What happens when you receive a traffic ticket after an accident? Do you have any options?

What happens when you’re in an accident and you receive the ticket? This is a type of situation where you know that you are completely at fault. Took your eyes off the road for like a second and now you have slammed into the person in front of you.

The officer gives you the ticket and the question becomes what happens next. Because you’re at fault, do you just have to accept this moving violation on your record? Are there any other options?

So, let’s say you got that accident and you’re completely at fault. What can you do?

Well, in many courts in Louisiana, they will work with you to get that charge reduced to a non-moving violation if you bring them a restitution letter from your insurance company. So, what exactly does that mean? What is a restitution letter?

The courts are looking to see that your insurance company has taken responsibility for the accident and has agreed to pay the damages to the other party. Before your court date, reach out to your insurance company and ask for the restitution letter.

Quite often if you don’t have the restitution letter when you show up to court, they’re gonna give you a new court date to have you come back to bring it. So, you’re gonna be a little ahead of the game if you already have that letter in hand.

Depending on the court, you still might have to plead not guilty and come back and bring that letter the second court date. However, it’s not uncommon for people to go plead not guilty and show up for the second court date without the restitution letter. If so, they have to come back again for a third court date.

This is just another way to be fully prepared when you show up for court. So, what you wanna do is reach out to your insurance company. You can call or email them and say that need an update on the payments to the other party. You can even tell them you need a restitution letter. They usually know what that means. But if they don’t, just say you need proof that the other party has been paid or will be paid.

To recap, if you’re in an accident where you were at fault and you’re trying to get that charge reduced to a non-moving violation, your best bet is to get a restitution letter from the insurance company. Bring that letter with you to court and see if they’ll be willing to reduce the charges.

If you have any questions about traffic tickets or a suspended license, you can text or call me or you can also sign-up for a free strategy session at trafficticketsnola.com.