Saving you from points, fines, and auto insurance hikes.

Thanksgiving is almost here! Time to pack up the car, visit family, and eat some turkey!

Before you do all of that, make sure to keep your eyes out for police when you are on the open road.

Although no official announcements have been made, it is highly likely that police officers will be traversing the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and countless local roads for motorists committing traffic violations.

Every year like clockwork, NJ police are out in full-force ready to issue drivers a battery of traffic tickets.

In recent years, New Jersey police have been targeting drivers who are talking on the phone while driving, speeding, and driving recklessly.

With the advent of rainy and snowy weather predicted for this year, it is likely that they will be looking to issue a slew of careless driving tickets as well.

Remember, if you are planning on traveling out of state, any moving violation that you receive in that state will follow you home.

For most out-of-state moving violations that you are convicted of New Jersey will put 2 points on your license and your auto insurance will go up.

Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and appreciating what we have, not a time to be lining the State’s pockets with revenue from traffic tickets you receive.

Be sure to be alert and drive safely!

If you or a loved one recently received a NJ traffic ticket, contact Michael Botton of The Botton Law Firm at 732-894-3686 today.

Back in October, police in Freehold Township handed out 101 traffic summonses to motorists on a stretch of Kozloski Road where four people were killed.

At the time, Lieutenant Lawrence A. Loos explained, “We have increased our presence there. We like to enforce traffic safety on all our roads in town, but we have been paying particular attention there … We’ve had a number of accidents, and it may be coincidental, but we are seeing what we can do to slow people down.”

That traffic ticket blitz happened right after September 29, when Monmouth County officials put up four message boards warning drivers to “Slow Down” and “Obey the Speed Limit.”

Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone mentioned in a prepared statement, “The signs, speed indicators, and increased police presence on Kozloski Road have been effective in reminding drivers to abide to the posted 50 mile per hour speed limit.”

The accidents that led to the enhanced police enforcement and traffic ticket blitz occurred on a stretch of Kozloski Road between Route 33 Business to Center Street near Thoreau Drive.

Freeholder Arnone also revealed, “To date, speed studies on Kozloski Road have not met the established criteria necessary to reduce the existing speed limit … The county is re-examining this factor.”

Additionally, Monmouth county requested that the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority and Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation conduct a road safety audit for the Kozloski corridor.

Months later, it still looks like Freehold police are cracking down on cell phone use while driving, speeding, and numerous other traffic-related offenses.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for police and drive safely.

If you recently received a NJ traffic ticket, contact Michael Botton of The Botton Law Firm today at 732-894-3686.

In a significant decision by New Jersey’s appellate division, a commonly used defense against DUI convictions was struck down.

Recently, Pedro Peralta’s DUI lawyer argued on his behalf that his 2011 DUI arrest and conviction were unlawful because Mr. Peralta was never read a statutory warning explaining the penalties associated with refusing to take a breathalyzer test.

Mr. Peralta’s attorney cited State v. Tirado, a lesser-known case some NJ DUI attorneys use to help clients avoid a conviction whenever such statutory warnings are no verbalized by officers.

Unfortunately, the appellate judge brushed the argument aside and said that the statutory warning of penalties for refusing to give a sample had no bearing on a driver who willingly took the test.

The judge explained, “To be sure, the reading of the statutory statement is critical to a prosecution for refusing to give a sample … The statutory statement is inessential when consent is given.”

Ultimately, the court ruled, “We agree with the Law Division judge that an officer’s failure to read the statutory statement is irrelevant when the accused submits to the test.”

This new judge-made rule creates a bright line distinction in all DUI cases that occur in New Jersey where consent is given and where consent is not given to a breathalyzer test.

At a minimum, the Tirado defense will no longer be valid unless an intoxicated motorist refuses to submit to a breathalyzer test.

To be sure, this complicates the DUI terrain a bit. However, it does not undercut tons of other defenses that most DUI attorneys in NJ use more regularly.

After all, not every attorney uses this type of argument and many have tons of tools in their arsenal to help you get the best results possible.

