Legal Question in Traffic Law in New Jersey

Re: which state's law prevail

A traffic ticket issued in New York State will be processed under New York law.

Re: which state's law prevail

I assume your question is whether the consequences of the ticket will ultimately be applied to your current NY license even though you had a NJ license at the time of the offense. The question is an administrative one more than a legal one. Once New York State (which has jurisdiction over the ticket and will therefore prosecute it) dockets the resolution it will most likely send a notice to DMV in NJ to notify them of the outcome. NJ will realize that you have surrendered that license and will decide whether they want to go through the administrative trouble of finding out where you are currently licensed and pass on the information to them. My guess is that since NY and NJ are so closely connected, they will somehow get the information onto your current driving record. It's just a guess.

Re: which state's law prevail

There are two (2) questions here.

The difficult question is: will you get the points on your NY or NJ license? Under the law, it will go on your NY license because you were not guilty of the violation until after you were found guilty (payment of the fine is a plea of 'guilty'). At the time you were found guilty, you had a NY license and so you get the points on the NY license.

But will you get the points on your NY license? This is a 'how much confidence do you have in the competance of the civil service' question. In my opinion, the odds are in your favor.

These things are improving all the time, computers will make it 'automatic' someday. But that day is not yet here!

A further question is your insurance. If you have the same insurance carrier, the odds of NY getting the information increase, as well as your premiums. I recommend you switch insurance carriers before you pay the fine.

The easy question is: under what law will the issue of whether you violated the traffic laws be decided? NY. The location of the violation will determine this one.

These questions come up,all the time. Feel free to ask me questions anytime.

You are welcome to a consultation for no fee at my offices at 42 west 44th street, NY,NY. Please call for an appointment first (646) 591-5786.