Areas of Practice

Traffic, DWI and DUI

Many people think that they do not need the assistance of an attorney to handle routine traffic matters. Often, people charged with a traffic violation will just plead guilty to the violation, rather than attempt to reduce the violation or appear in court. Worse yet, some people ignore traffic violations, perhaps in the mistaken belief that they will be forgotten or somehow "go away" on their own.

The attorneys at Meggesto, Crossett & Valerino, LLP handle all types of traffic matters for our clients. The most common traffic violation is the speeding violation. Conviction for a speeding violation will result in points being assessed against the driver's license. Below is a chart showing the number of points assessed based upon the number of miles an hour the person was traveling over the speed limit.

1 to 10 mph	3 points
11 to 20 mph	4 points
21 to 30 mph	6 points
31 to 40 mph	8 points
over 40 mph	11 points

Keep in mind that any driver who amasses 11 points in an 18 month period or has 3 speeding convictions in an 18 month period faces a mandatory 90 day suspension of their driving privilege.

Often, our office can obtain a reduction of speeding violations for our clients resulting in their ability to plead to a lesser violation and therefore reducing the number of points assessed against their license. Depending on the person's driving record, our office can often obtain a disposition of a ticket reducing the charge to a no-point, non-moving violation.

Insurance companies regularly review a driver's driving abstract to determine the number of points they have on their record and set the driver's insurance rates accordingly. Reducing the number of points you have on your license can result in a substantial savings on insurance rates and more than pays for the cost of hiring an attorney to deal with the ticket.