If you recently were charged with DUI in NJ, contact Michael Botton of the Botton Law Firm at 732-894-3686.

Back on Halloween, police in Fort Lee, New Jersey used an undercover cop dressed as Donald Duck to nab tons of motorists for failing to yield to a pedestrian.

The police stationed the 6’ 4” Donald Duck at a crosswalk on River Road near yellow flashing lights.

Most motorists drove right by the costumed cop thinking he was a drunk passerby in a costume on Halloween.

Unfortunately for them, they were busted for failing to yield to a pedestrian––a $230 ticket that puts 2 points on your NJ driving record! ABC news interviewed one of the ladies who was issued a ticket and she was quite upset.

According to her, had she seen an actual person or uniformed police officer, she no doubt would have yielded.

However, she was frightened by the erratic behavior of a costumed figure and did not want to stop to see what it would do.

She said, “They told me I was getting a ticket for not stopping for a duck … but it scared me. I’m a woman. This huge duck scared me.”

Police Chief Kenneth Bendul noted that the main reason officers decided to go forward with this ticket blitz was because 40 people were hit by automobiles in Fort Lee just this past year.

However, to most drivers, this looks like yet another attempt by a New Jersey town to generate revenue at the expense of the people traveling its roads.

If you or a loved one recently received a traffic ticket for failing to yield the right of way or failing to yield to a pedestrian contact Michael Botton of The Botton Law Firm today at 732-894-3686.

Believe it or not, back in October, a woman was caught driving drunk and going the wrong way while pulling into the parking lot of the Bass River police station.

At approximately 5:00 AM, police officers at the station received a call about a wrong-way driver traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway around mile marker 51.

Just as Trooper Kimberly Snyder exited the station to check the area for the wrong-way driver, she observed a 56-year-old woman pull into the police station parking lot from the southbound lanes and strike a concrete curb. Aside from traveling the wrong way, she was also driving while intoxicated.

Trooper Snyder immediately arrested the woman for DWI.

Ultimately, the woman was charged with refusing to submit to a breathalyzer, reckless driving, and driving the wrong way on a highway.

If you or a loved one recently received a DUI/DWI in NJ or any other moving violation, contact Michael Botton of the Botton Law Firm at 732-894-3686.

His team of DUI lawyers and traffic ticket attorneys can help you today.

New Jersey’s “Click it or Ticket” Campaign has been going on for years now, and the results are in for the most recent ticket blitz.

The goal behind the campaign was to encourage NJ drivers and passengers to wear seat belts and thereby increase road safety.

The campaign has been NJ’s response to the startling statistics the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed.

According to the NHTSA, 52% of the 21,000 motor vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes in 2012 were not wearing seat belts.

Moreover, in NJ, an average of 150 drivers and passengers who do not wear seat belts are killed every year.

The most recent Click it or Ticket blitz ran from May 19, 2014 through June 1, 2014.

During that time, 184 of the 496 police agencies received $4,000 in Click it or Ticket overtime enforcement grants from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety (NJDHTS).

According to the NJDHTS, 75% of all NJ police agencies participated in Click it or Ticket.

Police issued 26,635 seat belt tickets during the two-week campaign––586 more tickets than last year’s seat belt blitz.

Besides seat belt tickets, officers also wrote 4,363 speeding tickets and made 944 DUI/DWI arrests.

Research from New Jersey Institute of Technology also revealed that NJ experienced a steady increase in seat belt usage between 1996 and 2013. It reached the highest it ever was––94.51%––in 2011.

Remember, traffic ticket blitzes like Click it or Ticket happen all the time in New Jersey. When you least expect it, you might get caught.

If that happens, be sure to contact Michael Botton of The Botton Law Firm at 732-894-3686.

Kyleigh’s Law requires teen drivers in NJ to display a decal on any vehicle they’re driving.

The decal alerts police officers that a teen is driving while making it easier to identify when they are violating restrictions on their graduated licenses (e.g. curfews, amount of passengers allowed, etc.).

The law was named after Kyleigh D’Alessio. She was a 16-year-old girl from West Morris Central High School who was tragically killed in a December 2006 car crash. The law was passed in April 2009 and came into effect in May 2010.

