Have you been found responsible for a traffic violation in the state of Florida and issued a ticket as a result of your conviction? When you pay your traffic ticket in a timely manner, you prevent the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles from adding additional fees to your record.
In this tutorial, I will walk you through the process of paying a traffic citation in Florida that you received online.
You must begin by checking the status of your Florida traffic ticket online.
How to Check Florida Traffic Tickets Online?
In the event that you misplace your traffic ticket or fail to remember certain information regarding your traffic citation, you may always check it online in the state of Florida. In addition to this, it is recommended that you check your driving record online in order to determine whether or not you have any outstanding citations. In the state of Florida, this is how to check the status of your Florida traffic ticket online:
- To begin, head on over to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in Florida (flhsmv.gov). Simply click here to be taken straight to the main page of the official website.
- Second, go to the top of the front page of this website and click on the link that says DRIVING LICENSE & ID CARDS when you get there.
- Thirdly, navigate to and then click the “Driver License Check & ID Tracking System” (A new page will open here)
- In the final step, you will need to punch in your driver’s license number, retype the characters that are displayed on the picture, and then press the “Enter” button.
You will have complete access to your traffic history here. If your kid is less than 18 years old and does not yet have their driver’s license, you may still check their driving history by entering their driver’s license number in the same manner as described above.
You can anticipate seeing the following information on your record for your driver’s license:
- Any breaches of moving or non-moving traffic laws, including infractions
- Citations about the accident
- Revocations or suspensions of driving licenses
- Specifics on successful completion of driver’s education
- Any driving limitations, such as only being allowed to drive during daytime hours
- Traffic test outcomes
After you have determined whether or not the information on your traffic ticket is linked to your driver’s license, the next step is to decide what to do with the ticket itself. Your most apparent choice is to settle the fine associated with the traffic ticket. You have the option of doing it online, sending it in the mail to the court in your county, or going in person to the charging county court.
In the following section, we will discuss the many online payment options that are available to you.
How to Pay for a Florida Traffic Ticket Online?
It is simpler and more expedient to pay traffic tickets online in the state of Florida. The following is the procedure to follow:
- Start out by going to the official website of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and navigating to the “Location” section. Simply clicking on this link will take you straight to the site.
You also have the choice of going to Pay.FLclerk.com. (I choose this alternative since it eliminates the need for most of the trips).
- Second, select the county you live in (usually the one on your traffic ticket).
- Thirdly, in the area labeled “Pay a citation,” locate the “Pay Now” button. (This will take you to the website where you may find your ticket.)
- After that, you will need to input the Citation Number, choose the appropriate state, and then enter your license number and birth date.
- Simply click “Continue” to proceed.
- In conclusion, it is necessary to pay for the ticket after following the recommendations provided.
Other Options for Paying Traffic Tickets in Florida
When you get your traffic ticket, you have a month to determine what you want to do with it before the ticket becomes valid. In the last section, we discussed the many methods that you might use to pay for your traffic ticket. However, in addition to avoiding paying the fine for the traffic ticket, you also have the following options available to you:
Protest the traffic citation in court
If you were issued a traffic citation in the state of Florida and believe that it was done so in error, you have the opportunity to appeal the decision. However, what are the procedural steps involved in challenging the traffic ticket in court? How to do it:
Plan for the hearing
This involves making arrangements for the hearing by contacting a traffic court in the state of Florida. In addition, you have the option of sending a written notice to a clerk in order to arrange the hearing. Include the citation number, a postal address, and your phone number in the schedule that you provide.
Get an attorney
Primarily a lawyer that specializes in helping people fight traffic tickets in court. In addition, the likelihood of your case being successful is increased when you work with an experienced traffic ticket attorney.
Plan for the case
In this process, the evidence and witnesses are brought back into agreement with one another. In addition, we are reviewing your testimony in order to ensure that we are prepared to appear in court.
Make your case in court
The clerk who is presiding over your case will confer with the police officer who issued you a citation, as well as with you and the witnesses, before making a decision. After that, the clerk will look over all of the information that has been gathered and make a decision regarding your case.
Note: If the judge decides that you are innocent, you will have to fill out some paperwork before having your punishments lifted. In the event that you are found guilty, you will be provided with information on any fines, surcharges, and further penalties that have accumulated.
