Speeding

Do I need to hire an attorney for a speeding ticket in Ohio?

• It is in your best interest to hire an attorney for a speeding ticket in Ohio. If you decide to fight the ticket on your own, you will likely be found guilty. The penalties for speeding tickets go well beyond court fines.
  • A speeding conviction can add points to your driving record. This will increase your yearly car insurance expenses.
  • Any speeding convictions on your record will make it harder to resolve and future speeding tickets.
  • If you have a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), speeding convictions can affect your ability to drive professionally.
  • Generally, speeding convictions do not come with the possibility of any jail time. However, if you have multiple offenses in one year, it can lead to possible jail time.
• An attorney can work with the prosecution to resolve your case without pleading guilty to a speeding violation. Meis law has a number of tools at its disposal to help resolve speeding charges without a speeding conviction.
• In addition, Meis Law may be able to avoid you showing up to court for your speeding offense. We know that it’s often hard to take off work to appear in court. We’ll do everything we can to avoid you making an appearance.

Can I beat a speeding ticket if I take it to trial in Ohio?

• An experienced attorney can help give you a fighting chance if you want to take your speeding ticket to trial.
• In general, it’s often fairly easy for a prosecutor to prove a speeding violation. It’s even easier for the prosecutor if you do not hire an attorney.
• However, an attorney knows what to look for to win a speeding ticket trial. Speeding laws in Ohio are often more complicated than you might think.
  • The prosecutor may have forgotten to prove a particular element of the speeding charge.
  • The cop or prosecutor may have charged the wrong code section.
  • The police officer may be unavailable and your attorney can object to a continuance.
• The one main advantage that people have when defending speeding tickets is that speeding tickets are the least serious charges, as it relates to criminal and traffic offenses. Thus, prosecutors rarely prepare for a speeding ticket trial. Their preparation usually involves reviewing the speeding ticket minutes, or even seconds, before the trial.
  • Your attorney will have had plenty of time to identify any issues with the speeding ticket and plan out a defense.

I received a speeding ticket in Ohio and it says I can just pay instead of going to court. What happens if I just pay the speeding ticket without going to court?

• If you pay the ticket without going to court, you are entering a guilty plea to the speeding charge. This will result in a conviction of the speeding charge. Additionally, it will almost certainly result in points on your driver’s license.
• It is inadvisable to just pay the speeding ticket. An attorney can help you resolve the speeding charge without receiving any points on your record. Additionally, an attorney may be able to resolve the case without a conviction at all.
• Meis Law has years of experience in fighting speeding tickets. They have taken numerous speeding charges to trial and won. Let them take a look at your case and minimize the penalties.

How many points can I get on my Ohio Driver’s License before the BMV suspends my license?

• The BMV will suspend your license after you get 12 points on your driver’s record within a two year period.
  • The points will be removed after two years from the initial conviction of your traffic offense.
    • For example, say you are pulled over on Feb. 15, 2021 for speeding. You have a trial and are found guilty on March 10, 2021. In this case, the points you received for this conviction will fall off your driver’s record on March 10, 2023.
• You may take a BMV approved remedial driver’s class that will add an additional 2 points to the max. For example, once you take the class, you will have to get to 14 points on your license before the BMV will suspend your license.

How many points will I receive on my Ohio driver’s license for speeding?

• If you are going 30 mph or more over the speed limit
  • 4 points
• If the speed limit is 55 mph or higher and you are going 11 mph or more over the limit
  • 2 points
• If the speed limit is less than 55 mph and you are going 6 mph or more over the limit
  • 2 points
• If the speed limit is 55 mph or higher and you are going 10 mph or less over the limit
  • 0 points
• If the speed limit is 55 mph or less and you are going 5 mph or less over the limit
  • 0 points

What happens if I get caught speeding in a school zone in Ohio?

• The speed limit is 20 MPH in school zones in Ohio.
• Most prosecutors are very strict when it comes to speeding in school zones. Therefore, it may be difficult for your attorney to resolve the case with a lesser offense.
• There is good news though. The laws for defining schools, school zones, and school hours are very specific. An experienced speeding ticket attorney will be able to make it very difficult for a prosecutor to prove their case at trial.
• Make sure to call Meis Law if you have received a ticket for speeding in a school zone in Ohio. They will fight for you at trial and help keep points off of your record.

What happens if I have multiple tickets in one year in Ohio?

• If you have two or more speeding convictions in one year in Ohio, your next speeding ticket could come with the possibility of probation or jail time.
  • If you receive a speeding ticket and you have 2 speeding convictions in the past year, you can be charged with a 4th degree misdemeanor.
  • If you receive a speeding ticket and you have 3 or more speeding convictions in the past year, you can be charged with a 3rd degree misdemeanor.
• This is why it’s important to contact an attorney when you receive a speeding ticket in Ohio. You do not want these tickets to rack up and find yourself in this position.
  • NOTE: It is not mandatory that a police officer charge you with a 3rd or 4th degree misdemeanor if you have multiple convictions in a year. However, you need to be aware that it’s a possibility.

Can I go to jail for speeding in Ohio?

• Ordinarily, most speeding tickets are minor misdemeanors in Ohio. This means that the charge comes with no possibility of jail time.
• However, there are speeding charges that can come with jail time in Ohio.
  • If you receive a speeding ticket and have had two or more speeding convictions in one year, you can be charged with a 3rd or 4th degree misdemeanor.
  • If you are going 35 MPH over the speed limit in a business district of a municipal corporation, you can be charged with a 4th degree felony.
  • If you are going 50 MPH over the speed limit in a municipal corporation, you can be charged with a 4th degree felony.
  • If you are going 35 MPH over the speed limit in a school zone, you can be charged with a 4th degree felony.
• It’s important to note that police officers are not required to charge you with these offenses that come with jail time. They can choose to charge you with the minor misdemeanor offense. However, you need to be aware that these charges are a possibility.
• You need to contact an attorney if you have been charged with a speeding ticket that comes with the possibility of jail time. They can help to keep you off of probation and out of jail.

What if I don’t know what the speed limit is in Ohio? Can I still be charged with speeding?

• Yes. Speeding offenses are known as strict liability offenses in Ohio. This means that it doesn’t matter if you knew the speed limit or not. As long as you were voluntarily driving your vehicle over the speed limit, you can be charged with speeding in Ohio.

What happens if there is no speed limit sign? Can I still be charged with speeding in Ohio?

• Yes. There are default speed limits when roads are not marked with speed limit signs in Ohio.
• Some examples of these are:
  • 15 MPH on all alleys within a municipal corporation
  • 35 MPH on all state routes or through highways within municipal corporations outside business districts
  • 50 MPH on state routes within municipal corporations outside urban districts
  • 55 MPH on highways outside municipal corporations
  • 60 MPH on two-lane state routes outside a municipal corporation
  • 70 MPH on all rural freeways
• As you can see, these default speed limits are determined by the definition of certain types of roads. The prosecutor is required to define each of these roads in order to prove their case. Oftentimes, they forget to do this or the type of road is different than what you were driving on.
  • An experienced attorney will key in on these mistakes and help you to defeat your speeding ticket in Ohio. Andrew Meis has years of experience in identifying these mistakes by the prosecutor. Let him help you avoid a speeding conviction in Ohio.