Traffic File

A TRAFFIC lawyer with decades of experience has advised drivers to avoid an unacceptable argument that will never get them out of a traffic ticket.

If a driver chooses to fight a traffic violation, it is important to know which defenses could help their case and also what arguments should not be used in court.

Attorney Matthew Weiss from the traffic law firm Weiss & Associates, PC told The U.S. Sun that “ignorance of the law is not a defense.”

Weiss explained that you are supposed to know the laws.

“And so you’ll never win on lack of knowledge,” he said.

This can get tricky when drivers are on roads that they may not be familiar with.

Weiss shared that in New York City, the maximum highway speed is 50 mph.

“And a lot of people assume because they’re on a highway that it’s 55 or even 65, right? But New York City, that’s the maximum,” he said.

“So it’s very easy to go over the limit and not even realize it,” the lawyer added.

Weiss also warned of the street speed limit in New York City.

“That unposted limit of 25 is where there are no signs in the area,” he said.

“Automatically the limit is 25 miles an hour, which is not that fast, and easy again to speed without realizing you’re speeding because there could be clean road conditions and you’re going 35 or whatever and now you’re speeding.”

Weis said drivers can “easily get ensnared with a ticket” when driving in these unposted speed zones.

In general, if you do get pulled over for speeding, you should avoid admitting to anything, Martin A. Kron from traffic law firm Martin A. Kron & Associates, P.C. said.

“As a general rule, I would say the less you talk the better and there’s an exception to that if there’s a true emergency,” Kron told The U.S. Sun.

“So let’s suppose you were speeding and the cop says to you ‘Why so fast?’ You can tell him ‘I’m pregnant, that I’m racing to the hospital.’

“Or you just found out your husband was in an accident because, in New York City, the only way to deal with traffic tickets is to go to trial,” Kron explained.

Kron shared a situation in which telling the police officer why you were speeding could actually help you in court.

“So let’s suppose the situation was you just found out your husband got in an accident and he’s in the emergency room.

“If you don’t say anything to the policeman, when you go to trial and bring that up the judge is gonna ask, ‘Well, did you say something to the police?’

“But, ‘Oh, no, I didn’t.’ Then, you don’t sound credible anymore,” said Kron, who has experience as a traffic court judge.