Ready? This is Dale Carson, attorney in Jacksonville,
Florida- with another lawyer from the firm. Chris Carson, my son. And we wanna talk to
you briefly abut how to avoid getting a traffic ticket once you've been stopped. Occasionally
we violate the law by speeding or trying to rush through a stop light, an official traffic
control device as it officially called. I've noticed lately that when it turns yellow,
people think to speed up. I don't think that's really the intention of what yellow lights
are about. But they do that anyway. And I wanna talk to you about how to avoid getting
a traffic ticket. I was a cop in Miami, I wrote thousands of tickets. The primary purpose
for writing a ticket, candidly, is to permit me to search your car to find illegal drugs
or better, a body in a trunk. But that's subject for another discussion. If you get stopped,
you want to pull over safely, turn your blinker on and wait for the officer to approach the
car. You don't wanna get hanky and reach for things in the car, just wait for the officer
to approach the side of the car. Now, all officers understand people get nervous when
they get pulled over. So they're going to expect you to be nervous. In fact, if you're
not a little nervous, then that's going to plug into their gut feeling and may cause
a problem for you. So when you pull over, pull over a little bit more off the side of
the road because the officer's got to protect herself when she pulls the car up next to
you so that a car coming hits their trooper car first, it'll sheer off and won't crush
them standing next to your door. So, they come up, they're going to ask you some questions.
The key here is to be polite. This is where you need to behave like you would around your
grandmother. Not your mom, but your grandmother. You're gunna say "yes ma'am, "no ma'am," "should
I give you my license?" They're going to ask for it and you should have it quickly available.
We see this in DUI cases all the time. The officer says "he reached for his driver's
license and he fumbled, he couldn't find it, then he handed it to me and he said do you
need my license?" All of those things are critical. What I recommend, and we have these
here at the office, it's a little thing that hooks onto the back of your phone. You can
put your driver's license in here along with your credit cards. If you call us, we'll send
you one, right? There you go, that's right. And so once you just reach in there, take
out your DMV card, which is your registration, your driver's license and finally, your insurance
card. The officer, she has everything she needs. She then goes back to the car. Now,
you're going to be anxious here because this is where you get a citation, right? Chris:
sure. And I think that in this spot, this is one of the situations where being pleasant
with the officer just kind of understanding in a sense the officer is just doing his or
her job, can actually pay a lot of dividends. People don't always realize that when it comes
to these situations, officers do have discretion. You know, all the talk of quotas and having
to right a certain number of tickets, I feel that gets overblown a a lot. Dale: I agree.
Chris: I think that sometimes if people are just simply polite with the officers and kind
of understand that relationship dynamic, that can pay dividends. We have lots of cases where
the officers will cut people breaks in terms of, lets say its a speeding ticket, it may
be reduced down. I've heard of lots of cases where the officers just basically give the
person a stern warning and sent them on their way. Dale: don't do that anymore and off you
go. Wouldn't that be nice? Chris: Sure. Dale: See, maybe because you behaved and the guy
she stopped previously was a real jerk and said "officer, why on earth are you stopping
me? I didn't do anything wrong. You should be arresting people who are really criminals.
Leave me alone." So you're such a refreshing moment after that encounter, that you're going
to benefit from it. It's always best to use your manners. Now, one key point here. There's
no need to admit your violation, okay? So don't say to the officer "I know I was speeding."
We don't give points anywhere for that, okay? Particularly if you're talking to the judge.
You're talking to the judge, trying to get the traffic ticket dismissed, and the officer
says "you know, I wrote down right here what she said when I stopped her. She said 'you
know, I love to speed and I'm really good at it.'" And then we're in trouble right?
