Traffic violations include unlawful activities or crimes that a person commits while operating his automobile. Traffic offenses are dealt with generally with the codes that define them. Some specific laws have been established to control unlawful practices. Every traffic offense has a specific punishment which is imposed by the traffic wardens in minor cases and by the court in serious cases.
You must be aware of speeding tickets and other such minor punishments that don’t need a court session while on the other hand a person accused of DUI has to face court and may get severe punishment like imprisonment and financial penalties.
Minor cases:
Minor cases of traffic offense are dealt with by the department of motor vehicles. The accused person mostly gets the fine tickets and these minor cases affect his points on license. However, there is no need of going to court and arranging a lawyer. These are referred to as traffic misdemeanor and include
- Driving without a license
- Driving with a suspended license
- Driving with a revoked license
- Reckless driving
- Driving at high speeds
- Driving without headlights
Such offenders are mostly subjected to fines or administrative punishments like they are referred to as some driving schools. No lengthy trial is used in this case.
Major cases:
Some major traffic offenses can’t be left unchecked by the court so the accused person is summoned to the court and goes through a trial. These are referred to as traffic felonies and the law enforcement agencies make sure to punish the person well enough so he does not put his and others’ lives at risk.
The cases that caused harm or had the potential to harm other individuals are traffic felonies and include
- Intentionally causing injury to a person by hitting the automobile i.e. vehicular assault
- Hit and run case
- Driving under the influence DUI
- Vehicular homicide
These are important traffic offenses and so are discussed below in detail.
Vehicular homicide
A crime that involves the death of someone other than the driver by a vehicle as a result of some murderous or of criminal negligence. If criminal negligence is proved then the accused person is charged with unintentional vehicular manslaughter.
Vehicular assault
The use of a vehicle by someone to harm or threaten another person is called vehicular assault. In this case, the factor of negligence operation is also taken into account e.g. when a driver fails to follow traffic signs correctly and accidentally hit a pedestrian then he gets the edge of negligence operation.
Hit and run
When someone hits a person and leaves the victim he is accused of hit and run charges. This offense is seriously dealt with by the court because the driver has hit another person and is also unwilling to take the responsibility so ran from the scene. If this hit and run accident lead to the death of a person then the defendant faces charges of vehicular homicide.
Driving Under the Influence
Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is a serious allegation so the defendant goes through a complete and thorough trail. In 2012 alone DUI resulted in almost 300,000 crashes and more than 10,000 deaths. DUI does not have a specific category. It can be taken under traffic felonies or traffic misdemeanors depending upon the context of circumstances. The level of penalties is directly proportional to the risk of harm caused to people’s life. Some states even practice zero-tolerance policy in this case.
Wrap up:
Driving is not difficult but it is also not a child’s play either. Only one incident of a traffic offense can change your whole life. It is not easy to live with regrets and when the matter is about a human life the burden of regrets becomes unbearable. The best way to keep yourself away from such a situation is to be careful when you drive.