Vol. 11, No. 5, Pg. 32. Traffic Court Blues.

• Author: By Amy Hackney Blackwell

South Carolina Lawyer

2000.

Vol. 11, No. 5, Pg. 32.

Traffic Court Blues

32TRAFFIC COURT BLUES33By Amy Hackney BlackwellYou're driving home after work. It's been a long day, you're tired and hungry, and you can't wait to get home. Suddenly you notice the blue lights flashing in your rearview mirror. Curses!

34You pull over to the side of the road. The officer strides up to the window and informs you that you have been clocked on radar doing 65 mph in a 45 mph zone. He writes you a ticket and sends you on your now-slower way. A speeding ticket-this means a $150 fine, four points on your license and who knows what it will do to your insurance.

A traffic citation is no joke. Even the most minor of violations can have expensive repercussions. Can anything be done to improve the situation?

In many cases, something can. Arresting officers can often reduce penalties, and there is always the option of a trial. Much depends on how cooperative the driver is and how politely he or she treats the arresting officer and judge.

TRAFFIC CITATIONS

There are four kinds of officers who can issue tickets for traffic violations: sheriffs' deputies, city police, State Troopers from the South Carolina Highway Patrol and the State Transport Police. The Transport Police are most concerned with commercial motor vehicles, but they can also issue tickets to ordinary motorists.

All these officers patrolling the roads results in quite a few tickets. For example, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office alone issued 15,674 citations in 1998. About half of these were for speeding, including speeding in school zones and offenses classified as "negligent driving." The sheriff's deputies also wrote a number of tickets for seat belt and driver's license violations. Driving under the influence and disregarding traffic signals were other common offenses. The offense with the fewest citations was passing a stopped school bus, with only six people cited.

South Carolina's law concerning motor vehicles can be found in the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on the Highways, S.C. Code Ann. § 56-5 (1976). A traffic citation or ticket notes the section of the Code that governs the violation. Some of the more common traffic violations include § 56-5-2920, reckless driving; § 56-5-2930, driving under the influence, with penalties listed under § 56-5-2940; and § 56-51520, speeding. Drivers can receive tickets for moving violations that were performed in single vehicles or as participants in car...