Chris: Sure. And in those situations, if the officer does in fact decide to write you for
a citation, you're not going to win that battle by the side of the road. So, it's really not
worth trying. There are ways that you can go in and contest those citations. That's
what court rooms were designed for. And ultimately, that's what needs to happen. So, if you decide
that you were wrongfully cited for whatever reason, and lots of wrongful citations are
issued, the place to deal with it is not by the roadside. You're not gunna make it any
better, you may make it worse. The place to deal with that is in court, and if you do
things like make statements or admissions or in the alternative, act like a jerk with
the officer, that can backfire. I've seen cases where we have actually gone into court
with clients and the judge put a lot of stock in the fact our client was a complete jerk
to the officer. and the officer told that to the court. He said "in fact Judge, I definitely
remember this guy because he was a total jerk to me." And judges actually do consider those
things. You know, whether or not they should is a question for different day. But they
do, they are people and in those spots, it doesn't make sense to try and win the battle
by the side of the road. It's never gunna win, so simply bite your tongue, take the
ticket if they're gunna give it to you, and go about your business, and call us. Dale:
But just don't pay it, right? Why shouldn't you just bite the bullet, go ahead and pay
the citation, send it in. Why not just do that? Isn't that easier than going through
all the effort of finding an attorney who you trust and feel comfortable with who will
represent you? Chris: Well, I guess its easier to in the sense that you can just stroke a
check and be done with it. The practical problem is after you stroke that check to pay for
the citation, you'll be stroking many more because as a result, your insurance is going
to increase. Basically by paying a ticket, you're admitting guilt. That guilt means you
get points on your license. Thats a huge thing insurance companies look at to determine your
rates. And as a result, it can get very expensive to go that way. There are quite a few alternatives
that take maybe a touch more effort on the front end, but will save lots of money and
lots of energy on the backend. Something like traffic school, which many people are eligible
for, now that can be a pain but thats kind of its own thing. But additionally, if you
were to hire an attorney, such as ourselves, we can actually go in and generally keep points
off of someones license, which long term is a financial benefit. It potentially will keep
insurance rates down. In Florida, if the points are withheld for a traffic infraction and
there are no claims paid out, meaning it wasn't an accident where the insurance company had
to pay out a claim, by law your rates cannot increase. So insurance companies are actually
prevented from increasing your rates if the points are withheld on your citation. That's
lost with a lot of people. People just pay the ticket, don't even think anything about
it. Dale: didn't you recently have someone who just paid the ticket? Thought it was all
done and got a letter saying the license was suspended? because they failed to do traffic
school, right? Chris: Absolutely. There are certain infractions in the state of Florida
that even if you pay them, there can be additional conditions that you have to abide by as well.
In the event of say, someone failing to obey a traffic control device, simply paying the
citation is insufficient. The DMV will actually suspend your license in certain circumstances
unless you show them proof of completion of basic driver improvement school, which is
a 4 hour class, the same one you would take if you elected it in the first place. The
problem is even with that, you get the points on your license too. So there's actually some
strange rules that DMV follows, and you have to be very careful with them, if you're not,
you can pay a big financial penalty and certainly lose you license in the wrong situation. Dale:
Chris, what about smoking dope and driving? I mean, is that a problem if I get arrested
for having possession of marijuana? And the police officer comes up to my car, I roll
down the window, and a cloud of cannabis rolls out in the officers face? Is that potentially
a problem with something like that? Chris: well, there are a number of them. Honestly,
it would key in the officer you may be in possession of something thats illegal which
is a criminal offense. Could be a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the amount. There
could be other issues as well. Sometimes the odor of cannabis or something along those
lines, could actually trigger a DUI investigation. Typically, its very tough to prove DUI if
its something like marijuana. Though I think, that dynamics is changing a little bit. I
think that states that have legalized marijuana, they actually are beginning to get some tests
that are more accurate as far as the psychoactive impact of THC. But with that said, it could
trigger them to investigate and see what else is in your blood or breath or urine as far
as toxicants go. So that could result in other types of criminal cases aside from just possessing
the drug. Dale: What about license suspension? Isn't there a provision under Florida law
that if you're using drugs, your license can be suspended? Chris: Well, what it is, if
someone is charged with possession of any whats know as 893 offense, 893 is the drug
statute. If anyone is charged with an offense under 893, they are ultimately convicted,
meaning adjudicated guilty, even on a misdemeanor less than 20 grams, there's a mandatory year
suspension on someones Florida drivers license. Now there are some work arounds for that,
but you have to affirmatively do things and it's a pain. But the way that the law was
written, if you are convicted of possession of any 893 scheduled drug, then you will lose
your drivers license in Florida for a year. Dale: Well how come nobody knows about that?
That is something people don't understand. They get convicted, their license is suspended.
If you can drive, then you're subject to being arrested. You're driving on a suspended license,
how do you get to work? How does your life go on? Chris: Well its very difficult in this
day and age, particularly our area, to get around without a drivers license. Ultimately
it's the job of the lawyer handling the case to make sure the clients are aware of that.
