Even the safest of drivers will eventually wind up with a speeding ticket – it\’s rare that you\’ll meet somebody who has never, ever been issued with one at some stage in their life. Plus in the state of New Jersey being just 1 mph over the posted speed limit is enough to land you with a speeding ticket, which can turn out to be an expensive problem on many levels.
The first issue you\’ll be dealing with is the motor vehicle points that come as part of getting a speeding ticket in New Jersey. These points become a fixture on your MVC (Motor Vehicle Commission) record and are reflected on one’s driving abstract. If you somehow manage to accumulate more eleven (11) points you\’ll face having your license suspended for a minimum of 31-days, pending any appeal that you make.
You also need to understand that the number of points on your MVC record will directly affect your insurance premium – more than 8 points will mean your insurance premiums sky rocket – sometimes by a factor of 5x. To put this in perspective your annual insurance premium could easily go from being $400 to over $2,000 and all because you drove too fast.
To give you an idea of how the point system works in New Jersey in relation to speeding offences here\’s how it breaks down:
Exceeding maximum speed 1-14 mph over limit 2 points
Exceeding maximum speed 15-29 mph over limit 4 points
Exceeding maximum speed 30 mph or more over limit 5 points
Racing on the highway 5 points
As you can see the more reckless you are behind the wheel the more points you\’re going to accumulate and just two serious speeding tickets could put enough points on your MCV record to have your license revoked. Getting a single speeding ticket isn\’t going to affect you too much but getting several of them within a short timeframe is going to cause you some serious financial and lifestyle headaches.
If you\’re a slow driver you can also receive a \”speeding\” ticket by the way, believe it or not:
NJSA 39:4-97.1 Slow speed blocking traffic 2 points
You may wish to speak to municipal prosecutor to negotiate a plea thereby reducing the number of point or amending your ticket to a charge that carries no motor vehicle points such as Unsafe Driving 39:4-97.2.
With proper legal representation however you may obtain a complete dismissal of your speeding ticket or a reduction in the penalty points, financial fine or duration of license suspension which you receive, but you\’ll only be able to achieve this with the help of an experienced and professional New Jersey traffic lawyer.
The cost of hiring a trained traffic lawyer to represent you pales in comparison to the increased insurance premiums you will most definitely wind up paying as a result of having points on your MVC record.