NJ Court makes NJ Zero Point Ticket law more clear…
Oct 16th, 2008 | By Michael L. Saile, Jr., Esq. | Category: Blogs, Criminal & TrafficThe NJ Supreme Court has allowed plea bargains in most traffic violation cases. The traffic ticket of Unsafe Driving (39:4-97.2) is commonly used as a “downgrade” or “plea bargain” by NJ traffic violation defendants and prosecutors.
Unsafe Driving has been used for many years as a downgrade from a two-point moving violation to the zero point Unsafe Diving ticket. This is because NJ Unsafe Driving carries no DMV points for an NJ driver’s first two offenses.
Unfortunately, a few years ago, in order to solve the State’s annual budget crisis, past Gov. McGreevy added a one-time $250.00 surcharge to be paid in court every time a NJ Defendant pleads guilty Unsafe Driving.
Last week, the NJ Appellate Division cleared up a misconception in the Unsafe Driving law. The court said that there are no DMV points to be assessed on a driver’s first and second conviction for Unsafe Driving. The third offense will always carry four points. If, there is a fourth offense, points will also apply if there has been not been a period of five years between the third offense and a fourth offense.
The lesson to be learned here is to know the law and know your driving record before you plead guilty to any NJ traffic violation.
WELL, THAT IS INTRESTING, AS I HAVE MADE 17 COURT APPEARANCES IN MUNICIPAL COURT OVER THE PAST 38 MONTHS , and have observed how this is applied.
Let me start off by saying that the Judges in this nj municipal court and others i have attended, along with the prosecutor sometimes, …. have all said that 3 unsafe driving within 5 years is 4 points,.. that the 3rd within 5 years is 4 pioints,…..
now , i take the post of the article to mean that the 3rd is alwat 4 points, reagardless of when it occurs….. so many judges have said otherwise,……countless millions of times probably,….
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now lets get into the logistics,…… a person with a 2 point ticket can downgrade the ticket from 2 points to zero points, for anb extra 250,… l.eading to about a 400 dollars in costs before all is said and done, with the court fee and fine,…
howewver a person with a 4 point ticket, can downgrade to a 2 point ticket without the extra 250 dollar charge,….. which is sweet.
right now, how i understand the article, a person would have to endure the 4 points for a 3rd unsafe driving, regarless if it occured 20 years later, thewn go 5 years before the 4th, in order to get a no point unsafe driving,….
driving pulled over who have 2 unsafe drivings, may as well ask the officer to give them a 4 point ticket , instead of a 2 point ticket,…. so they can reduce it to 2 points,…… in some weird sense of justice,… lol…. because when you go to court and the prosecutor says unsafe driving, 2 points, then the defendant, who probably is ignoran bt to the situation, agreess to this, in interest of court speed…
the other point is, and i have seen this in some poor towns, … is that the judge, instead of the unsafe driving, with some defndants, go to obstruction of traffic, which is also no pointys, and does not carry the extra 250 dollar penalty….
and this is completeley an arbitray decision … in some cases by the judge him/her self.,….
if the person is a resident of that town, in a poor neighborhood,/city ,,, the judge may be willing to go to obstructing traffic,….
the whole justice system is sick in the regards to money, …. as some towns just rake in the dough, and money for the State, while other towns understand the needs of citizens
now , judges and prosecutors have been fired over the generation of money issues in some towns in nj, … i have read some stuff on this too…..
not necessarily for the extra 250, which goes directly to the State, …but for giving local residewts a break on fines and fees,….
now– this brings us to the last area of concern—-
why are some defendants totally prejudiced by a prosecutor and judge wit regards fundamental fairness and basic logistics of the court,…..
I THINK THE LESSONED TO BE LEARNED HER IS THAT THE MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGES AND PROSECUTIRS DID NOT KNOW THE LAW, BECAUSE THEY HAVE STATED MILLIONS OF TIMES, THROUGHOUT THE 500 plus nj municipal courts, that a third undafe driving within 5 years is 4 pointys.
but doesnt this all lie on the State, and not the courts?
since when did the courts get into the business of points?
this doesnt sound right to me, ….. on many levels, …. the first being that driving in a privledge, given by the State, not the courts, and all point assessments are determined by the State, though Trenton….
the courts really should have no say in who gets points, when or where……. however the municipal prosecutor may advise defendants as to points in routine municipal court sessions….
this is because the prosecutor is an agent of the State and not the court,…
there seems to be a constitutional issue here,….. because the courts should have no say on the State’s business of assigning points to a drivers license.’
this is truly a first in nj, is it not?,,…. the courts getting involved in the point system…..
i belive is this person appleae to the nj supreme court court, it will be overturned,….. i belive the point syatem must be soley on the State and Trenton, and the lergislature, and not the courts\\
,…. this is more dangerous ground,. for the courts to get involed with State business…
am i totally off the wall here?.,….. cause ive ben to court hundreds of times,… and have heard hundreds of tiumes, trhat the court is not involved in points,…..
and even some courts have posters on the wall saying justr that…… we do not assign points,…..
can i just take the bar exam in nj, without going to law school, and become a lawyer?
