy Session
(914) 709-7161