Teen Received A Traffic Ticket? 5 Things You Should Know ...

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Any type of traffic ticket can have several stringent consequences. These penalties could include points on a license or insurance rate hikes, but people often wonder what happens if their teen gets a ticket. Most teens are on their parent?s insurance, so the ticket could have repercussions for the teen and the parents for years to come. Hopefully the fear felt when being pulled over and the embarrassment of having to inform their parents will be enough to get teens to drive safer in the future, but there are still certain things that a parent should know if their teen receives a traffic ticket.

Avoiding Consequences

Parents should make sure to handle the traffic ticket issue with their child on their own terms, but it may be beneficial to try to reduce the legal consequences that a teen may face. Certain areas will allow teens who receive their first ticket to take traffic school to reduce some of the related penalties. Many tickets will come with fines and points on the teen?s license, but the court may very well reduce or waive the penalties altogether if the teen completes assigned traffic school.

Should Ticket be Reported to Insurance Provider?

Many people will have varying opinions on whether or not a person should report their teen?s ticket to their insurance provider. The best answer for most situations is ?no?. Reporting this is basically like a person inquiring as to whether or not their insurance company would like to raise their rates. These companies will review the driving records of everyone on a policy periodically. They will eventually find out about the ticket on their own, and at that point they can decide whether the ticket will affect a person?s rates or not.

How will this Affect Teen?s Driving Record?

According to North Carolina law firm, Power McCartans, a traffic citation may add points to a person?s driving record and so it must be taken seriously because it could come with dire consequences. For example in North Carolina, any person who receives an?NC speeding ticket could have their driving privileges temporarily or permanently suspended. As mentioned earlier, in some cases it may be possible to have these effects minimized or eliminated altogether through attending traffic school. If this is not an option, there is a good chance that the teen will receive points on their license. This should be an eye-opener for the teen. A parent should make sure that their teen understands that the penalties they face for their first ticket are nothing compared to what happens if they accumulate further points. Their license could eventually be suspended altogether.

Does this Reflect the Teen?s Normal Behavior?

Parents should always consider whether or not the traffic ticket is a sign of their teen?s overall driving behavior. Most people do not get pulled over for every traffic infraction that they commit, and this is true for teens and adults alike. A traffic ticket may be a signal that a teen isn?t practicing safe driving; because it is highly unlikely that a teen received a traffic ticket the only time that they broke the law. It is probably time to have a sit down with the teen to discuss safe driving and both the legal and parental repercussions of not obeying traffic laws.

Numerous Tickets

If a teen has gotten more than one ticket, then a parent and teenager will have bigger issues to deal with. Traffic school will likely not be an option at this point. Insurance rates will probably also skyrocket with the teen on the insurance, so it is vital for a parent to consider whether or not removing their child from the insurance altogether is a fitting punishment. The teen may also face a license suspension. Many parents choose to get a lawyer at this point due to the fact that traffic lawyers often cost less than the ticket. This will help lessen some of the consequences involved.

No one would argue the fact that parenting is a difficult job. Teens are at the age where they can no longer be closely supervised like children, but they aren?t quite ready to face the world on their own. Teens that get traffic tickets will quickly learn that their actions have consequences, and this is an important lesson to learn. If a parent can manage to lessen the repercussions they themselves will feel while teaching their child a valuable lesson, it can make life in general just a little bit easier.

Ebele Okocha is a freelance writer covering issues that affect our daily lives. She is also a contributing author for Power McCartan, a North Carolina law firm providing defense against NC speeding ticket?charges. Their practice specializes in traffic violations, personal injury and criminal defense cases.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/statefarm/7838240744/

Source: http://www.moderndignity.com/teen-received-a-traffic-ticket-5-things-you-should-know/

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