You also have the option of filing an appeal if you continue to believe that you can demonstrate your innocence.
Check your driving record online
This stage gives you the opportunity to check and make sure that your record is up to date. If, for example, points were added to your record even though you were innocent, those points should be deleted and even a punishment should be waived if possible.
Participating in a driver improvement course is your final available alternative to paying the fine on your Florida traffic ticket and defending yourself against the charge in court.
Take a driver improvement course
You still have the option to enroll in a driver development course during the first thirty days from the day you were issued a traffic citation. According to Section 318.14(9) of the Florida Statutes, if you successfully complete a traffic improvement course, you will not be assessed any points, and the amount of your fine will be reduced by 18 percent.
The following is further information on how to go about acquiring your driver improvement course in the state of Florida:
- To begin, make a call to the Clerk of Court. This action is intended to provide you the opportunity to inform the county clerk in the jurisdiction where your traffic citation was issued that you have decided to take a driver improvement course.
- Second, make sure you pay the fine. You are eligible for a reduction of 18% in the cost of your traffic ticket if you enroll in a driver development course. In addition to that, the clerk will assess a fee for the court. Before moving on, please make payment for these costs.
- Finally, a certificate of completion should be issued. You need to provide the certificate of completion to the Clerk of Court in the county in which you choose to complete the driver improvement course.
In addition to the payment of the fee for your traffic ticket, we discussed the points that you might acquire based on the many traffic infractions that you commit.
In the next section, we’ll discuss Florida’s point system for moving violations in further detail.
Florida Traffic Violations Points System
Points are deducted from your driving record by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for each infraction of a Florida traffic law that you commit. According on the severity of the infraction, drivers in Florida might receive 3, 4, or 6 points. The following is a breakdown of the Florida point system:
3-Point Violation
If you are found guilty of speeding in Florida, you will have three points added to your driving record. This applies even if you were just going 15 miles per hour faster than the posted speed limit in a particular area of the state. This is a minor penalty that may be quickly remedied by attending a fundamental focused improvement class for a total of four hours.
- Other violations that result in a loss of three points include the following:
- A breach of the child restraint system
- It is possible that failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked pedestrian right of way will result in a violation.
- Operating a vehicle on the shoulder
- Infraction of the curfew
- Open container driving
- Ignoring the cautionary stop sign
4- Point Violation
The traffic offenses that result in the distribution of points like this are often the ones that put people’s lives in danger. Although it goes without saying that every moving violation puts lives at jeopardy, the violations listed here are particularly serious infractions that, under normal circumstances, would result in the accumulation of six points on a driver’s record.
- Reckless driving
- Exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 miles per hour
- Getting around a halted school bus, often on the side that leads to the entrance or the exit.
- In addition to committing previous violations involving red lights, the offender ran a constant red light.
- A traffic infraction that contributed to the occurrence of an accident.
6- Point Violation
The imposition of a 6-point penalty on your driving record is typically reserved for the most serious of traffic infractions and reckless driving. If you have a bad driving record, getting a violation that is worth six points can occasionally result in significantly higher insurance premiums.
Examples of 6-point offenses in Florida include the following:
- Leaving the site of an accident without providing information, particularly when there are damages worth more than fifty dollars.
- Accidents involving bodily injury caused by reckless driving at high speeds
Your points will remain on your record for about five years after they have been assigned to you. The suspension of your driver’s license is an additional consequence that follows the accumulation of points to a certain threshold.
The following is an explanation of how the points tally on your record might result in the suspension of your driver’s license in the state of Florida.
- If you earn 12 points during a period of 12 months, you will receive a 30-day ban.
- If you acquire 18 points during the course of 18 months, you will be suspended for three months.
- If you accumulate 24 points over the course of three years, you will receive a one-year ban.
If you go to traffic school in Florida, you can get points removed from your record, which will help you avoid having your license suspended.
Conclusion
The state of Florida imposes severe fines on drivers who violate traffic laws. It is possible that you will receive a fine in addition to having points added to your driving record. The instructions how to pay a traffic ticket in Florida online are located above. In addition, the points system and the steps that must be taken to erase points from your driver’s record in Florida are discussed. To avoid incurring any more fines for driving infractions, all you have to do is pay the traffic citation you received in Florida today. For any query contact us.