Understanding Pennsylvania Traffic Tickets for New Jersey Drivers
You decided to go out of town this weekend to visit some friends in Philadelphia. In the heat of you looking forward to catching up with your old pals and experiencing the nightlife here in the City of Brotherly Love you forget yourself and start speeding down I-95.
Before you know it, you see flashing red lights in your rear-view mirror and the responding police officer is writing you a ticket for Speeding. Now what? You may be holding out on the hope that the authorities back in your home state will never find out about this Traffic Violation – including your insurance company.
It is a common misconception that a traffic ticket in a state outside of where your license was issued will not have an adverse effect on your driving record. The reality of the situation, however, is quite the contrary.
Philadelphia is a beautiful city that attracts visitors for many different reasons. If you received a Traffic Violation while visiting Philadelphia for work or on vacation, you may think that the easiest option is to just pay the ticket fine. You might believe that, since you come from a different state, no harm will come from paying the ticket.
If you do, you are wrong. Pennsylvania, along with several other states, share information under an agreement called the Drivers License Compact. Under this agreement, an out of state ticket may be applied to your state license.
For example, a speeding ticket for going 5mph over the speed limit in Pennsylvania carries no points. However, if your state issues points for speeding 5mph over the speed limit, they will issue those points on your license. In short, the state of Pennsylvania treats the ticket as if you got it in your home state.
You might think that it’s better to pay the ticket than to spend your time and money traveling back to Philadelphia. Before you decide that, you should know that, depending on the circumstances, many courts allow an attorney to appear in your place and resolve the case without your presence. Want to avoid the hassle? We can help.
At The Law Office of Greg Prosmushkim, P.C. our attorneys can represent you without you needing to travel. We can represent you in Court, and you can communicate with us via phone and email.
You’ll be surprised at just how easy we will make the process for you, and in many cases our services end up costing less than the ticket penalties – when you add up the fines and the increased insurance premiums that you might incur if you just pay the ticket.