How To Handle Traffic Violations in Seattle

You’re an out-of-towner, you’re here on business. You arrive at Sea-Tac delayed hours, of course, because it’s the holidays and let’s face it: you should’ve planned for a delay. You weren’t born yesterday but you’re behaving as if you were. If you have any sense of responsibility, you feel it, that you’ve made a misstep. Nevertheless, you have a destination, and time waits for no one, not even you.

So you’ve just landed, you’re already in a mood. You make your way to an information counter because you didn’t take ten minutes during your flight to check emails and plan your landing. No, you thought it constructive to spiral down a YouTube rabbit hole about parking structures. Never mind reviewing your itinerary or rental car arrangements -- what you really needed to know was that the sixty-million-dollar parking expansion at Sea-Tac used 780,000 yards of air- entrained 5000 psi cement.

You’re not even in the construction industry.

Regardless, you finally have your car now. It’s a nice car. It’s a fast car. Faster than you’re used to. As the traffic suffices, and the road opens up, you punch it a few times on a straightaway. But your luck on this trip, of course, is only bad. And now, you’ve been gotten. For speeding. So now what? You get on with it. Your trip, your work, your business. You make it back to Los Angeles, where the parking structure is only slightly impressive, and here you are with a speeding ticket from Seattle and a newfound passion for large-scale commercial construction.

It’s not the end of the world, but it’s an inconvenience. So you review your options.

One option: Don’t respond.

Not wise, but some take this route. And in this great nation of ours, regardless of city and state, you have the freedom to be as irresponsible as you want. But there will likely be consequences. Here are some possible things that could happen:

Those bullet points alone should be motivation enough to take care of an infraction as soon as possible. You’re responsible, that’s why you’re researching your options. So, not responding is not an option.

Another option: Procrastinate.

Not for you, not this time. Time is the wisest counselor, and it’s about time you’ve learned from it. You’ve decided you want to do something now, no exceptions and no extensions. So you decide you’re going to respond. Good. How?

There are three ways you can respond:

You can plead guilty and pay the fine.

In Washington, if you pay the fine the court concludes that you are not contesting the ticket and enters an order effectively finding you guilty in your particular case. That means you are waiving your right to challenge the traffic ticket in court. Depending on your Washington driving record, the Department of Licensing may suspend your Washington driver's license. And lastly, the traffic violation may cause an increase in your car insurance rates. Not a great option since that’s more of your hard-earned money out of your pocket.

You can plead guilty and request a mitigation hearing.

If you're guilty of the traffic violation, you have the option to request a mitigation hearing and have your fine reduced. You’ll have to follow the instructions on your traffic ticket to request this hearing. Your mitigation hearing may result in fine reduction, a monthly payment plan, or community service. That’s not too bad, but there’s still a lot of time and energy you need to expense going this route.

Lastly, you can plead not guilty and request a contested hearing.

If you want to fight the ticket, you need to request a contested hearing. This option suits you better. You’re a fighter, and you will not go quietly into the good night. There are three ways to fight:

You can do it yourself.

Follow the instructions on the ticket. You'll need to check the appropriate check box on your ticket and then mail it to the relevant court. The court will then send you a Court Appearance Notice with a court date (this takes 2 - 4 weeks). You'll need to appear in court on that date and argue your case in front of the judge and/or prosecutor. Although a worthy fight, this can be time-consuming, and time is valuable.

You can find and hire a traffic lawyer.

More phone calls, more researching? This will surely cut into your nightly YouTube spiral. Not to mention the legal fees and service level of traffic lawyers in Washington vary greatly. Another option is to let Off The Record help you through the process of disputing the charge or payment of the fine. Off The Record will connect you with an attorney to help you in a timely manner. The attorney will keep you apprised of the status of your ticket, and see your case through to the end. They’ll shoulder all the legwork so you don’t have to. You will not need to mail in the ticket or appear in court. You can connect with an attorney and book a case with them right from their website, or by using their iPhone, or Android app.

You also have the option to defer your ticket.

In Seattle, you can defer your ticket, which removes your ticket from your driving record provided you:

If you fail to meet any one of the requirements, the infraction will go on your driving record. The best way to avoid this is to fight any traffic ticket you receive during the deferral period.

With the new year, a new decade, you choose to seize an opportunity to embrace new technology. Now, with ease, you can let the attorneys on Off The Record handle your case.

This information on this site is provided solely for informational purposes. It is not legal advice. Off The Record is not a law firm, does not provide legal services, and is not a lawyer referral service. The attorney listings on the site are paid attorney advertisements. Off the Record has not evaluated this content for accuracy, completeness, or changes in law. No representation is made here about your specific rights. Off The Record is not a substitute for an attorney or a law firm. Legal advice can only be provided by a licensed lawyer.