(813) 282-9545
Tampa Traffic Violations Attorney
If you’ve committed a traffic violation and received a citation, you’ll need to decide whether to fight or pay the ticket. If you pay the ticket you are admitting your guilt and points will be accessed against your license for all moving violations. Let Cannella Law handle your ticket. In most cases Cannella Law can have no points assessed against your license. In the best case scenario, your ticket can dismissed and you will owe no money to the court for your ticket and will have no points assessed against your license.
Traffic ticket fines and requirements will vary depending on where you committed the violation and whether it’s unpaid parking tickets, unpaid traffic tickets, speeding ticket, red light ticket, or a ticket/penalty for driving without insurance.
You may face more than fines and an appearance in traffic court. Depending on the violation that caused the ticket and the court handling the citation, you may face:
• Action against your driver’s license.
• Points on your driving record.
• Traffic court requirements.
• Increased car insurance rates.
• Mandatory traffic school or defensive driving.
The steps you’ll need to take to handle your traffic ticket will be determined by the traffic court in the jurisdiction where you were cited. Fines and driver’s license points will vary depending on the severity of the traffic law you violated.
Speeding
Speeding ticket fines can slightly vary from county to county, but penalties basically stay the same. The fines are increasingly steep the more you are over the speed limit.
Florida puts a certain number of points on your driving record each time you receive a traffic ticket; points-per-violation range depending on the violation.
Once you get a certain number of points within a specific time period, the state will suspend your license.
If you truly believe you were not speeding and have the time and wherewithal, you should fight the speeding ticket. Cannella Law has been successful in defending Speeding Tickets and getting fines reduced and dismissed.
Also, if you were speeding and would like to avoid points being assessed against your license, let Cannella Law help you.
Driving While License Suspended with Knowledge, Without Knowledge and Driving With Expired License
Getting behind the wheel with an expired or suspended license is a gamble. Get caught and you could be arrested or given a ticket to appear in court.
You could face all or some of the following penalties:
• Ticket fines up to $1,000. The exact fine is contingent on the length of expiration, and driving records. Some courts may reduce the fine after providing proof of a valid drivers license.
• Points added to driving record.
• Increased car insurance premiums. This will depend on the policies of your provider.
• Arrest and jail.
• Impoundment of vehicle.
Driving While License Suspended (DWLS) With Knowledge
DWLS is a serious offense. Your first offense is 2nd degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 60 days in jail and a fine of $500. Your second offense is a 1st degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 364 days in jail and a fine of $1,000. A third offense can in circumstances be charged as a 3rd degree felony by the State Attorney’s Office. Further, if you plea guilty or no contest to 3 DWLS charges within a 5 year period the State of Florida Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend your license for 5 years as a Habitual Traffic Offender.
Driving While License Suspended Without Knowledge
DWLS Without Knowledge is not a criminal offense, however, it can have serious consequences against your drivers license if you pay the ticket. DO NOT PAY a DWLS Without Knowledge without first talking to Traffic Lawyer Norman Cannella, Jr.
Reckless & Careless Driving
Reckless driving is a criminal offense that’s punished as a misdemeanor in most situations. Misdemeanors are punished by incarceration in the local jail for up to one year (two years in Iowa), and can involve probation, fines, community service, restitution to victims harmed by the defendant’s conduct, and participation in counseling. Collateral consequences of a reckless driving conviction can include driver’s license suspensions and heightened insurance rates.
State statutes typically use terms such as “reckless,” “recklessly,” “reckless manner,” or “reckless disregard” to describe the proscribed driving. These terms are not precise, yet courts have consistently found that they are sufficiently definite and certain to define the offense.
No Valid Driver’s License
In Florida, ‘No Valid Driver’s License’ is a criminal charge that is based on a person operating a motor vehicle on a public highway without being licensed by an appropriate governmental authority. Penalties for this offense may include jail and, more often, the creation of a permanent criminal record.
In Florida, ‘No Valid Driver’s License’ is classified as a second degree misdemeanor, with penalties of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Although the majority of cases will not result in a jail sentence, the principal consequence of a No Valid License conviction is that it will create a permanent criminal record.
Driving Under the Influence
Under Florida law, DUI is defined as the act of driving (or being in actual physical control of a vehicle) while a person is impaired beyond his or her normal faculties, or while he or she has an unlawful blood alcohol level.
To prove the crime of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Florida, the prosecution must establish that:
The defendant drove or was in actual physical control of a vehicle, and
While driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle, the defendant either (a) was under the influence of alcoholic beverages, chemical substances (such as prescription medications), or controlled substances to the extent that his/her normal faculties were impaired, or (b) had a blood or breath alcohol level of .08 or higher.
Thus, under Florida Statutes Section 316.193, driving under the influence may be proven either by demonstrating that a defendant’s normal faculties were impaired or by demonstrating a blood or breath alcohol level of .08 or higher. “Normal faculties” include, but are not limited to, the ability to see, hear, walk, talk, judge distances, drive an automobile, make judgments, act in emergencies, and, in general, to normally perform the many mental and physical acts of our daily lives.
If you have been arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Florida, contact defense attorney at Norman Cannella, Jr. at Cannella Criminal Law for a free consultation. DUI is a serious criminal offense that may carry misdemeanor or felony penalties, depending on the number of prior convictions and whether the incident caused death or serious bodily injury. A conviction will affect not just your criminal record, but your liberty, your financial well-being, your reputation, insurance premiums, and driving privileges for the long-term.
Hit and Run
In all hit & run cases, the hiring of an attorney is a critically important step to minimize or avoid potential penalties. In the investigative stages of a case, an attorney can make contact with police, prevent a client from making damaging statements, and present the facts of an incident in the most favorable light possible.
If charges are pursued, an attorney can make early contact with the prosecutor in order to present defenses or negotiate for a more lenient resolution to a case. Where the prosecution refuses to negotiate, an attorney will ensure that all legal options and defenses are pursued or raised in the litigation that follows.
If you have been accused of Hit & Run in the Tampa Bay area, call Cannella Law for a free consultation.
Leaving the Scene of an Accident
Under Florida law, Leaving the Scene of an Accident is a criminal offense involving a person’s unlawful departure from the site of a motor vehicle crash. A conviction can result in misdemeanor or felony penalties, depending on whether the accident resulted in injury or death.
In Florida, the penalties available for leaving the scene of an accident (hit and run) will depend on the nature of the harm or damage caused by the crash.
If the crash at issue involved personal injuries to another person, the offense is classified as a third-degree felony, with penalties of up to 5 years in prison or 5 years of probation, and a $5,000 fine.
For accidents involving the death of the other person, the offense will be classified as a first-degree felony, with penalties of up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
If the defendant leaves the scene involving injury or death and the defendant is found to have been driving under the influence, the offense is subject to mandatory minimum prison term of 4 years. In all leaving the scene cases involving death or injury, the offending driver is also subject mandatory driver’s license revocation as determined by the court.