One of the common questions you will be asked in an interview is whether you have any criminal records. Many people find it difficult to answer this question especially if they have, at one point, been slapped with a speeding ticket. This is because they have no idea whether speeding ticket is a misdemeanor or not.
When driving, there are a wide variety of tickets you can get, but the good news is the fact that you can fight them and if you know what you are doing you have a good chance to get out of them.
So what exactly is the difference between a misdemeanor and a violation? A misdemeanor is an offense that you can actually get sent to jail for. These can range from a variety of things, the most common types of traffic misdemeanors are driving under the influence, doing a hit and run, hitting a pedestrian, driving extremely recklessly, operating a vehicle without insurance, and many other things.
Now returning to the question is speeding ticket a misdemeanor, the answer to this question is no, speeding ticket is not a misdemeanor. In most cases, it is defined or classified as an infraction. Infraction in legal terms refers to non-criminal violation of an ordinance, rule or set regulation by a jurisdiction. It usually does not attach certain individual rights for example a jury trial.
Simple speeding above the stipulated limit will be considered an infraction. However, if you commit other traffic offenses in addition, for example you cause an accident or driving under the influence of drugs of abuse, speeding will amount to a misdemeanor or even a felony. You will definitely go for a criminal trial if in your speeding you ran over a pedestrian, cause multiple accidents or crush into a private property.
One thing you must understand is that the law differs in each state. What is considered infraction in one state may actually be a misdemeanor in other states. Nevertheless, most US states consider speeding ticket a mere infraction. It may be good to confirm with your state whether speeding is a misdemeanor. Do not wait and get surprised when you go to apply for a job only to be told that you are not eligible.
The importance of knowing whether speeding ticket amounts to a misdemeanor is that the latter goes to your criminal record. Incase you are looking for college enrollment, seeking to secure a job or any other thing that requires interview; you may be asked whether you have been involved in any criminal activity. If you say nay and yet you had, been charged at one point, with misdemeanor, you will have lied.
Another thing that can help you get out of the ticket is to never admin guilt no matter what. Whenever someone agree’s they were speeding it becomes almost impossible to get out of the ticket. Many people like to give excuses as to why they were speeding, but the truth is nobody cares about your excuse, they just want to know whether or not you were actually speeding and if you give an excuse as to why you were speeding you are admitting to speeding. You are best off not coming up with an excuse and never say you were actually speeding.
If you are looking for information on speeding tickets, then visit thespeedingticket.org. It is an excellent resource for people wanting a brief introduction to the subject. It also has useful information regarding is a Speeding Ticket a Misdemeanor.