If they don't know that, then really shame on the attorney. Dale: And there is a work
around for that? That can protect you? Chris: There is. The way the statute is written,
a judge in the case of that nature can actually order the Department of Motor Vehicles to
issue a hardship license or a business purposes only license to the individual. Dale: But
they gotta ask for that? Chris: Yes. It has to be dealt with the right way, and we've
actually handled cases from other firms where we've had to go back and fix that particular
issue because some lawyers just aren't aware of that. There is a work around, but its gotta
be dealt with the right way. Furthermore, it's discretionary on the judge. So just because
its possible, doesn't mean it has to happen. Judges can deny them. They can say "no I won't
do that." Dale: Is there a way that you position clients when they go talk to the court that
would help them retain that authorization from the judge? Is there a class they can
take? Chris: Absolutely. Not so much classes. What I typically do in that spot is I have
the client provide some information to judge to show what the significance of them having
a drivers license is. "I have children, I have school, I have work, my loved one has
medical issues, and I have to transport them." And we typically, I mean in a sense, just
kind of from the mitigation angle, we try to provide as much information as we can to
say hey "this person's gunna suffer a serious hardship without a license." Dale: Chris,
does marijuana possession affect juvenile drivers? I mean, drivers 18 and under. Chris:
It does. It actually affects them in the same way it affects those who are over 18. But
actually DMV has some additional issues in the window of the 16 to 18 year old range
that can actually prohibit an individual driver from being able to get an unrestricted license
until ages to 19. Dale: really? So, your family would suffer if they wanted you to be able
to drive, and an adult would have to be with them? And a whole variety of things would
have to be in place. Would that also affect their insurance? The fact that you have a
child that's a dope smoker and gets caught?Chris: well, potentially so. I don't know that the
possession itself is something that would have an impact on their insurance, but certainly
if somebody had a DUI of anything of that nature, it absolutely could. Dale: so, the
key here is to use your manners when you get stopped, to not get aggressive with the police
officer while she's writing you the citation, to be pleasant really and to not make any
admissions of your own guilt. And then to consider hiring a law firm to represent you
in connection with the citation to save on insurance. And even maybe a fine. I mean it
is possible the court could set the fine at a lower rate than otherwise you might have
to pay. And in addition to all of that, you want to make sure if you have a citation,
don't pay it, that you don't have to attend school which candidly, if that were going
to happen, you just attend the school as an election instead of paying the fine. Or do
you have to pay the fine too? Chris: no. If you're going to elect the school, just doing
it and don't let the DMV order you to do it as a condition of getting your license. It
actually makes a lot more sense to do that in the first place. With that being said,
it makes more sense not to sit through the 4 hour class and to just hire a lawyer to
do it. Dale: Right. Because they don't have to go in, do they? Let me ask you one other
thing about these traffic citations, do you handle a lot of commercial drivers? I mean,
do commercial drivers get tickets at the same rate a driver does? Chris: well, yes and no.
In my experience, the commercial drivers are probably, well number 1: they're held to a
higher standard. They drive professionally, they have very specialized training, they
have to go through lots of school, lots of classes. Generally, commercial driver have
better driving records per say, than an average driver would. With that said, a lot of commercial
drivers get citied. And the thing there when we're talking commercial, they typically have
a whole lot more on the line than a standard, say class E, driver's license. Who even worst
case scenario, my insurance increases little bit, just deal with it and move on. Commercial
drivers- they can lose their license, which is the key to their livelihood, very easily.
It doesn't take much for a commercial driver to lose their license. They can run into big
issues with their employer. sometimes even if their license is good, their employer will
say "hey, this citation. I cannot keep you on anymore," because as an employer, it affects
their insurance. The driver's don't pay for the insurance, the business does. So if they're
costing the businesses bottom line significantly, which obviously there are a lot more liability
risks when someones driving an 80,000 pound trailer than a 3000-4000 pound car. So they
look at liability in a different way. insurance is dealt with in whole different way with
commercial folks. It can create big issues. if you are a commercial driver in particular,
you need to look long and hard at hiring an attorney who has experience with this. Because
when things go south as a commercial driver, it can affect everything in your life. It
goes well beyond a typical violation. Dale: And if someone has a question or a comment
related to their driver's license, it's no problem to just pick up the phone and call
us, is there? We're happy to talk to you, disclose exactly what we know. And allow you
to make an informed decision about what you ought to do because in the state of Florida,
certainly we've all got a drive and if you can't drive, you create a hardship not only
for yourself, but or everybody around you. And if you have questions or concerns about
this or other issues related to the law, whether traffic, criminal, driver's license, it really
doesn't matter. We're happy to give you advice, it's one of the things we enjoy doing here
at Dale Carson Law. So, pick up the phone, call us, email us. We're available at www.dalecarsonlaw.com
and we again, are happy to chat with you anytime. Stay tuned.
