Welcome to Beerup Traffic Law!
Ruth Beerup is an experienced St. Charles attorney who has handled speeding tickets just like yours in every jurisdiction in the St. Louis area for 25 years. Give her a call at 636-940-1111 to have her fix your ticket. She can handle everything over the phone and go to court for you. She works hard to make sure that each client gets the personal attention and legal advice they deserve directly from the lawyer who will be representing them in court. This personal attention allows her to keep her prices low, avoiding the costs associated with too many staff.
When you hire Ruth, you know you are dealing with someone who has unparalleled knowledge of Missouri traffic law, not someone learning on the job. If you want more insight into that law, please read more below, or you can contact Ruth. She will happily answer any questions you have. You can find her number at the top of the page, or you can fill out the form to the right (or bottom if you are on a phone).
Why Should I Hire a Lawyer For a Speeding Ticket?
Speeding tickets are a fact of life in the St. Louis area. On many roads around here, you are impeding traffic if you are not doing at least ten over the limit. It feels like random bad luck who gets pulled over. Compounding that, there are a lot of small municipalities with authority to enforce traffic laws on the sections of interstate that go through their towns, and they are not shy about writing tickets. So, most St. Louisans view speeding tickets as an annoyance, especially if they are not a "bad" one, like more than 20 over or in a construction zone. You pay your fine, get some points that don't seem to do anything, and go about your business. That works in some or even many cases. Unfortunately, when that doesn't work, when the points actually do something, the consequences can be more than most drivers anticipate. For example, you could see your car insurance rates go up, you could have problems at work (particularly if your job involves driving or you have access to a company vehicle), or, most importantly, you could face a driver's license suspension because of point accumulation.
The Point System in Missouri
You would be hard-pressed to find someone who is not a traffic attorney and can explain precisely how the point system works. This leads to a certain level of complacency regarding speeding tickets. Most people think you have to catch a lot of tickets in a short period for the consequences to kick in, but that is just not true. Here are the basics:
If you get 4 points in 12 months, the Department of Revenue will send you a point accumulation advisory letter. No real consequences attach; this is just a warning.
If you get 8 or more points in 18 months, the Department of Revenue will suspend your license. The first time this happens, it will be for 30 days, the second time 60 and for the 3rd, and each time after that, 90 days.
If you get 12 points in 12 months, 18 in 24, or 24 points in 36 months, you will get a 1-year revocation of your license.
As we will see below, it is possible to accumulate 8 points with two tickets. That means that if you get a ticket, pay the fine, and accept the points, you must be sure you will not get another ticket for a year and a half. Not so easy to do.
The number of points assessed for each violation is listed in the charmingly titled Missouri Driver Record Traffic Violation Descriptions and Points Assessed Form 899. A speeding ticket of more than 5 mph over the posted limit is 2 or 3 points. It is 2 points if it is a violation of a municipal or county ordinance and 3 if it is a violation of state law. In other words, if you get your ticket from a state trooper, it will usually be adjudicated in a state court and be 3 points. If you get it from a county deputy or municipal officer and it is sent to the municipal court, it is 2 points. Complicating matters further, some smaller counties send their tickets to the state court because they do not have a dedicated traffic court, and if those tickets are filed under state law, they are also 3 points.
In addition to speeding, over 100 other offenses that can result in points are listed, from vehicular homicide to obstructed view. Multiple violations can be committed simultaneously, and if the officer writes a separate ticket for each offense, they can each carry points. For instance, if you are speeding and fail to signal a lane change, the speeding can be 3 points, and the improper lane change will be 2. If you combine that with a prior 3-point speeding ticket in the last 18 months, you now have a 30-day suspension. If you go to court, plead guilty, and pay the fine, no one will warn you that you are at risk of suspension. The first you will hear about it likely is when the Department of Revenue sends you a notice that you are suspended. It is essential to keep points off your record. This is where Traffic Attorney Ruth Beerup can help.
How Can A Traffic Attorney Help?
Any reasonable Missouri traffic law attorney will tell you that the most important consideration when dealing with a speeding ticket is keeping the points off your record. There will be fines associated with any speeding ticket, but there is not much an attorney can do about those. In fact, the trade-off is often higher fines in exchange for no points. An experienced traffic lawyer will make this trade because they routinely talk to people who have pleaded guilty, paid the fines, accepted the points on tickets, and now face an unexpected license suspension. To most people, losing their driver's license is an unacceptable burden they are willing to pay higher fines to avoid.
The best way to not face a license suspension is to call an experienced traffic lawyer like Ruth Beerup every time you get a speeding ticket. She makes it extremely easy. When you give her a call, she will ask you a few questions about your ticket. Then, if you hire her, she will handle everything from there. With most tickets, you will not have to go to court. She will enter an appearance and let the court know that she is representing you. She will then negotiate with the prosecutor to reach an agreement to keep points off your record. Usually, this involves pleading guilty to a lesser charge, like defective equipment or a parking violation. Ruth will then mail you a copy of the recommendation and call you to ensure you clearly understand what the recommendation means. As soon as you agree to the proposed outcome, Ruth will send you a form with the results and instructions on how to pay the associated fines. That's it!
What About More Serious Speeding Tickets?
If you have a ticket for speeds more than 20 over the posted limit or involving elements such as in a construction zone or careless and imprudent, the process of fixing the ticket starts the same. Give traffic lawyer Ruth Beerup a call. She will discuss the issue with you to make sure you understand your options, and if you decide to hire her, she will let the court know that she is representing you. She will then negotiate with the prosecutor to get a recommendation to amend the ticket. This is where things differ from the standard speeding ticket. Most prosecutors are reluctant to change a high-speed ticket to a no-point violation without additional stipulations. This often involves going to a driving school or community service. This is not the orange vest picking up trash on the side of the road kind of community service. There are many options to choose from, like volunteering at an animal shelter or helping the elderly with an approved non-profit organization; most people can find a suitable option. It should be noted that, unlike standard speeding, these tickets sometimes require you to appear in court with Ruth for the final disposition.
In more extreme cases, a prosecutor may recommend jail time. This usually happens when the speed is over 100, as that number seems to grab their attention. If you have already contacted the courts and they have told you that jail time is a possibility, don't panic. Ruth can negotiate on your behalf to avoid this outcome. The above options, driving school and community service, are on the table, and probation is also possible. As with the community service, this is a different kind of probation than you might think. You usually won't have to report to a probation officer, get drug tested, or make decisions based on what your probation allows. It is more like a period of time where you are proving to the court that you are not a problem driver. Think of it as a second chance.
Traffic law attorney Ruth Beerup is an experienced St. Charles lawyer who has handled speeding tickets just like yours in every jurisdiction in the St. Louis area over her 25-year career. Whether you are facing jail time, the serious repercussions of a license suspension, or 2 points on your driving record Ruth knows your problem is important to you, and that makes it important to her. She has used her experience to develop knowledge and strategies that make her convenient, affordable, and effective. She will use that experience to ensure you get the best outcome possible.