Failure to Appear in Court for a Traffic Ticket in Manassas
January 1, 2018 by Jean Humbrecht
Most traffic tickets in Virginia are pre-payable, meaning you can pay the fine for the ticket before your court date without having to go to court. However, if you forget to pay your ticket, you will have to appear in court. Failure to appear in court for a traffic ticket in Manassas will have many consequences, depending on the severity of the ticket and your driving record.
Penalty for Failure to Appear in Court for a Traffic Ticket in Manassas
Failure to Appear in Court for a Traffic Ticket in Manassas Can Have Several Consequences
If you do not pre-pay a traffic ticket in Manassas and do not go to court, you will be convicted in your absence. You can receive a fine up to $250, or possibly more if the code section calls for an increased fine (such as for speeding in a work zone, a school zone, or a residential district). You will also have to pay additional court costs for failure to appear. Additionally, the DMV will automatically assign demerit points to your driving record, based on the offense of which you were convicted.
The DMV in Virginia will take action against drivers who accumulate too many demerit points in a short amount of time, including mandatory driver improvement class and even driver’s license suspension. Failing to appear in court to contest a ticket could push a driver over the edge with his points, since he or she will automatically be assessed demerit points if convicted in his or her absence.
Failing to appear for certain offenses, however, is much more serious than failing to appear for a traffic infraction. Reckless Driving, for example, is a crime, and failing to appear can result in a trial in your absence only if the Commonwealth Attorney decides he or she is not pursuing a jail sentence in your case. If so, you face a fine up to $2,500 and driver’s license suspension up to 6 months. However, if the Commonwealth Attorney is not waiving the possibility of jail and you do not appear, you will have a bench warrant issued for your arrest. For more information on failing to appear in court for a Reckless Driving charge in Virginia, click here.
For more information on traffic tickets and DMV points in Virginia, click here.
For more information on traffic tickets and DMV points in Manassas, click here.
For more information on speeding tickets and DMV points in Virginia, click here.
For more information on speeding tickets and DMV points in Manassas, click here.
For more information on DMV demerit points in Virginia, click here.
For more information on traffic tickets and court costs in Virginia, click here.
For more information on court costs in Virginia in general, click here.
For more information on Reckless Driving charges in Virginia, click here.
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