What Happens if You Don’t Pay Your Traffic Ticket

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When you get a traffic ticket in New York City, you are usually required to respond within 15 days. When you respond, you have the option of pleading guilty and paying the ticket or pleading not guilty and challenging the ticket. Yet, even with these options available, it can sometimes be tempting to simply ignore the ticket, especially if you feel that it was unreasonable or undeserved. Unfortunately, this is the worst thing you can do when it comes to traffic tickets. Whether you decide to pay the ticket or fight the ticket, it’s in your best interest to timely respond to and address traffic tickets to avoid serious consequences. 

What to Expect if You Don’t Pay Traffic Tickets 

If you don’t have a timely response to your traffic ticket, your license can potentially be suspended. Oftentimes individuals will get an additional notice before their license is suspended, but an additional notice is not required by the law. That notice usually provides two additional deadlines for response and specifies the consequences for not meeting these deadlines. Generally, failure to respond by the first deadline results in your license being suspended, and failure to respond by the second results in a conviction by default and a second suspension of your license. It’s important to remember, however, that this additional notice and extended deadlines are not a right. Your license can be suspended and a judgment can be entered if you miss the original deadline. 

Potential Consequences for Not Paying Traffic Tickets

When your license is suspended, you have to pay a fine to clear the suspension, in addition to the fine for the original ticket. If you have multiple suspensions on your license, you will be required to pay the fine for each suspension. If you do not clear your suspension and are caught driving with a suspended license, you can be charged with a criminal offense, Aggravated Unlicensed Operation (VTL-511). This can lead to significant fines, jail time, and a criminal record. As a result, it’s important to avoid having your license suspended and to clear any suspensions immediately. 

In addition to having your license suspended, failure to pay traffic tickets can lead to a conviction by default for the maximum fine possible. Plus, there are often additional fees and fines assessed if you fail to meet all deadlines. Further, both the conviction and a suspended license can result in a substantial increase in insurance rates. 

While it can be easy to overlook a traffic ticket or even tempting to intentionally ignore it, doing so will not allow you to avoid responsibility. Instead, it will result in additional fines, fees and consequences. Avoid these additional penalties by timely responding to all traffic tickets. The good news, however, is that responding to traffic tickets doesn’t have to be stressful or time consuming. Instead, let WinIt handle all aspects of the ticket and have the peace of mind to know that you’ll get the best outcome possible. Visit the WinIt site to submit your ticket or to learn more. 

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