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If you get a ticket in New York, you have two options: plead guilty or plead not guilty. Whatever you choose, you’ll need to log your decision with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). You can do so online, by mail, or over the phone. This article will cover how to do so online and will provide a few extra tidbits of money-saving information along the way.
If You Wish To Plead Guilty
The process for pleading guilty is different from that for pleading not guilty. To start with, these two plea options are perfect opposites. A guilty plea involves you admitting guilt, accepting the charges, and expressing your willingness to bear all of the applicable consequences. A not guilty plea does the opposite (more on that later). If you want to contest your ticket, do not plead guilty.
As we mentioned before, there are three ways to plead guilty to a NY DMV ticket: online, by mail, and over the phone. We’ll talk about each of those three plea and payment options more in-depth later on in this article. The reason we refer to them as “plea and payment” options in this guilty section is pretty straightforward: To pay a ticket is to plead guilty.
If you do not want to plead guilty, do not pay your ticket (unless your lawyer instructs you to). Paying the fines associated with traffic tickets is considered an admission of guilt in most states—New York included.
Can You Plead Guilty Online If Your License Will Be Suspended?
If you are charged with a crime, infraction, or offense that might result in your license being suspended (or revoked), you will not be able to enter a guilty plea online. Instead, you will need to appear in court on your assigned court date or submit a Statement in Place of Personal Appearance (Form AA-53.2) to the DMV.
This is to ensure that all people who are subject to serious penalties (like having your license suspended or revoked) are protected from legal abuse. By requiring that you submit a formal document or appear in person, the state can ensure that you are entering your plea with informed consent. That is, they can make sure you know what you’re agreeing to before it’s too late. Because, as the next section shows, after you enter a plea, it’s too late.
Additional Costs Associated With a Guilty Plea
When you’re issued a ticket, you can see the fine right there in black print. But that’s not all that you’ll have to pay. Tickets can be deceptive. You can be held liable for that fine as well as a long list of other financial penalties.
Let’s take a look at a speeding ticket example. Say the fine is $300. That’s only a small fraction of what the court can demand you pay. If the violation occurred in NYC, then the price goes up by $93 thanks to the city’s surcharge laws. If the violation puts you at or above six points on your license, then the price goes up a lot more. That’s because of the Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA) Fee.
The DRA Fee applies whenever you have at least six points active on your driving record at any point in time. In other words, if you earn six or more points within 18 months of each other, you will have to pay the DRA Fee. This fee costs $100 for the sixth point and $25 for each point thereafter. Worst of all, you’ll have to pay it every year for three years.
So, if you earn 10 points on your license, the DRA Fee will cost you a total of $600. You’ll have to pay that in addition to the fine and surcharge. And that’s not even counting the cost of insurance increases, which can last up to four years for a NY driving conviction.
Can You Change a Guilty Plea After You Plead It?
The short answer to this question is, “Yes, in rare circumstances.” The long answer is much more complicated than that.
Yes, it is true that some judges overseeing some cases will, under some circumstances, allow you to withdraw your guilty plea to some violations. However, that is not the norm. You should never expect the judge to grant a motion to withdraw your previous plea. Instead, you should always act as if the plea you’re about to enter is the final plea in the case.
That being said, judges do tend to grant motions to withdraw pleas under special circumstances. For example, if you plead guilty because you did not understand what that meant or did not know what the charges were, then you might be able to convince the judge to allow you to change your plea to not guilty.
Again, this is not common and you should not rely on it. Furthermore, doing so can result in you being charged additional fees. In order to avoid those fees, be sure to complete this change before the date of your hearing.
If You Wish To Plead Not Guilty
Pleading not guilty is a little more challenging than pleading guilty but it’s the only plea option in the state that gives you the opportunity to come out scot free. If you plead guilty, there’s always a chance that you won’t have to pay any of the fines, surcharges, fees, or insurance premium increases that would come with a conviction. And, if you hire an attorney to represent you, that chance is even better.
Pleading not guilty starts the traffic ticket dispute process, which enables you to potentially have your case dismissed. That’s a good thing. In fact, it’s the best possible outcome for most traffic ticket cases—even the criminal ones. After entering your plea, it’s just a simple two-step process.
