Posted by duijim in on May 20, 2024
Georgia DUI arrests typically come with additional charges, one being speeding. Speeding tickets carry costly fines; should they accumulate enough, your license could even be suspended.
An experienced criminal defense attorney can expose flaws in the prosecution’s case and help you avert jail time.
Speeding Charges Are Misdemeanors
People commonly associate speeding with traffic violations that carry fines and points against drivers’ records. While speeding infractions may bring such penalties, criminal speeding carries more severe consequences including possible jail time for misdemeanor offenses.
State laws vary on what constitutes a misdemeanor speeding offense; typically speaking, this usually entails speeding in an unsafe location such as residential or business zones and/or exceeding an allowable limit of speed in such locations. Such offenses also generally require defendants to attend driving school courses.
Plead not guilty at your arraignment to fight the charge and strengthen your defense strategy. Our experienced criminal defense team can reveal any irregularities in how an officer obtained your speed, such as through miscalibration or misuse of tools (pacing radar Lidar). Furthermore, we can demonstrate that the prosecutor did not meet their burden of proof in order to gain conviction – this could save your future finances as employers often look closely at driving records when considering applicants for employment opportunities.
They Can Be Felonies
Speeding can become a serious crime when engaging in unsafe driving practices that put lives at risk, such as road racing or fleeing the scene of an accident while speeding. These types of behaviors often result in license suspension and increase in insurance premiums for years.
Georgia law punishes traffic related misdemeanors with fines, surcharges, driver responsibility assessments, points on your driving record and potentially probation or jail time for misdemeanor offenses. Certain violations will also be reported to the Department of Driver Services (DDS).
Individuals often assume that traffic tickets for speeding or other transgressions do not warrant legal representation. But Georgia DUI Lawyers can assist in your fight to combat your charges – such as by arguing the officer did not have probable cause to stop you in order to defend against these accusations.
They Can Lead to License Suspension
Georgia law considers every speeding offense to be criminal misdemeanors, subject to fines, jail time and probationary periods. On the other hand, felonies carry significantly harsher maximum penalties (e.g. prison time). DUI laws impose both misdemeanor and felony criminal punishments against drivers; charges are determined using highway crash data that shows an association between impaired driving and accidents on Georgia highways.
Alcohol or drug type, refusal of state test and previous convictions all play an integral role in the severity of a DUI charge. A good DUI attorney can save you significant financial penalties, negative license repercussions and high insurance rates by fighting your case in court. Contact my Atlanta law firm now to see what options exist for your specific situation and save money through early action! We even have online payments options so that you can start right away!
They Can Lead to Increased Insurance Rates
An alcohol DUI offense is a serious crime and even first-time convictions can have lasting repercussions, such as staying on your criminal record for several years and leading to significant fines; jail time may also ensue, along with mandatory substance abuse treatment programs being required of you.
An DUI may also increase your insurance rates; look-back periods vary according to state and insurer, from as little as one or two years up to 10 or more years.
Shopping around and finding an insurance provider with more lenient policies is one way to combat an expensive rate increase from speeding tickets, but another effective approach is adhering to speed limits, using safety equipment in your vehicle and driving responsibly – this may help bring down rates significantly while saving on fuel and maintenance costs by decreasing driving.