There are various reasons why people do not pay their traffic tickets. Sometimes you forget they are owed. Other times you may be short of money at the time the ticket is due. Maybe you were going to fight the ticket in court but had other things to do at the time. Whatever the case, unpaid traffic tikets in California can lead to a wide range of problems for you, and if you do not pay them, the consequences can be more than you expect. Two important examples are your arrest and losing your driver’s license.

Warrants issued for your arrest
While traffic warrants for unpaid traffic tikets in California are not the type that will lead to an officer showing up at your door, if you are ever pulled over for a moving violation, you could wind up arrested and having your vehicle impounded. After showing proof of insurance and showing your vehicle registration and license, a police officer will run your driver’s license through the computer to see if there are any outstanding warrants. In this situation, it doesn’t matter if you were expecting a ticket; you will likely be in handcuffs for the outstanding warrants. An attorney is critical to address a traffic ticket that has gone to warrant.

Driving with a suspended license
If you have an unpaid traffic ticket, there is a good chance that your license has been suspended. This happens all the time to people with unpaid traffic tikets in California. Unless they are pulled over by the police, chances are that they may not find out about the problem until they go to renew their driver’s license before it expires. Renewal will not be possible until the suspension is lifted and that will mean paying for the ticket or tickets.

Always contact a traffic attorney for help
If you find out that your license has been suspended for outstanding tickets, the first thing to do is contact an attorney with experience in this area. An attorney will most likely be able to get a new court date while having the suspension of your license lifted. This is important because if you are pulled over for a ticket, you will also be guilty of driving with a suspended license. This is more serious than a typical traffic ticket. In addition, an attorney can sometimes have the amount of the ticket lowered.