Cincinnati Traffic & Speeding Ticket Lawyers

A traffic ticket that does not carry jail time can add points to your driving record and increase what you pay for insurance. If you drive for work or hold a CDL, a conviction can also affect your ability to keep driving professionally. Before you pay the ticket, you can have a Cincinnati traffic ticket lawyer review whether contesting the charge could protect your driving record.

Penalties for Speeding Tickets in Cincinnati, Ohio

Ohio law treats speeding differently depending on the circumstances. A speeding ticket may be a simple infraction punishable by a fine or a criminal charge punishable by jail time and other penalties.

The difference usually hinges on how fast you were driving, whether you were driving in a particular zone, or whether you had prior violations.

The penalties for a speeding ticket in Ohio break down as follows:

• Minor Misdemeanor — A basic speeding violation is punishable with a fine of up to $150.
• Fourth-Degree Misdemeanor — Speeding can be a fourth-degree misdemeanor when you have two prior speeding violations or assured clear distance violations within the last year. Speeding also may be a fourth-degree misdemeanor when driving faster than 35 mph in a school zone. If convicted, the punishment may include up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $250.
• Third-Degree Misdemeanor — Speeding can be a third-degree misdemeanor when you have three or more prior violations within the last year. If you’re convicted, you can be punished for up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.

When you’re alleged to have been speeding in a construction zone, fines double if you plead guilty or are convicted.

In addition to fines or possible jail time, a guilty plea or conviction for speeding can affect your driver’s license. Remember that paying the fine on a ticket is the same as pleading guilty, and you may accrue points or even face a driver’s license suspension.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles could add points to your driver’s license for speeding based on how much you exceeded the posted or legal speed limit on the stretch of road where you got your ticket. Our Ohio driver license point system guide explains how traffic convictions add points to your driving record and when accumulated points can result in a suspension.

Here are some of the other types of traffic violations that our traffic lawyers deal with in Cincinnati:

Driving with a Suspended License

Driving while your license is suspended is a separate Ohio traffic offense with penalties that depend on the basis for the suspension and the charge filed against you.

Driving without a License

Driving without a license in Ohio is not punished lightly if convicted. Regardless of whether you know how to drive or operate a motor vehicle, it is illegal to do so without a valid license.

Hit and Run

Ohio drivers are required by law to stop after a motor vehicle accident, regardless of how much damage or whether the vehicle was attended. In Ohio, drivers must provide information to anyone involved in the accident.

Reckless Driving

Reckless operation occurs when someone operates a vehicle with “willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” A reckless driving conviction in Hamilton County carries jail time, fines, and points. Further reckless driving convictions may result in your driver’s license being suspended or revoked.

Eluding or Fleeing

Fleeing or eluding involves failing to comply with a lawful order from a police officer while operating a motor vehicle. The potential charge and penalties depend on the alleged conduct.

Moving Violations

Moving violations occur when a driver violates a traffic law while operating a vehicle. Our attorneys can review the alleged violation and determine whether there are grounds to contest the charge.

Street Racing

Street racing is a traffic offense under Ohio law that can carry criminal and driver’s-license consequences. The dedicated street-racing page explains the charge and potential penalties.

Vehicular Assault

Vehicular assault is a serious traffic-related offense involving injury to another person. The potential penalties depend on the offense charged and the facts the prosecution can prove.

Paying a speeding ticket generally amounts to a guilty plea rather than simply paying a fee to make the citation go away. Depending on the violation and your driving record, a conviction can carry consequences beyond the amount of the ticket:

• Fines: The court can impose the fine authorized for the speeding offense.
• Driver’s license points: A qualifying conviction can add points to your Ohio driving record.
• Higher insurance costs: Your insurer can consider a traffic conviction when determining your rates.
• Employment consequences: A conviction can cause additional problems if your job requires you to maintain a driving record that meets your employer’s requirements.
• Commercial driving consequences: CDL holders can be subject to additional rules and consequences after certain traffic convictions.

Before you plead guilty, our Cincinnati traffic lawyers can review the citation and determine whether contesting the charge could help you avoid or reduce its effect on your driving record.

Consequences for Out-of-State Drivers

If you’re a driver from outside Ohio, you may face the consequences at home for an out-of-state speeding violation.

Under the Driver License Compact, driving offenses that you get in states that are parties to the agreement — all but a few — are reported to the driver’s license agency in your home state. That may result in your getting points on your license or a driver’s license suspension in your home state, just as if you had gotten a speeding ticket there.

Because the effect of an Ohio conviction can depend on the rules in your licensing state, our attorneys can review the Ohio charge and explain what information you may need to confirm with your home-state licensing agency.

Contesting a traffic ticket means you do not simply pay the citation and accept the conviction. Instead, the case proceeds through the court identified on the ticket, where the charge can be addressed before a judge or magistrate.

Our Cincinnati traffic lawyers can review the citation and the evidence supporting it before determining how we recommend responding. We can also determine whether you need to appear personally and handle discussions with the prosecutor when the court permits us to do so.

The case can then proceed based on the charge, the evidence, and what occurs in court. If the prosecution cannot establish the traffic offense as charged, we can challenge the citation rather than treating the original ticket as the final word.

Deadlines for Responding to an Ohio Traffic Ticket

Ohio does not give every traffic ticket the same response deadline. For a waiverable ticket, such as many ordinary speeding citations, you can generally pay the ticket before the arraignment date listed on the citation. If you want to contest the ticket or the offense requires a court appearance, you must appear at the time and place stated on the citation. Certain offenses require a court appearance rather than resolution through a traffic violations bureau.

Some specialized citations follow different timelines. For example, a person contesting an Ohio traffic-camera ticket generally has 30 days after receiving the ticket to request a court hearing. Our attorneys can review your citation, identify the deadline that applies, and explain what you need to do before it passes.

When you get a speeding ticket in Ohio, the allegation is typically based on measuring your speed. However, police officers or troopers’ methods to calculate your speed may be flawed.

If your Cincinnati traffic lawyer can demonstrate that the calculation was inaccurate, you may have a chance at fighting the ticket. A few common defenses to speeding involve challenging the use of radar or pacing to measure your speed.

• Radar — Ohio has specific rules about how radar devices must be calibrated or maintained. If those rules weren’t followed, your lawyer might be able to claim that the results are invalid.
• Pacing — When an officer uses pacing to claim that you were speeding, that involves the officer trying to match your speed on the road to see if you’re over the speed limit. However, pacing is an inexact way to measure speed. If your ticket is based on the results of a pacing test, there may be several ways to challenge the results.

Luftman, Heck & Associates can review how your speed was measured and determine whether the evidence supports the citation. When the measurement or supporting evidence can be challenged, we can use that issue in contesting the ticket.

If you received a traffic or speeding ticket in Cincinnati, Luftman, Heck & Associates can review the citation and evidence before you decide how to respond. Our traffic lawyers can determine whether there are grounds to contest the charge and explain what a conviction could mean for your driving record. Call (513) 338-1890 or contact us online for a free consultation. We are available 24/7.