“What? I don’t have any fines or tickets.” I replied to the guy who I sold my car to here in Ecuador this week.
“Yes, you do, you have two open photo fines.(foto multas)” He responded.
He was right, I didn’t even realize it, and usually you don’t in Ecuador until it’s time to pay your annual registration (matricula).
This past year I passed through Ambato twice, and BOTH times they nabbed me taking a picture of my plates. Once going 52km in a 50km zone, and again going 56km in a 50km zone.
Each ticket $112.
Yet, driving all year around the coast and Quito areas I didn’t get ONE.
I’ve found the Ambato, Ibarra and Loja areas particularly bad, so be extra careful driving around there. Explanations of causes of the traffic misdemeanors like speeding to get to a hospital, or parking in front of a fire hydrant due to a sudden emergency require a plausible explanation to the judge. Where there is no reason or excuse other than negligence, a traffic attorney might be able to help you get a judgment with which you are satisfied.
There are several attorneys that rush to the accident scenes with the intention of representing the victims showing a thriving entrepreneurial spirit. These are just a few in the big-money spectrum that is considered a growing legal market. However, it’s the speeders and drunk drivers who are chasing the lawyers to represent them before judges. However there are concerns with whether the traffic lawyers deliver the goods. The lawyers get the tickets dismissed since they know the technicalities. The lawyers also know which tickets they can’t get dismissed and since when the ticket is perfect, on the courts side, there is not much the lawyer will to be able to do for you, so they make a bargain or plea on such.
The traffic ticket lawyers are great if one doesn’t have time to go to court or if their driving record isn’t great. Did you know that a traffic ticket attorney can help you to fight undeserved fines? You can get the justice you deserve, even when it comes to driving. In today’s economy, you cannot afford to spend money on unnecessary speeding fees. If you know that you were driving at the mandatory speed limit, you don’t have to settle for unfair treatment. Some cops patrol the streets in hopes of pinning fines on hundreds of drivers. But you need your hard-earned money to pay bills, buy gas, and other necessities of everyday life. Let a lawyer represent you during this time of need.
If renting a car usually the rental company will check to see if you got any photo tickets before returning your deposit.
If issued tickets if you were going just a bit over like in my case you can challenge the ticket with a lawyer in the municipality where you got ticketed. I’m paying $60 per ticket to the lawyer for help, he says takes a few weeks to process. This process is called IMPUGNAR. It’s common to pay lawyer once job is DONE.
You can see if the plate you were driving got any tickets nationally at this link… But some municipalities don’t show up on the national system for months after ticket issued so you can also check directly on their websites (here is the Ambato one). You can see what my tickets look like if you plug in my old plate number (placa) LBB4559.
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