Harlem Red Light Ticket Lawyer

If you’ve received a ticket for running a red light, you don’t have to just accept the consequences. You can fight your ticket by hiring a Harlem red light ticket attorney.

Traffic tickets are nothing to joke about or ignore. They are expensive and time-consuming, and they can have long-term implications on your ability to legally drive and what you pay for your insurance and license.

Running a red light is dangerous, which is why Harlem law enforcement officers strictly enforce traffic light rules. However, mistakes sometimes lead to unfair red light tickets.

To fight your traffic ticket, get in touch with a Harlem red light ticket lawyer from the Law Office of James Medows. We can help you avoid the worst of the penalties and possibly get the whole thing thrown out.

Traffic Light Rules

You must stop fully at a red light and wait until it turns green to continue. The exception is when you’re turning right on red, which is legal unless otherwise indicated, although you still have to yield to oncoming traffic and wait until it’s safe to turn.

If the light you’re approaching turns yellow, you can still cross the intersection as long as you enter that intersection before it turns red. If it turns red while you’re passing through the intersection, you should be in the clear, although traffic cameras and officers sometimes make mistakes.

Red Light Penalties

The penalties for running a red light include fines and points on your drivers license, both of which can be quite expensive. The fines for Harlem red light tickets break down as follows:

• First offense runs between $100 and $300.
• Second offense within eighteen months runs between $200 and $500.
• Third or subsequent offense within eighteen months runs between $500 and $1,000.

All of these offenses result in three points on your license. They stay on your license for eighteen months, so you can reach a level that requires you to pay a driver responsibility assessment with just your second offense.

These point-based assessments are very expensive and begin with $100 per year for three years. At eleven points, you lose your license completely until you pass pricey classes and driver responsibility assessments.

Insurance: The Real Cost

Insurance companies will also raise your rates based on every violation you receive. They also keep their own statistics, and some companies maintain these hikes for up to three years.

If you become too big of a risk, you might even be denied renewal when your policy term ends, forcing you to get insurance through a high-risk provider, which costs thousands more. This is where the real expense comes into play.

Possible Defenses

Your Harlem red light offense lawyer can investigate many possibilities while building you a strong defense. We might find that the light itself was changing too quickly or it hadn’t been inspected or maintained properly.

We may also be able to highlight the visual barriers between you and the ticketing officer, proving the officer might not have had the right idea of when you entered the intersection. We will even look into the ticketing officer to ensure he or she is current on his or her training.

Contact a Harlem Red Light Violation Lawyer

When you’re up against a traffic light violation in Harlem, you really have no choice but to contest it if you want to avoid years of costs to you.

Call a Harlem red light ticket lawyer from the Law Office of James Medows at 917-856-1247 or fill out the form below to schedule a consultation as quickly as possible.

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