Step 1: Schedule Your Hearing
You can schedule a hearing for a traffic ticket online, by mail, or over the phone. If you can’t attend court and don’t have a lawyer who will attend court on your behalf, then you will need to submit a Statement in Place of Personal Appearance (Form AA-53.2) to the DMV. Your odds are best if you hire a lawyer, second best if you go in person, and third best if you just submit that form.
Submitting Form AA-53.2 will end the process for you here. You won’t need to go to court and you won’t have to do anything else. However, there’s a good chance you’ll lose the case. Whatever happens, the court will notify you in writing after the judge has had a chance to review your paperwork.
Whichever option you choose, one thing remains the same: The court must have jurisdiction over the location where the violation took place. You cannot, for example, go to court in Kings County for a violation that occurred in Onondaga County.
Step 2: Attend Your Hearing
If you’re not submitting a Statement in Place of Personal Appearance, then step two is to go to court on the date you’ve scheduled. Sometimes (like during the COVID-19 epidemic) the NY DMV and Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) will offer virtual hearings. You can attend those hearings from the comfort of your own home, but you will still need the following things:
- Formalwear (wear a nice suit or professional dress).
- A trustworthy Internet connection.
- A webcam or smartphone with a working camera.
Failure to appear for your hearing can result in serious consequences, including but not limited to all of the following penalties:
- The suspension of your driver license.
- Additional fines/fees.
- Conviction by default judgment.
How To Reschedule a Not Guilty Hearing
If you have already scheduled a hearing to contest your ticket, you should do your best to make that appointment. However, life sometimes gets in the way. In such cases, it’s important to contact the court as soon as possible. You can do so online, by mail, or over the phone (but the online and by-phone options are the most reliable in this situation).
If you have previously scheduled a hearing online and find that there are no new dates available, you will need to contact the DMV or TVB directly to change your date.
Payment Methods
There are three ways to pay DMV tickets in New York: online, by mail, and by phone. Each of these methods works differently. By far, the best option is to pay online. It enables you to do more than just pay your ticket. Here’s a breakdown of each method in detail.
Online
The best way to pay a traffic ticket in NY is through www.appwinit.com. However, if that’s not an option where you live, you can also use NY.DMV.Gov. The following table shows what information you will need in order to e-plead guilty or not guilty through the DMV’s online portal:
| Guilty | Not Guilty |
| Your ticket number and your DMV ID number (driver license number)ORyour ticket number, your full name, date of birth, and gender as listed on your ticket. If your license will be suspended after a conviction for a violation, you cannot plead guilty to that violation online. | Your ticket number and your DMV ID number (driver license number)ORyour ticket number, your full name, date of birth, and gender as listed on your ticket. If your license is already suspended for a Failure to Answer conviction, you cannot plead not guilty online. If you have received a notice of pending suspension for Failure to Answer charges related to this ticket, you will have to go to a TVB/DMV office to enter your plea or schedule a hearing over the phone. |
In addition to being able to enter a plea online, the online DMV portal also offers the following services:
- You can reschedule a contested hearing (one time only).
- You can change an earlier not guilty plea to guilty for tickets that do not require your appearance.
- You can request the TVB to schedule or reschedule your hearing if there are no hearing dates available in the online system.
- You can request to be notified by email when your traffic ticket has been entered into the official DMV system.
By Mail
To enter a plea by mail, you will need to include the costs of the ticket (if pleading guilty) and make all payments payable to “Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.” Use the following mailing address:
Traffic Violations Plea Unit
P.O. Box 2950 – ESP
Albany, NY 12220-0950
The envelope will need to include all of the following items:
- Your original traffic ticket, with the box filled in for “guilty” or “not guilty.”
- Any updates to your address.
- Sign the back of the ticket.
- Applicable fees (if applicable).
- Check, money order, or credit card information to pay the applicable fees.
- Proof of any equipment violations being resolved (if applicable).
By Phone
The phone number for making payments to the TVB is (718) 488-5710. Its operating hours are 8:00 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. ET on weekdays (excluding holidays). To remit payment over the phone, you will need the following information:
- Personal information to answer questions so that the TVB can verify your identity.
- A credit card to pay any applicable fees.
Do You Have to Plea Bike Tickets the Same Way?
Yes. Bicycle tickets follow the same plea and payment processes as those outlined above. You will need to select one of the aforementioned pleas and/or payment options or head down to a local TVB branch to discuss your options in person.
