There are two broad categories of traffic tickets. Knowing which you have is important when determining what to do in your situation.

If you receive a minor citation that doesn’t result in points to your license you might be better off just paying it instead of fighting it in traffic court.

The two main types of traffic tickets are either moving or non moving tickets. Non moving tickets usually involve smaller fines and can be a parking ticket or some kind of fix it ticket.

These can be a nuisance but at least they wont go on your driving history or be reported to your auto insurance.

Non moving violations can be things such as not wearing your seatbelt, a broken headlight or improperly parking your vehicle.

The fines for non moving violations are normally small, like around $50 or less. So its usually better, just from a hassle stand point, to pay these types of violations and not waste hours in traffic court.

However if the ticket can cleared easily you should certainly try. For example a ticket for a non working tail light can be dismissed if you show proof you fixed it in most cases.

Moving violations are a violations of the law committed while the vehicle is in motion, and this term ‘motion’ distinguishes it from a non moving violation. While most moving violations are considered misdemeanors or infractions, more serious violations can be felonies.

Moving violations normally involve the payment of fines, and also having points assessed against the driving record of the driver. As points are accumulated more severe punishment can be ordered such as having to take defensive driving courses up to having your drivers license suspended.

You may think we have it bad in the US, and we do, because traffic fines can go all the way up to $500 and more. But in some countries around the world, traffic can be set according to an individuals income, and in some rare cases be more than $100,000!

More common moving violations can include speeding (THE most common), failure to secure a load, failure to yield right of way, violating high occupancy vehicle lanes, or not stopping for a pedestrian.

Some examples of serious moving violations are drunk driving, racing on a public road, road rage and vehicular homicide.

Traffic violations are also broken down into either civil or criminal. While they both have points and fines associated with them, only criminal violations can wind up you up in jail.

Sentences handed down in criminal violations are obligations to the state for acts committed. The term ‘state’ can be a city, town, state or federal government or any other kind of m municipality. These are moving violations that you need to avoid at all costs, obviously.