How to Write a Letter to Judge to Reduce Traffic Fine Easily

You have more than one option to handle a citation for inappropriate parking, speeding, and other traffic offenses. While the driver may attempt to plead their case to get the ticket fees thrown out altogether, there's the chance for a reduced amount by admitting fault. One effective way is through a letter of explanation. Going through a judge sample letter to reduce a traffic fine is the easy way to know how to compose one.

Types of Traffic Tickets

Most frequent, if not all, drivers need to understand the various kinds of traffic violations and their consequences. Depending on the severity of the ticket, one may face anything from fines and increased insurance rates to possible suspension of your license.

Traffic tickets can be characterized as:

1. Moving Violations

Moving violations are traffic offenses a driver makes in a moving vehicle. A few of these include:

• Running a red light
• Running a stop sign
• Speeding
• Not using turn signals
• Driving with a broken headlight
• Driving without a license

They are considered more serious than non-moving violations. This is not to say all moving violations are built equal. While making an illegal turn is relatively minor, other offenses like driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and driving distractedly are significantly graver.

These violations are typically classified as misdemeanors or infractions and are charged against the driver.

2. Non-moving Violations

Non-moving violations occur when stationary vehicles are found to have broken the traffic code in a particular city, county, or state. These traffic offenses are typically associated with defective car parts or parking negligence. While they usually incur less severe penalties, incurring a lot of unresolved tickets may lead to expensive fines or jail time.

A few of these violations include:

• Parking in prohibited areas, for example, in handicapped spots, near fire hydrants, or when the driver's time at the meter has expired
• Faulty parts like cracked windshields, headlights, or taillights
• Emission test failure
• Expired tags that are seen on parked cars

You normally do not amass points on your driving license for non-moving violations.

Here’s a brief summary of both violations:

Writing a Letter for a Reduced Traffic Fine

If you feel you can pay the fine if it were minimized, you may draft the judge a sample letter to reduce the traffic fine and plead your case. You can do as much through the following steps:

1. Read the Ticket

You will need information like the name and address of the relevant court when crafting your fine reduction letter. This information will be on your traffic ticket.

If, for some reason, the information is unclear, contact the court clerk and ask for mailing/filing instructions or insight into available contest options. Alternatively, you could try getting this information on the judicial branch website of your state before calling the court.

2. Your Plea

Mark the 'not guilty' option on the ticket. Often, once someone pleads guilty and the entirety of the fine is collected, it's almost impossible to get a refund or the fine reduced. Yet, there are states where a driver who's pleaded guilty can explain their case. Research your local state laws to find out about your plea options.

3. Compose the Letter

Once you've determined that a plea or explanation by letter is acceptable, you can then begin writing the letter. Compose a concise and polite letter that states your side of the story and why you're unable to pay the total traffic fine. Explain a reduced fine is preferable to the full amount, and you may choose to add you're willing to go to traffic school overpaying any fine.

To help you pen a decent letter, check out this Seattle, Washington judge sample letter to reduce a traffic fine.

4. Submission via Filing or Mail

Some states will let the driver mail their letter right to the court. However, others will need the driver to schedule a hearing with a hearing officer or judge where the letter will be presented. You could also file the letter of explanation with the court clerk.

Ensure to submit or mail the letter punctually. Also, if you don't notify the court of your desire to get a fee reduction via letter during the stipulated guidelines, your fee reduction case is likely to fail.

Contest Traffic Tickets in Less Than 120 Seconds

Reducing the fine attached to your traffic violation can be a convoluted affair. There's a lot of liaising with court officials and reviewing federal and local laws. If you don't have the expertise or time to handle the traffic fine reduction request yourself, why not use DoNotPay?

According to Money, this platform has won 160,000 over a possible 250,000 case attempts. This is no mean feat, and it's why we believe we can help you get a reduced fine on your traffic violation without a lawyer.

Here's how to get started:

1. Log-in to DoNotPay and go to the Ticket Disputes category. Select the correct product based on your traffic ticket.

2. Upload a photo of your citation.

3. Provide us with some details on why you believe the citation issued is a mistake.

4. Select whether or not you want the letter mailed to the traffic ticket issuer on your behalf!
5. That's it! You'll receive an appeal letter that contains state vehicle codes to boost your case.

It's that easy.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

An explanatory, official, and well-written sample of a fine reduction letter will get the judge to listen. You can do the whole process and mail the correspondence yourself, but it'll take more time and involve a few conversations with court officials.

You can do the same in minutes with DoNotPay. The first AI Consumer Champions in the world will help you contest any kind of traffic ticket in less than 120 seconds. DoNotPay can help you:

• Dispute traffic tickets in California
• Contest tickets in Los Angeles
• Learn how to challenge a ticket in New York
• Avoid ticket fines in Las Vegas
• and many more.

Join DoNotPay today to fight your traffic fines!