Request to be tried on a traffic ticket: Why should you contact a lawyer?

May 23, 2021   

Did you receive a traffic report with points? Are the points accumulating? Is there anything you can do? This article was written in collaboration with the Ministry of Lawyer Eran Akrawy & Co.' Along with most traffic law offenses, there are mandatory points that are charged to the driver, in addition to the punishment of the traffic courts in Israel. Accumulating points will ultimately result in the application of corrective measures on the driver, which can even lead to a long-term administrative disqualification of the driver's license and additional sanctions such as a theory test, tests at the Medical Institute for Road Safety, and more. Many drivers think that the Israel Police administers the scoring system, but the actual administrator of the scoring system is the Licensing Ministry, using the new scoring system that is enshrined in law. How does the scoring system and the sanctions that go with it work? In fact, the purpose of administering the points system by the Licensing Ministry is to monitor the behavior of drivers on the road and to act against drivers who accumulate offenses, by imposing various corrective measures. In general and without going into small details, the corrective measures are: A driver who accumulates 12 points will be required to take a basic correct driving course and is subject to passing a test. A driver who accumulates 24 mandatory points will be required to take an advanced correct driving course, which is subject to passing a final test. A driver who accumulates 36 points will have his driver's license suspended for 3 months administratively. A driver who accumulates 72 points will have his license suspended for 9 months and at the end of that he will also be required to undergo tests at the Medical Institute for Road Safety, as a condition for receiving the license, and in addition he will have to pass a theory test and a test. Also, if a driver accumulates 36 points twice within 6 years - his license will be revoked for 9 months and the license will be returned subject to passing tests at the Medical Institute for Road Safety as well as a theory and test. And there are also the periods for accumulating points. This means that once a driver reaches 22 points or more, the two-year accumulation period will be extended to 4 years instead of 2 years.

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I received a report with a score. How do I avoid the score? If you were stopped by a police officer and received or were mailed a report with points from an electronic camera, you can file a Appealing a traffic report, within 90 days of receiving the report. The driver must send the appendix of the request to be tried either by registered mail or via the Driver Inquiries Section website in a timely manner. After the request reaches the Driver Inquiries Section, the driver will be assigned a hearing date in traffic court. There, the goal will be to fight for our innocence or reach a plea bargain, for example changing the offense section to a non-point offense. Will the police change the offense easily? So here it should be noted that changing a misdemeanor to a non-scoring offense is not simple and a police prosecutor will not "rush" to change the section without presenting failures in the evidence. Therefore, in order for the prosecutor to agree to change the charge section of a misdemeanor with a score, we will have to present failures in the evidence. An example of a failure could be a loss of eye contact between the police officer and the perpetrator of the offense. And many other failures that can be in the report due to errors or inattention by the police officer when filling out the memos or the report. Contacting a traffic lawyer is cost-effective! There is no doubt that contacting a traffic offenses professional, who is a traffic lawyer, will in most cases result in changing the offense section to a non-scoring offense and even acquitting the driver in appropriate cases. A traffic lawyer will take care of taking photos of the evidentiary material in the claims section of the Israel Police. In addition, a traffic lawyer will study the case and know how to find the flaws and present them to the prosecution authorities. Therefore, the cost of hiring a traffic lawyer outweighs the savings, as most drivers who choose to represent themselves without knowledge of the law and case law and police procedures will ultimately waste their time and even worsen their situation, since the traffic court is not obligated to the original fine and can impose a harsher punishment than was in the original report. In conclusion: If we received a report with points, we must understand that we must not despair and that we can fight for the points, by requesting a trial, with the ultimate goal being to change the offense section with the points to an offense section without points. Beyond sending the request to be tried, an understanding of the intricacies of the law, case law, and police procedures is required. Therefore, it is advisable and worthwhile to contact a traffic lawyer who will be able to assess the legal situation and bring the best result for the driver, such as changing the offense section to an offense without points, for example, or the acquittal of the driver in traffic court. • Warning: This article is an informative article only, and before taking any legal action, a lawyer who deals with traffic should be consulted, and we are not responsible for any damage that may be caused to the user of this article.