One thing’s for sure — having a car means spending money. From maintaining it with regular service checks, paying for parking, and keeping the tank full, cars can be a gigantic money suck. But, of all the costs of a car, one thing in particular seems to make it especially exorbitant — tickets. No matter how vigilant a driver and car owner you are, chances are that at one point or another, you’ll get a ticket of some kind. Generally, you are most likely to get one of two kinds of tickets: parking violations or moving violations. Check out this explanation of moving violations here, and remember, a traffic lawyer can help you when taking a ticket to court:

Moving Violations

A moving violation is a violation of the law committed by a driver of a vehicle while it’s in motion. Moving violations are typically charged against the actual driver of a vehicle. They are also usually classified as infractions or misdemeanors, but more serious types of violations, like a hit and run, driving under the influence, or road rage, can be considered felonies. Indeed, these are also very common: Around 41 million speeding tickets are issued each year, and every day, 112,328 people are slapped with an average fine of about $150 for speeding.

Some examples of moving violations include speeding, which can include exceeding a limit or simply driving at an unsafe speed. Failing to maintain an Assured Clear Distance Ahead (ACDA), running a stop sign or traffic light, failing to yield to another vehicle with the right-of-way, failure to signal, failure to drive in a lane, failure to use a seat belt, and driving in a car pool lane illegally all fall under the heading of moving violation. Your traffic ticket lawyer will be able to help you figure out the finer details of your ticket.

As any traffic ticket lawyer can tell you, moving violations almost always involve fines and sometimes points on the license of the driver. As the driver accrues points, he or she may be required to take such measures as attending defensive driving lessons, retaking his or her driving test, paying more taxes, or surrendering his or her license.

The National Highway Traffic Security Administration estimates the collective cost of speeding and related accidents to be around $40.4 billion each year and if you get a moving violation, you will inevitably have to pay a pretty large sum. Get a traffic ticket lawyer or speeding ticket lawyer for help with taking a traffic ticket to court or for tips for traffic court in general.