Traffic violations come in all shapes and sizes and according to the nature of these offenses, certain standard punishments are typically rendered the perpetrators of said crimes. In most jurisdictions, there are three classifications of traffic offense: infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. Traffic infractions denote the least serious of traffic crimes, while felonies denote the most serious. For the purposes of this article, we will be discussing the nature of the traffic infraction, examples of these offenses, types of infractions, their respective penalties, as well as how they relate to the criminal records industry.
A traffic infraction is most often deemed a minor traffic violation, such as speeding, seat belt violations, driving without liability insurance, running a red light or stop sign, failure to signal, as well as any mechanical traffic violations-such as vehicle tail lights being out, etc. While these offenses are not nearly as serious as misdemeanor and felony traffic violations, they can still disrupt an otherwise safe community environment and cause traffic accidents as well as injuries and property damage. All of the previous examples of traffic infractions do impair the safe operation of the vehicle in question, and this is why they are offenses, punishable according to how the state in which they occur sees fit.
Traffic infractions or traffic tickets are most often regarded as what is called in legal terms, “strict liability offenses”, which means that criminal intent need not be proven to convict-just that the person committed the act in question. The most common examples of strict liability offenses that offenders are punished for are: speeding, failure to yield to traffic or pedestrian, failure to use turning signals, operating a vehicle without proper head/tail lights, turning into the wrong lane, parking in a handicap spot, and expired parking meter offenses. Of all of these offenses, each one can be considered wither a moving or non-moving traffic violation. Moving traffic violations occur when the vehicle is in motion, and can be anything from speeding to running a red light; whereas a non-moving violation occurs when the vehicle is parked, and can be anything from parking in a illegal area, muffler noise, or parking where a meter has expired. Typically, moving offenses are considered more serious and punishable than non-moving violations, but each case can be evaluated by how much harm might come of its illegality.
With this in mind, it should be considered that any one of the previously mentioned examples of traffic violations could easily become a more serious charge of misdemeanor or felony, depending on the state in which the crime is processed, how much harm is caused, as well as how excessively the offense was put into action. For example, barely speeding over the speed limit in a jurisdiction would most likely be an infraction, while excessively speeding in that same area, could easily graduate to a misdemeanor or felony.
In 1981, the topic of minor traffic offenses was reviewed and determined to be separate from their misdemeanor and felony traffic violations, in that they offered no criminal activity-with or without intent-in their action. So, federal regulation now holds that all traffic offenses of this nature be non-criminal in how they are processed and regarded. This means no one has access to a person’s driving record without their consent.
Since most offense of this nature are considered minor traffic offenses, penalties for these incidents are typically handled quickly and with minimal impact. In fact, the purpose of the passing of the federal regulation just mentioned, was to expedite the processing of small offenses in exchange for more time and consideration for the more serious of crimes in court. If a person is stopped or cited for a minor offense of this nature, they typically will incur a written or verbal warning, a fine, or if egregious enough, a court date for processing of the offense. For minor offenses such as these, fines are most often applied, and incarceration never considered, as they are not of a criminal nature, as deemed by federal statute. Consequently, persons charged with minor traffic offenses are not afforded a lawyer or a trial by jury.
Those convicted of these offenses can be penalized by restricted driving privileges and inflated insurance rates. While it is not common for a person to lose their ability to drive as a consequence of a traffic infraction, their insurance rates are almost always affected by such an offense. In the latter of the two consequences, the offender once convicted, will lose points off of their driving record. While the driving record is only accessible to the driver, an insurance company will not offer coverage to an individual unless they have this information. Each state classifies the amount of traffic violations has by a points system-taking off more points from their record for more serious offenses, and less points for less severe offenses. Depending on this score, a driver will necessarily be given a risk evaluation quote from their insurance company-which means higher premiums for less points.