Have you been charged with a traffic violation but believe the charges are without cause? Whether you’re fighting a speeding ticket, moving violation, parking violation, reckless driving accusations or drink driving, the penalties for traffic infractions in Australia can be significant, especially if you’ve been convicted of a similar traffic law offence that remains on your record. The draconian nature of these penalties is two-fold: (1) deterrence and (2) mitigating the worst case scenarios that frequently stem from reckless driving. So far this year, approximately 1 in 4 traffic fatalities in Queensland have been related to speeding, according to government data.
But if the violation you received is meritless and unjustified, it may be worth your while to hire a traffic lawyer or drink driving lawyer; they can ensure that the facts are told and you’re given a fair hearing in a court of law. You may be wondering, though: How much does a lawyer cost for traffic court? While it can be expensive, it’s better than the alternative – from drivers’ licence suspension, steep fines and or jail time.
How much does a lawyer cost for traffic court?
Before getting into specific numbers, it’s important to understand how the typical traffic lawyer determines what the appropriate cost is to retain their services. As you might expect, several factors are taken into consideration, starting with the complexity of your case. For example, if the violation is related to a speeding ticket, and no one was injured, the investigation process may be pretty straightforward. It likely won’t entail much in the way of background information aside from speaking with the arresting officer, your accounting of the incident and data from the radar gun the officer used to justify issuing the speeding ticket.
But if the alleged offence involves drink driving, your lawyer may need to charge more because there are more layers to the case. For example, did the police use a breathalyser? Was it an accurate reading? Were any other people affected by the incident? Were there witnesses?
All these questions require additional work and effort to put the puzzle pieces together. Thus, hiring a lawyer for a drink driving offence may be more expensive than for a speeding ticket.
Here are a few other factors that can affect what a traffic lawyer will cost you:
- The level of experience of the lawyer, in terms of how many years they’ve been practising
- Court filing fees
- Whether they work for a law firm or run their own private practice
- The urgency of the matter
- Assistance provided by other legal professionals, such as paralegals or law clerks
- How many hours the case takes to prepare (i.e. evidence gathering, fact finding, etc.)
- If experts testify in court
Given all of these variables, it’s difficult to say with precision how much you can expect to spend for a traffic lawyer to represent you in a court of law. Quite literally, a lawyer prices their services on a case-by-case basis. Generally speaking, lawyers can normally fix their costs.
Legal fees may seem expensive. However, considering the ramifications of a guilty verdict, it’s possible that you can’t afford not to hire a lawyer when your driving privileges are on the line – or your very freedoms.
What are the penalties in Queensland for drink driving?
Take drink driving as an example. If a court determines that the drink driving charge was appropriate, your licence could be taken away from you for up to nine months, according to Queensland legislation. You also may be fined, as a first offence can cost up to $1,929. There may also be a jail sentence.
That’s all assuming your blood alcohol concentration was slightly over the legal limit; it can’t be higher than 0.05%. But if it was notably more than this amount, such as 0.15%, you may be jailed for nine months, fined $3,859 and have your licence revoked for no less than six months.
Bottom line: Driving privileges are priceless and if you believe the law is on your side, Beavon Lawyers‘ tenured team will give you the defence that you deserve in court. For more information on our track record and what we charge, contact us today.
