California Traffic Misdemeanors

California traffic misdemeanors are serious traffic crimes that have fines up to $2000 and could even result in jail time. DUI offense, driving without a license, fleeing from an officer, reckless driving, drag racing, falsifying a disabled placard or using one and filing false car theft report are some of the California traffic misdemeanors. When you are stopped for a misdemeanor you get a ticket and you are required to appear in court. You could plead guilty, pay the fine and go to traffic school to clear your record, or you can plead not guilty and go to court to fight your ticket.

You can be sent to county jail for one year or pay a fine instead of it for a traffic misdemeanor in California. When you are pulled over for a misdemeanor, the officer is not going to take you into custody, unless the violation is a DUI/DWI. You generally have to sign a ticket. By signing it you are not accepting that you are guilty of the accused violation, you are just promising to appear in court by a date and time.

You can avoid going to court by admitting that you are guilty and paying the fine. You may request traffic school to remove the points on your DMV record following the conviction. If you believe you were wrongly accused, you may plead not guilty and defend yourself in the court. You have the right to an attorney representing you in the court as well. Also, you can have documents and witnesses to prove your points. If you have requested a trial date and you fail to appear at court at the specified date and time, you will be charged with an additional misdemeanor, as you have signed your ticket accepting that you would appear in court. In that case, a FTA (failure to appear) warrant will be issued in your name. You will be arrested if you are pulled over, and might have your driver's license suspended.

Depending on the severity of the violation, injuries occurred and the criminal record of the offender, a misdemeanor might be elevated to a felony, in which case the fines are higher and the offender might be jailed in a state prison for no less than a year.

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Misdemeanor Lawyer for Commercial Drivers

Many of the traffic tickets that are just citations for non-commercial drivers are considered misdemeanors for commercial drivers and therefore, have more consequences and higher points on their record. In addition to those offenses, driving for too many hours, weight violations, truck log book violations, out of permit violation, scale violation and equipment violation are just some of the other misdemeanors exclusive to commercial drivers that can cause them serious trouble. Some of them have very heavy fines, up to thousands of dollars. As commercial drivers in California cannot attend traffic school to clear their records, these misdemeanors can easily result in suspension of their CDL. To avoid that call (866) 780-1234 or fill the online form to get help from a traffic lawyer at our office.