One attorney attempted to challenge the legality of the law, but he lost. Nevertheless, this did not deter his efforts.

The attorney took his case all the the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court, but the Justices sided with the lower court and upheld the constitutionality and legality of the decal law.

Recently, a study came out crediting Kyleigh’s Law with the reduction in teen deaths. This motivated the attorney to keep fighting because––in his eyes––there is no correlation between the decals and reducing teen driver deaths.

The study, which was conducted and released by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), says the law has prevented more than 3,100 crashes of young drivers in New Jersey over the two year period studied.

The CHOP study said that the “most dramatic effects” were the crash rate dropping 13% for 18 year-old drivers and 17% for 19-year-olds.

Despite the push back from the attorney, Pam Fischer, former State Division of Highway Traffic Safety Director, explained, “The research is sound and we now have two years worth of data showing us that the decal is a factor in preventing teen crashes. We pushed for the decal because police said they couldn’t enforce the GDL provisions … Now that police have a tool teens know they can better enforce the law and that does impact compliance with GDL provisions.”

The main reason the attorney pushed to repeal the law appears to have been privacy related. To him, and in the eyes of some parents, it is unlawful to require a sub-sect  of people (i.e. teens) to reveal personal information.

However, others––including the highest court in NJ––staunchly disagree.

If you or a loved one received a NJ traffic ticket, contact Michael Botton of the Botton Law Firm at 732-894-3686.

Police were out in full-force on Route 1 in Woodbridge this past Friday with a decoy firetruck pulling people over and issuing them Move Over Law tickets.

Some drivers simply received verbal warnings and a pamphlet explaining the Move Over Law.

Other drivers were praised by Sergeant Eric Nelson for properly slowing down below the speed limit or moving over lawfully.

He told reporters, “That minivan slowed from 51 to 38 [mph], he slowed down to under [the speed limit] … We’re seeing better results in a positive way than our first time out here.”

New Jersey’s Move Over Law requires motorists to move over one lane or to slow down below the speed limit when approaching an emergency vehicle, construction crew, or tow truck with flashing lights on the side of the road.

As of July 2012, every state now has a Move Over Law.

Before setting up shop, Sergeant Nelson made sure that he followed protocol and established ground rules for fair enforcement.

He checked vehicle speeds with laser radar and stationed the fire engine on a straight section of Route 1 where a traffic light south of it provided a natural break in traffic.

He also monitored only vehicles with a clear break in traffic to either safely move over one lane or slow down and did not ticket drivers during the morning or evening commuter rush.

Interestingly, there were more vehicles that slowed down than actually moved over.

While several drivers went out of their way to drastically reduce their speed below the speed limit, many simply kept on accelerating and did not slow down at all.

Not even five minutes after enforcement started, the Woodbridge police pulled over their first violator. Allegedly, he was traveling 62 mph and never took his foot off the gas pedal.

What can you take away from this? Be careful. Traffic ticket stings and blitzes like these are exceptionally common in New Jersey and many times result in tons of revenue for the town that comes straight out of your wallet.

If you ever receive a traffic ticket in NJ, be sure to contact Michael Botton of The Botton Law Firm today at 732-894-3686. His team of experienced traffic ticket attorneys will help get your traffic violation reduced and save you money in fines and insurance hikes.

Whenever you get a traffic ticket, one of the first questions you probably ask yourself is: “Should I plead guilty or fight the ticket?”

If you choose to fight it, the next question for most of us is: “Is it worth it to hire an attorney to fight my ticket?”

Unfortunately, these questions run through the heads of thousands of New Jersey drivers every day.

If you find yourself asking the same questions, it is a good thing you found our site.

Remember, pleading guilty to a traffic ticket can end up costing you thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses and unanticipated costs.

To help make your decision easier, we outlined for you the top five reasons to hire a traffic ticket attorney.

1 – A Traffic Ticket Attorney Will Save You Money

Although you might view the cost of a NJ traffic ticket attorney as quite expensive, you need to think about what the attorney ends up saving you both in the short-term and long-term.

