Minnesota has officially gone hands-free behind the wheel in terms of using electronic devices, and police are out in full force looking for drivers who have yet to adopt to the change. According to early reports, police are already handing out hundreds of citations for being in violation of the new hands-free law. If you or someone in your family was one of those caught by police, you’re probably wondering about your legal options. Below, we explain how to contest a texting while driving ticket under the new law.
Taking A Hands-Free Citation To Court
We’re going to be completely honest with you when we say that you almost always want to contest a citation under the new hands-free law, and it’s up in the air if you need an attorney. Obviously we’d love to represent you at traffic court and you would have a better chance of beating the charge, but we understand that it doesn’t always make sense financially or for related reasons.
Yes, it’s going to cost some money to hire an attorney, but in many cases, a lawyer can appear on your behalf so you don’t need to take time off or work and miss out on a normal paycheck because you were in court, saving you money on the back end. There’s also the good possibility that your lawyer will be able to get the charge dropped, which can save you money.
We’ll let you make your own determination as to whether you need a lawyer to contest the new hands-free citation, but here’s a quick look at some factors that could influence your decision.
- If you could potentially lose your driver’s license, you should lawyer up.
- If this is a second or subsequent citation, the fees will rack up, and you should consider a lawyer.
- If other crimes were involved, like reckless driving or an accident-related charge, you need to lawyer up.
- If the circumstances of your traffic stop don’t add up, consider talking to a lawyer.
- If you admitted to using your phone, and it’s just a monetary fine, you probably can contest on your own or just pay the fine.
We can’t lay out every scenario, but if you’re even considering that hiring a lawyer could be a possibility, do yourself a favor and call Appelman Law Firm because we offer every potential client a free case review session. We’ll sit down with you and go over the specifics of your case. No matter how we feel about the case, we’ll be honest about what we’re thinking. If we think you could handle this small citation on your own, we’ll point you in the right direction, but if we think we can help or you’re facing more serious penalties, we’ll show you how we can help. The meeting has no strings attached, and while we hope you hire us to defend you, we’re most interested in helping you in your time of need, however that may be.
To set up that free strategy session, click here or call us at (952) 224-2277.
