It’s official! Effective April, 2013, the Suffolk Traffic Violations Bureau in Hauppague will be no more. It will be replaced by a new Suffolk County-run traffic court. Governor Cuomo signed the law on August 17, 2011.
The law will enable Suffolk County to control the operations and, more importantly, collections of traffic fine money. It could mean roughly $10 million per year of additional revenue for the cash-strapped county.
So what does this meant to motorists? It is still un-clear but the biggest issue is whether the new court will engage in plea bargaining. The current court does not thereby requiring motorists to plead guilty or face a hearing against the police officer. If the new court allows for deals, this will be a huge win for motorists because, currently, it is very hard to win a Suffolk County traffic hearing.
Another interesting issue is the location of the new court. The current Hauppague location is centrally located but within a state office building. The new court will likely be in a new location and in a county-owned property. Hopefully, the new location will have good mass transit to allow suspended motorists to easily get to the court.
One final consideration is pending cases. What will happen to open cases when the new court opens? I assume (and hope) that they’ll be transferred as, without a steady stream of new cases, it will be un-economical to keep the present court open very long.
RSS Feed
Have you ever defended anyone for jaywalking? I’ll bet not. Nobody ever gets a ticket for jaywalking in NY even though it’s as much a menace resulting in fatalities as DWI, texting and speeding. Almost daily motorists in many areas have to dodge jaywalkers, many of whom appear to actually want to get hit for big inurance money. While a pedestrian always has the right of way, the motorist is always looked upon being at fault in a pedestrian accident. Where are our public officials that are supposed to protect the public by enforcing jaywalking laws already on the books?
Martin,
I remember when Mayor Giuliani was in office and he sought to enforce the jaywalking laws in NYC. Many NYPD officers refused to lower themselves to enforce these laws and the issue when away. Otherwise, I never see these tickets being issued.
Matthew Weiss
Thanks for the work that your doing. I would like to find out exactly who, or what department administers the the red light program. Also direct me to the statues for the right on red program. They were institued during the oil crisis of the 70″s and it has taken a life of its own. thank you so much. walter duryea
Walter,
The red light program has different administers depending on the location. Where did you receive your ticket?
Matthew Weiss
I got pulled over yesterday and received a summons for expired registration (2 days!). It was completely an oversight. For some reason, I thought I had until the end of the month the same way it works with the Inspection. Anyway, I paid it online the minute I got home. In Nassau, this would be thrown out. Out here, I am not so sure. If I show up with a temporary reg showing the date of the violation, will I get off the hook?
T.R.,
If you have proof of registration (temporary or not) covering the date of the offense, then this traffic ticket should be dismissed.
Matthew Weiss