If you get a ticket in New York, you have two options: plead guilty or plead not guilty. Whatever you choose, you’ll need to log your decision with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). You can do so online, by mail, or over the phone. This article will cover how to do so online and will provide a few extra tidbits of money-saving information along the way.
If You Wish To Plead Guilty
The process for pleading guilty is different from that for pleading not guilty. To start with, these two plea options are perfect opposites. A guilty plea involves you admitting guilt, accepting the charges, and expressing your willingness to bear all of the applicable consequences. A not guilty plea does the opposite (more on that later). If you want to contest your ticket, do not plead guilty.
As we mentioned before, there are three ways to plead guilty to a NY DMV ticket: online, by mail, and over the phone. We’ll talk about each of those three plea and payment options more in-depth later on in this article. The reason we refer to them as “plea and payment” options in this guilty section is pretty straightforward: To pay a ticket is to plead guilty.
If you do not want to plead guilty, do not pay your ticket (unless your lawyer instructs you to). Paying the fines associated with traffic tickets is considered an admission of guilt in most states—New York included.
Can You Plead Guilty Online If Your License Will Be Suspended?
If you are charged with a crime, infraction, or offense that might result in your license being suspended (or revoked), you will not be able to enter a guilty plea online. Instead, you will need to appear in court on your assigned court date or submit a Statement in Place of Personal Appearance (Form AA-53.2) to the DMV.
This is to ensure that all people who are subject to serious penalties (like having your license suspended or revoked) are protected from legal abuse. By requiring that you submit a formal document or appear in person, the state can ensure that you are entering your plea with informed consent. That is, they can make sure you know what you’re agreeing to before it’s too late. Because, as the next section shows, after you enter a plea, it’s too late.
Additional Costs Associated With a Guilty Plea
When you’re issued a ticket, you can see the fine right there in black print. But that’s not all that you’ll have to pay. Tickets can be deceptive. You can be held liable for that fine as well as a long list of other financial penalties.
Let’s take a look at a speeding ticket example. Say the fine is $300. That’s only a small fraction of what the court can demand you pay. If the violation occurred in NYC, then the price goes up by $93 thanks to the city’s surcharge laws. If the violation puts you at or above six points on your license, then the price goes up a lot more. That’s because of the Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA) Fee.
The DRA Fee applies whenever you have at least six points active on your driving record at any point in time. In other words, if you earn six or more points within 18 months of each other, you will have to pay the DRA Fee. This fee costs $100 for the sixth point and $25 for each point thereafter. Worst of all, you’ll have to pay it every year for three years.
So, if you earn 10 points on your license, the DRA Fee will cost you a total of $600. You’ll have to pay that in addition to the fine and surcharge. And that’s not even counting the cost of insurance increases, which can last up to four years for a NY driving conviction.
Can You Change a Guilty Plea After You Plead It?
The short answer to this question is, “Yes, in rare circumstances.” The long answer is much more complicated than that.
Yes, it is true that some judges overseeing some cases will, under some circumstances, allow you to withdraw your guilty plea to some violations. However, that is not the norm. You should never expect the judge to grant a motion to withdraw your previous plea. Instead, you should always act as if the plea you’re about to enter is the final plea in the case.
That being said, judges do tend to grant motions to withdraw pleas under special circumstances. For example, if you plead guilty because you did not understand what that meant or did not know what the charges were, then you might be able to convince the judge to allow you to change your plea to not guilty.
Again, this is not common and you should not rely on it. Furthermore, doing so can result in you being charged additional fees. In order to avoid those fees, be sure to complete this change before the date of your hearing.
If You Wish To Plead Not Guilty
Pleading not guilty is a little more challenging than pleading guilty but it’s the only plea option in the state that gives you the opportunity to come out scot free. If you plead guilty, there’s always a chance that you won’t have to pay any of the fines, surcharges, fees, or insurance premium increases that would come with a conviction. And, if you hire an attorney to represent you, that chance is even better.
Pleading not guilty starts the traffic ticket dispute process, which enables you to potentially have your case dismissed. That’s a good thing. In fact, it’s the best possible outcome for most traffic ticket cases—even the criminal ones. After entering your plea, it’s just a simple two-step process.
