ME Traffic Tickets, Points, & Violations Getting any type of traffic citation or violation can be such a difficult situation for you in more ways than one. You are going to experience a lot of wasted time, lost wages, higher insurance rates, and penalties that are sure to put you through a great deal of stress – including fines that can come in more forms than one on just one conviction.

Depending on the actual offense, the severity of such, and the frequency of the crime on your driver’s record, the penalties of violations in MAINE can be much different from each other, with the most severe leading to your license suspended for quite some time.

  • A DMV point system is used to tally all those violations you are convicted for, ensuring higher insurance rates and more severe penalties for several traffic offenses committed within a certain time frame.
  • Your points earned on one conviction can range between 2 and 6, with some states assigning more for the highest and most severe of crimes, such as a DUI. If you are convicted of a DUI or DWI, you will often times receive the highest number of points possible leading to automatic license suspension regardless of prior offenses or the lack thereof.
  • If you receive the maximum amount of points in a specific given time, you will receive license suspension and may be required to attend driver training classes before you can get back on the road as a licensed driver.
Traffic Ticket Penalties in MAINE

Various traffic violations will lead to various penalties, with almost all violations leading to more than one penalty, including a fine and driver’s ed, or even a fine, imprisonment, and suspension. The real severity of the punishment for traffic violations comes from the severity of the offense committed, so you can be sure that you will receive more harsh penalties that are going to cost you much more.

In almost all cases, your auto insurance rates will rise, leading to more difficulties month to month until the points are removed from your license which could take years. In most states, however, the offenses are never removed and are reflected within your driver’s history report forever.

Traffic offenses from the minor to more serious can include:

  • Failure to yield or stop at stop sign or red light
  • Illegal U-turn
  • Reckless driving
  • Failure to heed railroad crossing warnings
  • Speeding (the higher over the limit, the more severe the penalties)
  • DUI/DWI
Your punishment can include, based on the offense, any one or more of the following:

  • Retribution fines
  • Court costs
  • Rising insurance premiums
  • Jail time
  • License suspension
  • IID
  • Administrative interview
If you are only issued a simple parking ticket, you aren’t going to go through the hoops you will if you are cited for speeding 25 miles or more over the limit, so your punishments are really correlative to the crimes you commit or the laws you disobey.

In most of all cases with traffic tickets, the easiest resolution for you is to accept guilt and pay the ticket. This will avoid court costs and will give you an instant reprieve so you aren’t chasing the DMV and court system around seeking out a solution. However, if you are adamant about your innocence, you are always granted the right to take the ticket to court and contest it. However, if you are found guilty, you could be at a greater loss than if you just paid the ticket – so always be sure to make a wise decision. If you just aren’t sure what to do, you can always obtain a consultation with a traffic lawyer to determine the best route of action.