Carrollton Speeding Ticket Defense

Speeding In A Construction Zone

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Speeding In Construction Zone Tickets

Carrollton Municipal Court is considered one of the most difficult courts in the metroplex to resolve traffic citations.  The court procedures are very strict and the focus is on generating revenue for The City of Carrollton more so than offering advantageous circumstances for the defendant accused of violating traffic laws.  This article is intended to assist those who have been charged with speeding in a construction zone in Carrollton.  If you would like to discuss your case with a legal professional after reading this article, feel free to contact our office at your earliest convenience.

Construction Zone Laws

There are many different laws attached to construction zone tickets.  However, the speeding portion of the law is basically the same as any other speeding ticket issued.  The police officer must prove that you were speeding by visual reference and verifying that reference by radar or lidar equipment that was working properly at the time it was used.  The speed must be proven to be unreasonable and imprudent under the circumstances then existing.

If all of this can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then you have a solid speeding in a construction zone case with regard to the speeding element.  The second element is that the signs must be properly affixed at the beginning and end of the zone to notify the driver that they are in a work zone.  The signs need not be at every intersection within the zone.  They merely need to be at the beginning and end of the stretch of road being worked on.

The third element that must be proven is that workers were actually within the work zone when stopped.  If it was after 5pm or before 8am, there may be a very good argument to make with regard to workers being present.  It must be understood that the workers need not be directly in front of the driver when pulled over.  They need only be in the zone.  That means anywhere in the zone.  If you pulled into the zone at an intersection and are pulled over past the workers, it will not matter.  The entire zone has to be free of workers.

Once all of these elements are proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then Carrollton Municipal Court can double any fine that would normally be handed down for speeding.  This does not include court costs.  Maximum fines usually total around $500.00 after court costs are included.  Further, deferred adjudication and defensive driving are specifically denied to those who have been charged with speeding in a construction zone with workers present.  It is an all or none scenario.  Either you win at trial or the case goes on your record.  There is no middle ground.

Hiring A Carrollton Lawyer For Construction Zone Tickets

Carrollton Traffic Ticket Lawyer

With all of this in mind, you have to be aware of the task you are asking your lawyer to complete successfully.  There is a high likelihood that you could end up unsuccessful at keeping the violation from going on your permanent record at the end of the day regardless of whether you hire a lawyer or not.  A lawyer can help mitigate the damage by requesting that the prosecutor reduce the fines or remove the workers present endorsement.  However, there is no guarantee of success that any defense strategies will work.  As long as you have reasonable expectations of your lawyer, then both of you can work towards the best result for your case without turning a very difficult situation into a blame game where the lawyer is criticized for putting forth maximum effort, but falling short of the goal of keeping the violation off your permanent record.