Exceeding the speed limit in Las Vegas by 30mph or more is a “moving violation” misdemeanor that carries fines as well as Nevada demerit points. Otherwise, speeding is a civil infraction carrying civil penalties and demerit points. And the fine or civil penalty doubles if the incident occurred in a work zone, school zone, or pedestrian safety zone. But it is often possible to get speeding tickets dismissed or reduced to “non-moving violations” with no DMV or insurance penalties.
People who ignore their misdemeanor speeding tickets may get a bench warrant issued for their arrest and may be taken into custody at any time. And it takes a full year following a speeding conviction to get a record seal.
The attorneys of Las Vegas Defense Group have gotten hundreds of speeding tickets reduced or dismissed with no traffic safety course or demerit points. Call our law firm for a consultation to discuss how we can put our decades of combined experience at work for you.
In this article our Las Vegas traffic ticket attorneys will discuss:
Most speeding tickets in Nevada can be reduced to a non-moving violation carrying no DMV demerit points.
Nevada mandates four common-sense speed laws. It is illegal to drive:
In summary, it is illegal to drive faster than the posted speed limit. And the speed limit will never be more than 80mph. Regardless of the posted speed limit, drivers are expected to slow down if there is heavy traffic, inclement weather (such as a rain or snow), or hazardous road conditions (such as big puddles or debris). Finally, drivers are also required to slow down when necessary to prevent physical harm or property damage.
Las Vegas Metro and the Nevada Highway Patrol are on especially high alert to bust drivers going above the speed limit in school zones and work zones. Note that people who speed significantly over the limit may face the more serious charge of reckless driving.
Also, note that many traffic lights in Las Vegas are now mounted with surveillance cameras and speed sensors. So even if a driver is speeding safely on an empty road, he/she will likely receive a traffic ticket summons in the mail containing photographic evidence of the speeding. 1
Driving too fast in rural areas is not legal in Nevada. But in some situations, speeding in a rural area is prosecuted as a non-moving violation instead of a moving violation. And non-moving violations carry a much lower civil penalty. See question 3 for more information. 2
The best defense strategies for fighting a speeding ticket on the merits depend on the facts of the case. The defense attorney would investigate and analyze the situation from every angle. Some common defenses to a traffic citation for speeding include:
Perhaps the police officer’s speed radar malfunctioned. Or perhaps the cop believed that the speed limit was lower than it actually was. Either way, it is statistically improbable that every one of the hundreds of speeding tickets law enforcement issue every day is accurate.
A defense attorney would conduct a thorough investigation of all the technology that the police relied on…such as the radar gun…to see whether any of these instruments were defective. The attorney would also map the road the defendant was driving on to compare the speed limit signs (if any) to the the speed the defendant was accused of exceeding.
Speeding 30mph or more over the limit is a criminal offense, so the prosecution has the burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The charge must be dismissed if the defense attorney raises any reasonable doubt that the defendant exceeded the speed limit.
Speeding less than 30mph over the limit is a civil infraction, and the prosecution has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant committed the violation. This is a lower bar than in criminal cases.
In the same way pedestrians run from an emergency, drivers speed from an emergency. There are several crisis situations that might justify burning rubber, such as:
Note that in personal injury lawsuits (which are civil, not criminal) speeding drivers cannot be held liable for causing an accident if the speeding was a reasonable response to an emergency situation. The legal name for the principle is the “sudden emergency doctrine.” 3 So if a defense attorney can make a compelling argument that the defendant’s speeding was reasonable under the circumstances because of a “sudden emergency,” an ethical District Attorney may very well drop the case.
Sometimes police issue tickets to get back at a loudmouth driver even when the motorist committed no violation. Or maybe a cop is issuing bogus tickets in order to meet the unspoken quota of traffic tickets each cop is expected to issue each month.
In these situations, a defense attorney would try to compile any available video (surveillance, dashcam, or smartphone) as well as any eyewitness testimony in an effort to show that the defendant never sped. If the prosecutor’s evidence is too weak to sustain a conviction, the charge should be dropped.
Note that it is rarely necessary to extensively litigate a speeding ticket charge in order to get a charge reduction or dismissal. Most prosecutors are willing to lessen the charge without much negotiation as long as the driver does not have a criminal history.
The City of Las Vegas typically levies a fine for speeding. 4 Outside of Las Vegas, the fines for exceeding the speed limit varies throughout Nevada from county to county and city to city. The maximum fine is capped at $20 per mile per hour over the limit. 5
As a misdemeanor, exceeding the speed limit by 30mph or more theoretically carries up to $1,000 in fines and/or up to six (6) months in jail. However, it is exceedingly rare for a judge to impose incarceration for a speeding violation. Speeding less than 30mph over the limit is a civil infraction, which carries a civil penalty and no jail.
Also, defendants face a civil penalty of up to $1,000 if they caused property damage or injuries. 6
Speeding fines get automatically doubled if the incident allegedly occurred in a work zone, school zone, or a pedestrian safety zone. Therefore, a typical speeding ticket carrying a $205 fine would double to $410 if the incident occurred in one of these protected zones.
