Many Colorado drivers don’t view getting a citation for a behind-the-wheel offense with any real sense of alarm.Candidly, what seasoned motorist with years of driving experience hasn’t been stopped and ticketed on at least one occasion? Many people hearing that a...
Traffic Violations
Handling a traffic stop: what can you refuse?
Traffic stops can be scary. When a police officer asks us to do something, most of us are inclined to do it automatically. However, there are times when granting a request can have serious negative consequences.Saying “no” to a police officer can be intimidating....
How serious is a reckless driving charge?
Because of how often we drive, the road can be one of the easiest places to get in trouble with the law. Even the safest driver can get pulled over, if they drive every day.However, not every ticket is created equal. Reckless driving is a serious charge with...
Are you required to give phone data to police?
For many people, much or all of their lives are documented on their cellphones, making those devices a likely target for law enforcement agencies that believe they have committed a crime. But it may not be as simple as police or the FBI getting a warrant to get that...
The costs of a ticket go beyond the fine.
Getting a speeding ticket can be a frustrating experience. The fine alone can be a financial burden for many people. However, anyone who has received a traffic ticket knows that the fine itself isn’t the only cost that is associated with a traffic violation.From...
“Flipping the bird” case goes against officer on multiple grounds
It was just a finger.But it was the wrong finger.That was at least the view of a behind-the-wheel police trooper in one state a couple years ago, who noted the post-stop goodbye of a detained motorist marked by a raised middle finger. The trooper quickly flashed his...
Why are traffic tickets fundamentally unfair?
We lead off today’s blog post by asking our readers from across Colorado and elsewhere to consider traffic tickets for a moment.Are they uniformly fair to all? That is, do their consequences fall upon all ticked individuals with similar severity?Perhaps that is a...
Is a beefed-up ban soon coming re behind-the-wheel cellphone use?
We note on our criminal defense website at Shazam Kianpour & Associates the often mistaken assumption that a ticketed traffic offense is largely an irritant/inconvenience and nothing more.In fact, the blowback from a ticket can be far more severe and lasting than...
In Colorado, cyclists can be charged with reckless driving
If you think Colorado's reckless-driving law only applies to those behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, you would be very wrong.In fact, this particular law is much broader than many people know. For example, it not only applies to motorists, but also to anyone riding...
Colorado among least friendly of all states for speeders
We noted in a recent blog post the traffic ticket woes of now former Denver Police Chief Robert White while he was on the job. And we stressed in our July 6 entry that the chief’s story was hardly singular, because “just about everyone can be pulled over and ticketed...