Given the phenomenal number of tourists that flock to Las Vegas each year, it’s safe to assume that more than a few will run afoul of the traffic police. If you’ve received a traffic ticket within the Las Vegas city limits, your vacation can go downhill in a hurry. Despite what you may think or hope, your visitor status will not win you any sympathy with officials in Las Vegas Justice Court.
Whatever the infraction for which you received your ticket, it’s important to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. There’s always the chance that your home state will penalize you for it, and if you choose to just put it out of your mind and leave town, don’t be surprised in the not-too-distant future when an arrest warrant suddenly lands on your doorstep.
How Nevada Punishes Traffic Tickets
Your Las Vegas traffic ticket could cost you in several ways. In addition to saddling offenders with what commonly amount to three-figure fines, Nevada has devised a system of assigning demerit points as penalties for various moving violations. For example, speeding between 1 and 10 mph over the limit will earn you one demerit point. You will get four for running a red light or stop sign and as many as eight for reckless driving. Depending on the laws in effect in your home locality, demerit points received for a traffic violation received in Ls Vegas could also transfer to your out-of-state license.
Your Legal Options
There are three ways in which to handle your traffic citation. You can:
- Plead guilty and pay the fine.
- Plead no contest and pay the fine.
- Plead not guilty and prepare to fight the ticket.
While you may feel tempted to just cough up the money and be done with it, that may not be the wisest course of action. For one thing, it serves as a tacit admission of culpability. Your insurance rates will likely rise, and if your traffic ticket has resulted from an accident with another vehicle, the act of pleading guilty could set you up for a civil lawsuit in which the claimant’s lawyer will surely use your plea as proof of negligence.
Pleading Not Guilty
If you believe that you were in the right, you can and should attempt to exonerate yourself by entering a plea of not guilty. After you have done this, the court will set a date for your trial. On the downside, it will also expect you to return to Las Vegas for a personal appearance, and for many vacationers, this will not be easy. You’ll also need to prepare how to present your case, because the ticketing officer will present theirs.
Fortunately, it is possible to challenge your ticket from the comfort of your home. A local traffic ticket attorney with experience in contesting traffic violations can appear in court on your behalf and often get the charges against you either reduced or dropped entirely.
How Vegas Ticket Wizard Can Help
If you are an out-of-state resident who has picked up a speeding ticket, or other moving violation in Las Vegas, a ruined vacation is about to be the least of your problems. Why not do yourself a favor and let the experts at Vegas Ticket Wizard deal with it for you? Once you’ve decided to go this route, you’ll have done away with the need to return and argue your case in person. Better yet, because you’ve acquired expert legal representation, the Las Vegas courts will be more likely to reduce your traffic citation to a less-serious parking or non-moving violation.
Don’t let a Las Vegas traffic conviction cause you difficulty down the road. Call Vegas Ticket Wizard at 702-202-0500 or just submit your ticket online and we’ll handle your traffic ticket.