Most people in Yakima get a speeding ticket, groan, and just pay it. That's understandable, it feels like the path of least resistance. But paying a speeding ticket in Washington is an admission of guilt, and it carries real consequences: points on your driving record, potential insurance increases, and if you get enough of them, a suspended license.
Before you write that check, it's worth knowing your options.
What Happens When You Pay a Ticket
When you pay a traffic infraction in Washington, you're admitting the violation occurred. The infraction goes on your driving record. Your insurance company sees it at renewal time and may raise your rates. For commercial drivers in Yakima County, a moving violation can affect your CDL eligibility and employment.
The ticket doesn't just cost what's printed on it, it costs what your insurance company charges you over the next three to five years.
Your Three Options in Washington
When you receive a traffic infraction in Washington, you have some choices:
- Pay it. Admit the violation, pay the fine, take the record hit. Easiest option. Rarely the best one. Call us before you do this.
- Mitigation hearing. You admit the violation but ask the court to reduce the fine based on your circumstances. No contest to guilt, you're just explaining yourself. This doesn't keep the infraction off your record. Call us before you do this.
- Contested hearing. You deny the infraction and require the prosecution to prove it. This is where actual defense happens. If the officer doesn't show up, the case is often dismissed. If there are issues with the radar or laser equipment, speed measurement can be challenged. If you were ticketed by camera (school zone, red light), there are specific challenges available. Call us before you do this because doing it on your own will be really hard.
- Amended charge type. Sometimes an attorney, like us, can work with the prosecutor to move your case to a non-moving violation to save insurance consequences. Prosecutors are hit or miss on doing this based on jurisdiction, but often it is possible. If you don't know if you'll have an attorney yet, marking contested now saves this option for later.
- Driving class for dismissal. Yakima County often allows you to complete a driving class to get your case dismissed if you have not used this option in Yakima before. Again, if you don't know if you'll have an attorney yet, marking contested now saves this option for later.
What a Contested Hearing Actually Looks Like
In Yakima County, traffic infraction hearings are heard in district court. The standard of proof is "preponderance of the evidence", lower than criminal cases, but still something the prosecution has to meet. At a contested hearing, you (or an attorney representing you) can cross-examine the officer, challenge the accuracy of the speed measurement device, question whether the officer properly calibrated and used the equipment, and raise procedural issues with how the ticket was issued.
Officers sometimes don't show up. When they don't, the ticket is typically dismissed.
When It Makes Sense to Hire an Attorney for a Ticket
It always makes sense to have a consultation. We'll be honest with you on whether it makes sense to pay us. It definitely makes sense if:
- You have a prior infraction within the last few years and another would affect your insurance significantly.
- You hold a CDL and the ticket could affect your commercial driving.
- The ticket is for a higher speed, 20+ over the limit, for example, which carries steeper penalties.
- You received multiple citations from the same stop.
In those situations, the cost of an attorney to fight the ticket is almost always less than the long-term insurance hit and other consequences like mandatory license suspension for having too many tickets.
If you've received a traffic citation in Yakima County and want to know whether it's worth contesting, call for a free consultation: (509) 293-7593.
Tony Swartz is a criminal defense and traffic infraction attorney based in Ellensburg, WA, serving Yakima and Kittitas Counties.