Several years ago the Florida legislature passed a law stating that commercial drivers are not eligible to make a traffic school election after receiving a speeding ticket. The legislature doesn’t care that the commercial driver may not have been driving their commercial vehicle at the time of the violation. Thankfully, our office deals with this issue on a daily basis. We know how serious it can be for a commercial driver to have points on their driving history. In many Florida counties, Judges are sympathetic to the plight of commercial drivers who can’t elect traffic school to keep the points off of their driving record. In many counties the officers input is given heavy weight in how the end result will reflect on the driving record. That is the reason that it always pays to be respectful to the police officer issuing you the ticket. Because these officers prosecute their own cases, an argument roadside with the officer issuing the ticket may have a detrimental effect on the court case.

The possible solution to the inability to elect traffic school is to have the commercial driver hire our office. We represent motorists in almost every Florida County. In certain other counties we will refer you to an attorney who we feel meets the same standards we possess when representing motorists.   If the officer is able to prove the speeding ticket beyond a reasonable doubt, we will ask the Judge to withhold adjudication and not assess any points. That means the ticket will still appear on the driving record but as a withhold of adjudication. The Judge, as a condition of the penalty, can still mandate that the driver attend some type of traffic school. In Florida there are various types of traffic schools, 4-12 hours. Unless mandated by the Judge, most of these driver improvement schools can be done on the internet through third party companies that contract with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and motor Vehicles.

If you hold an out-of-state commercial driver’s license please call our office. You will not be able to elect traffic school in order to keep the points off of your home state driving history. We can appear on your behalf, presenting your out of state driving abstract, and see if the court would consider withholding adjudication. A withhold of adjudication under Florida Law is NOT a conviction and would not result in the interstate sharing of citation information.

Call our office at 941-444-4444 for a free consultation with one of our Florida speeding ticket lawyers.