Myrtle Beach Traffic Ticket Lawyer

Traffic Ticket Attorney in Myrtle Beach, SC

Your Myrtle Beach traffic ticket lawyer on the Axelrod team can help you to resolve speeding tickets and other traffic offenses in the Myrtle Beach area or, in some cases, anywhere in the state of SC.

On a regular basis, our attorneys represent clients who are charged with large and small traffic tickets, including:

• Speeding tickets,
• Out-of-state traffic drivers charged with traffic offenses in SC,
• Driving under suspension (DUS),
• Reckless driving and careless operation,
• Habitual traffic offender charges and DMV status,
• Leaving the scene of an accident, and
• DUI-related offenses.

Your traffic offense attorney at Axelrod and Associates will help you to find the best possible resolution for your ticket, which could mean a dismissal of the ticket, negotiating a re-write to a traffic offense that will not suspend your license, or a jury trial in the magistrate or city court.

Myrtle Beach, SC Speeding Ticket Lawyers

Speeding tickets can range from 2-point to 6-point tickets depending on the speed the officer says you were going. In appropriate cases, our speeding ticket attorney can help you to:

• Get your speeding ticket dismissed,
• Get your speeding ticket and the associated points reduced,
• Get your speeding ticket rewritten to a non-moving, no-point violation, or
• Try your case to a jury in the magistrate or municipal court.

Why use a speeding ticket attorney?

Accumulation of points from traffic tickets can quickly result in suspension of your driver’s license or license revocation due to habitual traffic offender (HTO) status.

If you are convicted of a speeding ticket, your insurance premiums may increase, and you could lose your CDL (commercial driver’s license). In many cases, it costs less to retain a speeding ticket lawyer than it would to pay the fine on the original ticket…

Out of State Traffic Tickets

If you are licensed in a state other than SC, your traffic ticket attorney must understand that there may be unforeseen consequences for a traffic conviction in SC.

What do I mean?

SC is required to report out-of-state drivers’ traffic convictions to their home states’ DMV under the Interstate Driver License Compact. Your home state should then apply the penalty that you would have had if you were convicted in your home state of the same offense – this can be complicated, however, and often requires research or even a phone call to your home state’s DMV to determine what the effect of a conviction would be.

For example, if you live in NC, a 2-point violation may transfer as a 0-point violation (an attorney would only know this from experience or by contacting the NC DMV). On the other hand, a 4-point violation if you were driving faster than 70 mph can result in a license suspension for NC drivers…

Reckless driving (see below) is a 6-point violation in SC. Sometimes, attorneys will negotiate a plea to careless operation (a 0-point violation in SC), not realizing that their client’s home state DMV will treat a careless operation conviction as if it were reckless driving and suspend their client’s license.

Your out-of-state traffic attorney at Axelrod and Associates will both 1) determine what effect a conviction will have on your license pursuant to your home state’s traffic laws, and 2) determine what the actual effect of a conviction would be when the ticket is reported to your state’s DMV.

Reckless Driving

Reckless driving is one of the most serious traffic offenses in SC, and it can result in:

• Up to 30 days in jail,
• Fines,
• Loss of 6 points from your license,
• A license suspension if you have lost 12 or more points or if you have two or more reckless driving convictions within five years,
• Higher insurance premiums, and
• License revocation as a habitual traffic offender if you already have two or more major traffic violations.

Driving Under Suspension (DUS)

Driving under suspension charges in SC create a “revolving door” of license suspensions and arrests for many people.

If you are convicted of driving under suspension:

• Your license will be suspended again – consecutively – for the same amount of time of the original suspension,
• You may be subject to jail time – in some cases, mandatory minimum jail sentences, and
• You may be declared a habitual traffic offender if you already have two or more major traffic violations.

If your license is suspended, don’t drive, get help to clear up your license, and end the cycle of suspensions.

If you are charged with driving under suspension, don’t plead guilty, call your DUS defense lawyer on the Axelrod team immediately, and fight the charges.

Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO) Criminal Charges

Criminal charges for driving under suspension after you have been declared a habitual traffic offender carry up to five years in prison – this means that you should 1) fight every traffic offense that you are charged with so that you are not declared a habitual traffic offender, and 2) fight habitual traffic offender criminal charges so that you do not go to prison.

If you are driving as a habitual traffic offender and you cause an accident that results in:

• Great bodily injury, the potential penalty is up to ten years in prison, or
• Death, the potential penalty is up to twenty years in prison.

Break the cycle. Don’t drive, get help, and fight the ticket.

Habitual Traffic Offender Status with the DMV

How do you become a “habitual traffic offender?”

• If you accumulate three or more serious traffic offenses like reckless driving, driving under suspension, or DUI, or
• If you accumulate ten or more less serious traffic violations that carry four or more points within a three-year period.

Your traffic violations attorney on the Axelrod team may be able to help you get your license reinstated after two years when:

• It is your first license revocation for habitual traffic offender status,
• You do not have any other pending, consecutive license suspensions,
• You do not drive and do not have any traffic violations during the two years, and
• You don’t have any alcohol or drug related convictions during the two years.

Why Do I Need a Myrtle Beach Traffic Ticket Lawyer?

Why do you need a lawyer for a traffic ticket?

Even for relatively minor offenses, your traffic ticket attorney can help you to avoid:

• Potential jail time,
• Loss of points,
• Excessive fines,
• License suspension,
• Higher insurance premiums, and
• Habitual traffic offender status.

GOT AXELROD?

If you’ve been charged with a traffic offense in Myrtle Beach, SC, call your traffic violation attorney at Axelrod and Associates immediately – you may have deadlines to file a jury trial request and avoid a conviction at a bench trial or conviction in absence.

Call 843-916-9300 or complete our contact form for a free initial consultation.