Lawlor Winston Blog

“Thank you Officer.”

Although politeness like this may not get you “out” of a traffic citation, any police officer will agree that a good attitude serves you much better than the alternative. Forget about what type of day you have had, be thankful if you only get issued a citation, and can return to fight another day.

Many people believe the only way to deal with a traffic citation is to pay the fine, take the points, and go to driving school. Depending on a number of factors, including the type of violation, and your driving record, you may have other options.

In Broward County, a violator actually gets four opportunities to decide how to deal with a citation: 1) plead guilty by mail, pay the fine, and perhaps elect driving school; 2) attend the initial appearance, pay the fine, elect driving school, or plead “not guilty”, and request a full hearing; 3) attend the pre-trial conference, where a magistrate will give you the opportunity to change your plea to “no contest”, and accept a “plea bargain”; and 4) proceed to a final hearing.

Pleading guilty to your traffic citation entitles you to pay the entire fine, take points on your license, if required, and perhaps attend driving school.

If you plead not guilty, either by mail, or in person at the initial appearance, your case will be set for a “pre-trial conference”. A traffic magistrate will give you the opportunity to change your plea to “no contest”, in exchange for a reduced sentence. Usually this reduced sentence is an offer of “withhold of adjudication”, no fines, no school, no “points”, and assessment of nominal court costs. While many things determine the severity of the potential offer, if you have an attorney, a relatively clean driving record, and were not involved in a accident or speeding in a school zone, your chances of avoiding points and high fines are good. While retaining an attorney to represent you at this stage is not strictly necessary, it may help you receive a better “deal”. Also, most attorneys who do this type of work charge very reasonably for this service.

Finally, you may opt to maintain your plea of not guilty, and proceed to trial. We don’t have space here to discuss the procedure and practice of even the simplest traffic misdemeanor trial. Unless you were involved in an accident, or have a very poor driving record, your best bet in most situations is to accept the plea-bargain. However, if you do decide to go to trial, retention of an attorney is probably a very good idea.

Feel free to contact us for a referral to a lawyer that specializes in handling Traffic Tickets.

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Earlier this year, a doctor was walking across the street when he was run over and killed by an uninsured drunk driver. Although his car was covered by a good policy with high uninsured motorist benefits, his widow and children received none of those benefits.

We often see business people who, while attempting to protect themselves from the liability which motor vehicles present, exclude themselves and their families from very valuable insurance protection for which they are paying.

Where we see this situation the most, is in closely held corporations and in the practices of professionals such as lawyers, doctors, dentists, etc. These astute individuals realize that motor vehicles present a potential liability whenever the vehicle may be involved in an accident, regardless of whether the principal or an employee is driving.

Therefore, the ownership of the vehicles is held in a corporate name so that liability can be limited to the corporate assets and those of the at-fault individual driver of the vehicle. The business routinely purchases a large insurance policy to protect the corporation or its driver from claims arising from at-fault accidents. This is a sound practice, except for some unforeseen consequences when the business principal or a family member is injured by an uninsured or under-insured motorist.

In Florida, by statute, UM coverage is presumed to be at the same limits as the liability policy which is purchased. For example, if there is $500,000 in liability coverage, there would routinely be $500,000 in UM coverage to protect against the opposing at-fault driver being under or un-insured. Also, when we purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM), that insurance is personal to the insured. When an Insured or an insured’s family member is injured by an at-fault under or un-insured motorist, the UM portion of the policy becomes available to the Insured and any resident relative living in the household with the Insured. That UM coverage follows the insured and those family members wherever they may be and whatever they may be doing. They are covered under the UM portion of the policy whether they are in the insured vehicle, in someone else’s vehicle, riding a bicycle, a pedestrian, etc.

The difficulty is that in the effort to confine liability to the corporation and the at-fault driver of the corporate vehicle, the protections of the UM portion of the policy are not nearly as broad. Where the business is the Named Insured, only those in the vehicle are covered under the UM policy. There is no coverage for the business principals or their family members when they are in other vehicles, riding bikes, walking, etc. This is because the corporation or other business entity is the Named Insured in the policy of insurance, and they never get injured and have no family members which could also get injured. Premium dollars paid for UM coverage where a business is the Named Insured are essentially wasted.

There is a simple solution. The business principal should be named as a Named Insured in the policy of insurance. The principal doesn’t own the vehicle and is not subject to liability for the harm caused by the vehicle unless the principal is driving. By adding the principal as a Named Insured, they and their family get the benefit of the UM coverage without any additional exposure.

Thanks to Matt Weissing

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