Usually, a traffic ticket attorney can negotiate a reduction in your violation, which ends up lowering your fine for you.

Not only that, but an attorney can get your traffic ticket reduced to an offense that does not affect your auto insurance.

When certain offenses raise your insurance premium by 55% or more––and when these insurance hikes last 4 years or more––that savings can end up being thousands of dollars.

2 – A Traffic Ticket Lawyer Will Save You Time

If you represent yourself, you will have to take off from work or school and could end up waiting hours in a long line without any guarantee that you will not have to come back to court.

Many times, you end up waiting hours and hours just to find out that you spent all that time to merely get a trial date requiring you to come all the way back in and do all that waiting again.

However, attorneys go first and are usually in and out in record time.

This lets you to go into work or school without missing much while knowing that your case was in the hands of a trained professional who got you favorable results in a timely fashion.

3 – Your Record Will Remain as Clean as Possible

A traffic ticket lawyer will do all he can to make sure that you do not end up with points on your license for the offense you got a ticket for and knows what arguments to make in order to do it best.

Not only that, but an attorney can help you avoid a license suspension or revocation and will have more clout during the negotiation process than one who represents himself.

Even when the offense you are being charged with is exceptionally severe, a skilled NJ traffic ticket lawyer will almost always be able to get you a reduction in your points.

4 – Your Getting a Trained Professional With Tremendous Experience

It is highly likely that you have not litigated a case in traffic court before. Even if you have, you certainly do not do it professionally––let alone daily.

A traffic ticket attorney simply has more experience handling these matters and knows the right arguments to make in order to get you the best possible results.

Not only that, but he also is familiar with the prosecutors throughout New Jersey and the unique quirks of each judge in Municipal Court.

These side benefits can sometimes be the difference between a license suspension and a 0-point ticket!

5 – A Traffic Ticket Lawyer Knows What to Say

More often than not, those who represent themselves in traffic court end up shooting themselves in the foot.

You might think that telling a judge you were speeding because you needed to use the bathroom is a great defense.

However, in reality, all the judge heard was that you admitted to speeding.

Ten seconds later, you are convicted and left wondering what happened.

The answer is that speeding is a strict liability offense and saying that you were traveling over the speed limit––regardless of what the reason was––usually results in a conviction.

An attorney knows all of this and will only bring up legally relevant facts that can help you win your case.

At the end of the day, it simply pays to hire a traffic ticket lawyer.

If you recently received a NJ traffic ticket, contact Michael Botton of The Botton Law Firm today at 732-894-3686.

After five years, New Jersey’s red-light camera program has not been renewed and will likely end.

Supporters of the red-light cameras claim that the program improved road safety.

However, countless opponents contend that the cameras only served to line the pockets of local and state governments.

The program is set to expire on December 16, 2014 unless the New Jersey State Legislature renews it, and no such legislation has been proposed to date.

Thus far, 76 intersections have red-light cameras in 25 New Jersey towns.

According to Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, “I don’t see that any legislator has any interest in extending this or making it permanent … People can actually have an effect––it’s worth it to stand up and speak out.”

However, the Executive Director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities wrote to Governor Chris Christie last month urging him to continue the program.

He explained, “The purpose of these cameras is to enhance safety by discouraging drivers from improperly passing through red lights … The N.J. Department of Transportation program report finds that the red-light running program in fact has been effectively enhancing safety by changing driver behavior.”

Nevertheless, the cameras have been a real moneymaker for the state, the towns, and two Arizona companies that install and operate the cameras in South Jersey.

After all, each red-light camera ticket generates an $85 fine.

Between 2010 and 2012, the South Jersey cameras generated $9.5 million in revenue. Six municipalities kept $5.6 million of it and the State of New Jersey got $1.3 million.

Assemblyman O’Scanlon explained that the cameras, in his view, “are not about safety, but all about revenue.”

Only time will tell if the five-year program will be renewed, but most NJ drivers have their fingers crossed that it will not.

If you or a loved one recently received a traffic ticket in NJ, contact Michael Botton of The Botton Law Firm today at 732-894-3686.