Step 1: Schedule Your Hearing
You can schedule a hearing for a traffic ticket online, by mail, or over the phone. If you can’t attend court and don’t have a lawyer who will attend court on your behalf, then you will need to submit a Statement in Place of Personal Appearance (Form AA-53.2) to the DMV. Your odds are best if you hire a lawyer, second best if you go in person, and third best if you just submit that form.
Submitting Form AA-53.2 will end the process for you here. You won’t need to go to court and you won’t have to do anything else. However, there’s a good chance you’ll lose the case. Whatever happens, the court will notify you in writing after the judge has had a chance to review your paperwork.
Whichever option you choose, one thing remains the same: The court must have jurisdiction over the location where the violation took place. You cannot, for example, go to court in Kings County for a violation that occurred in Onondaga County.
Step 2: Attend Your Hearing
If you’re not submitting a Statement in Place of Personal Appearance, then step two is to go to court on the date you’ve scheduled. Sometimes (like during the COVID-19 epidemic) the NY DMV and Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) will offer virtual hearings. You can attend those hearings from the comfort of your own home, but you will still need the following things:
- Formalwear (wear a nice suit or professional dress).
- A trustworthy Internet connection.
- A webcam or smartphone with a working camera.
Failure to appear for your hearing can result in serious consequences, including but not limited to all of the following penalties:
- The suspension of your driver license.
- Additional fines/fees.
- Conviction by default judgment.
How To Reschedule a Not Guilty Hearing
If you have already scheduled a hearing to contest your ticket, you should do your best to make that appointment. However, life sometimes gets in the way. In such cases, it’s important to contact the court as soon as possible. You can do so online, by mail, or over the phone (but the online and by-phone options are the most reliable in this situation).
If you have previously scheduled a hearing online and find that there are no new dates available, you will need to contact the DMV or TVB directly to change your date.
Payment Methods
There are three ways to pay DMV tickets in New York: online, by mail, and by phone. Each of these methods works differently. By far, the best option is to pay online. It enables you to do more than just pay your ticket. Here’s a breakdown of each method in detail.
Online
The best way to pay a traffic ticket in NY is through www.appwinit.com. However, if that’s not an option where you live, you can also use NY.DMV.Gov. The following table shows what information you will need in order to e-plead guilty or not guilty through the DMV’s online portal:
| Guilty | Not Guilty |
| Your ticket number and your DMV ID number (driver license number)ORyour ticket number, your full name, date of birth, and gender as listed on your ticket. If your license will be suspended after a conviction for a violation, you cannot plead guilty to that violation online. | Your ticket number and your DMV ID number (driver license number)ORyour ticket number, your full name, date of birth, and gender as listed on your ticket. If your license is already suspended for a Failure to Answer conviction, you cannot plead not guilty online. If you have received a notice of pending suspension for Failure to Answer charges related to this ticket, you will have to go to a TVB/DMV office to enter your plea or schedule a hearing over the phone. |
In addition to being able to enter a plea online, the online DMV portal also offers the following services:
- You can reschedule a contested hearing (one time only).
- You can change an earlier not guilty plea to guilty for tickets that do not require your appearance.
- You can request the TVB to schedule or reschedule your hearing if there are no hearing dates available in the online system.
- You can request to be notified by email when your traffic ticket has been entered into the official DMV system.
By Mail
To enter a plea by mail, you will need to include the costs of the ticket (if pleading guilty) and make all payments payable to “Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.” Use the following mailing address:
Traffic Violations Plea Unit
P.O. Box 2950 – ESP
Albany, NY 12220-0950
The envelope will need to include all of the following items:
- Your original traffic ticket, with the box filled in for “guilty” or “not guilty.”
- Any updates to your address.
- Sign the back of the ticket.
- Applicable fees (if applicable).
- Check, money order, or credit card information to pay the applicable fees.
- Proof of any equipment violations being resolved (if applicable).
By Phone
The phone number for making payments to the TVB is (718) 488-5710. Its operating hours are 8:00 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. ET on weekdays (excluding holidays). To remit payment over the phone, you will need the following information:
- Personal information to answer questions so that the TVB can verify your identity.
- A credit card to pay any applicable fees.
Do You Have to Plea Bike Tickets the Same Way?
Yes. Bicycle tickets follow the same plea and payment processes as those outlined above. You will need to select one of the aforementioned pleas and/or payment options or head down to a local TVB branch to discuss your options in person.