i should have become an attorney ,… everyone always said i am a stickler for justice and the law…
this is a constitutional issue, because now the courts are taking over the assessment of driving points in nj,….. and this lies directly with the State, not the courts,….
we do have a tri-partate system of government, do we not?, …. and in this case, .. it is clear, the assignment of points is a direct and ultimate, indisputable , function of the State,….. as long as they abide by their own guidelines,….. which for the last several years at least, has said 3 undsafe driving tickets within 5 years results in 4 points, and thus,
foe example, if you had a unsafe driving in 2001, another in 2003,…. and a 3rd in 2008,… because there is onlt 2 in 5 years, it is a no point ticket— this is the State’s policy,….. and the courts have no legal right to change it through case law,…. not something like this,….. this is up to the State, because driving is not a RIGHT, IT IS A PRIVILEDGE , GIVEN BY THE STATE,
WHAT IS THE sTATYE GOING TO DO,…… GO BACK IN TIME, AND REASSESS EVERYONE WHO HAD 3 UNSAFE DRIVING CONVICTIONS WITHIN OVER THE 5 LIMIT PERIOD, AND ASSIGN THESE PEOPLE 4 POINTS?
I AM TELLING YOU, I KNOW, TO A MAN, THE HNJ SUPREME COURT WOULD HAVE TO OVERULE THE APPEALATE DECISION, BECAUSE IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL…… THE COURTS CAN NOT BE INVOLVED IN THE ASSIGNING OR ASEESSMENT OF POINTS
NOW, WHAT IS CALLED , UMMMM, ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGES, ASSIGNED TO TRENTON, MAY, I THINK, HAVE SOME LEEWAY AS TO SUSPENSIONS DUE TO POINTS, AND POSSIBLY, THE ELIMINATION OF POINTS, BECAUSE OF CERTAIN ERRORS IN ASSIGNMENT OF POINTS,… THESE AMINISTYRATIVE JUDGES ARE NOT THE COURT…..
The fact that the appelate division is now getting into the assignment of points, with complete disregard to the municipal court judgers, and municipal court prosecutors, … on what they have advised countless million of times to defendants,….. is wrong, and unconstitutiuonal,…… not that i have a stake in it,….
but i was convicted of unsafe driving in , i belive, and i could be wrong as to the dates, but in 2001, ans 2003,….. I always felt, that since i passed the 5v year mark, that a 3rd overall, would still be a no point ticket…..
the courts have no legal standing to legislate a new pioint system… i am telling you all, to a man,,,.. the appelate dicvision is wrong,…… and that a god to honest attorney , could argue thios all the way in the nj supreme court,……. the appelate divion, and obviouslyt, the law division which came first, is totally wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!
i’ll say it another way….
what the court did was change the fact that 2 unsafe driving is ok, nd if a 3rd is ok, if you didnt have 3 within 5 years, ….. to saying that a 3rd, no matterwhen it occurs, even 50 yerars lkater, is a 4 point ticket…
this is unconstitutionalk because the nj legislature wrote the law, and the people, as reprtsenbted, mandated the law, as is,…. AND THE COURTS HAVE NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO REUP THE ANTE, BUY SAYING A 3RD UNSAFE DRIVING AT ANY TIME IS 4 POINTS.,.
the courtys do not have the constitutionalk poer to over ide this type of legislation….
no way, no how….
take it all the way, whoever you are,.. i onlu hope,…..
and i’ll be back in a few minutes with so9me real agonizing commets…..
the court has no legal right, or constitutional standing to change the mvc point system imposseecb by the State, ..no clarification is needed either,,…….municipal court judges and prosecutors across the State have said muillions of times, 3 undafe driving within 5 years results in 4 points, if a 3rds occurs overall, outside of 5 years of the other 2, it is a no point ticket…
thios is how itr went for years and years,… and if the people of nj wanted to chanfe the law, it is up to the legislatyure, not the courts,….. the courts have never been involved in the point system, nor should they be,….
this decision is wrong, the legislature spoke, wrote a statute, and the people’s representatives voted on it,…. and trhe courts are suippose to uphold it, not change it,….. may god damm the courts for doing this, .. this is wrong, it is evil…
also, the 3rd at anytime is 4 points, even if its 50 years later,…… but then does it start over at 1?, what about the 4th, 5th, 6th…?
IF YOU EXAMINE THIS CLOSELY,…. what the court did here was take millions and millions of dollars away from the state of nj,….by limiting all persons to only 2 unsafe driving tickets,……. when in fact as long as the last one was not within 5 years of the 2 most recent previous ones, a person could keep getting it, and paying it into the state the extra 250
and its not like the insurance companies get more money, to them unsafe driving adds just as much onto your policy as a 2 point ticket,….
and also,…some municipal courts in nj, in poor ares, spite the state, and give the drivers obstruction of traffic instead of unsafe driving anyway,……
the whiole nj municipal court system is messed up
I was told that there is one other plea or downgrade in NJ for 0 points. something about ‘avoidence of dangerous situation’
Is this true?
Thomas:
Yes. There is a downgrade to what is called “obstruction of traffic” (39:4-67). Unfortunately, most NJ Municipal Court judges will not allow this downgrade for a speeding ticket. Obstruction of traffic can be used in many different type of “intersectional” issues, such as an accident.