In addition to Driving Under the Influence (DUIs), here are some of the most common Traffic Offenses, we deal with at the Law Office of Bhavik Patel:

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1. Driving While License Suspended (DWLS)

2. Fleeing or Attempting to Elude Law Enforcement (FATE)

3. Leaving the Scene of an Accident (LSOA)

4. Expired Tag

5. Expired License

6. Reckless Driving

7. Racing

8. Speeding

9. Failure to Provide Insurance

10. No Valid Driver’s License

11. Red Light Camera Tickets

12. Careless Driving

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Driving While License Suspended (DWLS)

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In Central Florida, driving a vehicle is a necessity. Therefore, it is imperative that each person have a valid and current license. However, if you have failed to pay a traffic ticket, failed to make child support payments, failed to keep current on your vehicle insurance, or failed to appear for your court dates, the Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend your driving privileges until those responsibilities are satisfied. And if you drive while your license is suspended, you will be arrested and charged with the misdemeanor offense of Driving while License Suspended (DWLS).

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A DWLS arrest might seem innocuous to most people, however, an individual who receives three DWLS convictions within a five year period will be deemed a habitual traffic offender (HTO) and lose their driving privilege for a five year period. In addition, after they are designed a habitual traffic offender, if they continue to drive and are stopped by law enforcement, they will be charged with a felony driving while license suspended and face up to five years in prison.

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If you have been charged with a misdemeanor or felony DWLIS, contact the Law Office of Bhavik Patel today. There are many defenses to DWLS charges, most notably, the driver not having knowledge that his or her license was actually suspended that can result in your charge being reduced or dismissed.  At our office, we will work with clients to try to get their driving license privileges reinstated. In addition, we will work with the prosecutors and try to get our clients plea deals to the lesser crime of No Valid License, which does not carry the risk of a habitual traffic offender designation and does not accrue the three strikes to the five year driving license suspension.

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Fleeing or Attempting to Elude Law Enforcement (FATE)

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A Fleeing or Attempting to Elude Law Enforcement (FATE) charge is a felony in the State of Florida and carries stiff penalties, including a mandatory adjudication of guilt and a mandatory one year driver’s license suspension.  Therefore, pleaing to a FATE will automatically make you a convicted felon, regardless of your prior criminal history.

At the Law Office of Bhavik Patel, we work with our clients and prosecutors to get the FATE charges reduced to either misdemeanor reckless driving charges or resisting an officer without violence charges. As a former prosecutor, I have handled numerous FATE cases and understand the valid defenses that a client can raise. These defenses can help our clients avoid the felony conviction and keep their driver’s license valid.

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Leaving the Scene of an Accident (LSOA)

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LSOA charges are very common in the busy Central Florida area. In most LSOA cases, the witnesses cannot identify the driver of the vehicle that was involved in the accident, but write down the tag number of the vehicle. Law enforcement then tracks down the registered owner of the vehicle involved in the accident and arrests that person, regardless if that individual was actually driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Further, in some cases, the accident is so minimal that a person driving does not even know that they were involved in an accident. These are just a few of the defenses available to anyone charged with Leaving the Scene of an Accident.

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Expired Tag

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Driving with an Expired Tag can result in fines and can lead to other violations. In addition, it can become a criminal charge if the expiration is more than 6 months and it is the driver’s subsequent infraction.

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Expired License

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Driving with an expired license can result in fines and a possible arrest for driving without a valid license, a second degree misdemeanor. If you have been arrested for an expired license, the Law Office of Bhavik Patel will work with you to get your license reinstated and have the charge dismissed.

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Reckless Driving

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Reckless Driving is a charge left to the subjective belief of law enforcement and, therefore, can be fought with thorough questioning of the officer who conducted the traffic stop. In most cases the offer is not able to track down the other vehicles that were affected by a client’s driving pattern or even tell a court if other vehicles were in peril by the client’s vehicle. In the State of Florida it is a misdemeanor and not a simple traffic infraction. Penalties for reckless driving include probation, driving improvement classes, and fines.

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Racing

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Law enforcement usually charges individuals with racing when they were simply speeding on the highways. However, unlike a speeding ticket, which is a non-criminal traffic infraction, a racing charge is a misdemeanor in the State of Florida and carries an automatic 1 year Driving license suspension and a $500 fine.

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Speeding

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At the Law Office of Bhavik Patel, we work with law enforcement at civil infraction hearings to either dismiss the speeding charge or allow the client to keep a withhold of adjudication so no points are assessed on the client’s driver’s record. This keeps the driver’s insurance premium rates the same and allows the client to avoid taking the four to eight hour driving course.

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Failure to Provide Insurance

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Driving without insurance will not only result in high fines, but your driving privilege will be suspended and you will pay high reinstatement fees when you do eventually obtain insurance.  In addition, if you continue to drive while your license is suspended, you will subsequently be charged with Driving while License Suspended (DWLS). We will work with you to make sure you get your SR-22 clearance letter showing proof of insurance so you can get your driving privileges reinstated and back out on the road.

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No Valid Driver’s License

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Driving without a driver’s license is a misdemeanor in the State of Florida, meaning it is an arrestable offense. Many individuals are unable to obtain a driver’s license in the State because of immigration status or because of monetary issues. We work with our clients so they can try to obtain a valid driver’s license. In addition, we try to make sure most no valid driver’s license charges are resolved with a withhold of adjudication and a small fine.

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Red Light Camera Tickets

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Central Florida is a well-known location for red light cameras. While the red light cameras were supposed to make the streets safer for drivers, it has become a cash making tool for local cities that punish even safe drivers crossing at intersections. If you have been charged with failing to come to a complete stop when making a right turn or running a right light because of a red light camera, there are defenses that can lead to your red light ticket being dismissed.

Instead of simply paying the traffic ticket, hire the Law Office of Bhavik Patel and let us represent you in court and fight that red light camera ticket.

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Careless Driving

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Careless driving tickets add injury to insult for drivers involved in a car accident. Even after you do the responsible thing of staying on the scene of an accident and providing your insurance information to the other driver, law enforcement subsequently writes you a careless driving ticket. To make matters worse, law enforcement did not observe the accident but is relying on hearsay from other individuals. Careless driving tickets can add points on your driving record and cause insurance premiums to skyrocket. Contact us at the Law Office of Bhavik Patel and let us contest the careless driving ticket on your behalf.

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