Work zones are construction areas. School zones are areas near schools and colleges that get a lot of foot traffic. Pedestrian safety zones are areas for the exclusive use of pedestrians. These zones are typically demarcated by three signs:
Note that speeding in a work, school zone, or safety zone is not a separate offense from speeding. Instead, it is an “enhanced” penalty for the underlying speeding charge. This is why the punishment for speeding through these zones is a doubling of the underlying speeding fine instead of two separate fines. 7
Driving too fast in Nevada is normally a moving violation that carries demerit points. But driving slightly over the speed limit in rural areas during daylight hours is a non-moving violation carrying only a small civil penalty and no demerit points. Specifically, speeding is a non-moving violation in the following circumstances:
Posted speed limit (in rural area during daylight hours)
Driver’s maximum speed
Note that the above exception does not apply to Clark County and Washoe County when:
Usually, yes. In the vast majority of cases, Nevada traffic judges are amenable to lessening a speeding charge to a non-moving violation or possibly dismissing it. However, defendants who have a long history of traffic offenses may have a tougher time persuading a prosecutor to cut a deal.
The number of demerit points the Nevada DMV will put on a person’s license for speeding turns on how fast he/she was going:
Nevada speeding violation/offense
Nevada DMV demerit points
(Note that people charged with reckless driving will have eight (8) demerit points added to their license.) 9
A demerit point stays on a person’s driver’s license for a 12-month period. If a driver’s license accrues twelve (12) or more demerit points, the DMV will suspend the driver’s license for six (6) months. 10
The demerit point system is one reason why people charged with speeding are encouraged to hire an attorney to try to get the charge reduced: Non-moving violations carry no demerit points. But if someone does have his/her license suspended, it may be possible to contest the suspension in a DMV Hearing, which is similar to a trial. Drivers with suspended licenses are encouraged to hire an attorney to request the DMV hearing and represent them at the proceeding. 11
While a person’s license is suspended in Nevada, he/she should try never to get behind the wheel because the consequences can be harsh. Driving on a suspended license is a misdemeanor in Nevada that carries up to six (6) months in jail and/or up to $1,000 in fines. 12
Yes. It may not happen right away, but insurance companies almost always hike up insurance rates whenever the insured picks up a speeding ticket or other moving violation. Predictably, the more traffic tickets the person has, the higher the premiums will be.
Insurance is a major reason why it is worth it to try to get a speeding ticket lessened to a non-moving violation, which usually has no effect on insurance premiums.
It depends on the case. Judges are more likely to order mandatory traffic school when the defendant’s alleged speeding was very high, such as forty-one (41) miles over the speed limit. But in many cases, a defendant can avoid traffic school just by paying a fine or civil penalty, depending on the case.
Note that many speeding ticket defendants choose to do traffic school as a way to get a charge reduction. Completing Level 1 Nevada Traffic school within five (5) days of entering a guilty plea to speeding will usually cause the speeding violation to be lessened to a non-moving violation. Non-moving violations are much better to have than speeding tickets because they carry zero demerit points and do not look as bad on the person’s criminal record. 13
If your ticket was for an infraction (going less than 30 miles over the limit), no bench warrant will issue if you are late. Though the judge can suspend your license.
However, people who miss court or fine deadlines on a misdemeanor speeding ticket get a 30-day grace period before the the court will issue a bench warrant. And if the person fails to pay the fine, the judge may not issue a bench warrant until this happens: The person is given the opportunity to do community service in lieu of the payment, and the person then fails to do the community service.
When a person has a bench warrant, he/she can be arrested at any time and held in jail (possibly with no bail) pending the resolution of the speeding ticket case…
It is highly unlikely police will go out and hunt down people with bench warrants for skipping out on a traffic ticket. But if a person with a bench warrant ever gets pulled over, the cop will run his/her name and certainly take him/her into custody. So people accused of speeding should always take care of the ticket in order to avoid getting a warrant.
If a speeding ticket defendant does get a bench warrant, the defendant should hire an attorney to try to recall (“quash”) the warrant. This involves filing a “motion to quash” with the court and having a court hearing. Barring extenuating circumstances, the attorney should be able to show up at the hearing without the defendant having to appear.
Note that the Nevada DMV may suspend a person’s driver’s license if he/she misses out on a court appearance. When this happens, the defendant’s attorney would ask the judge to issue an “FTA clearance.” The defendant can then take this clearance to the DMV to reinstate the license. 14
The DMV will add the same number of demerit points to the persons’ commercial driver’s license (CDL) as it did to the person’s regular driver’s license…
So if someone was found to have sped 10 miles over the limit, the DMV will add one (1) point to the person’s driver’s license and one (1) point to the person’s CDL. It does not matter if the person was driving a non-commercial vehicle at the time of the speeding.
Note that CDL-holders are obligated to notify their employer about getting a speeding ticket within thirty (30) days of the citation. 15
It is a “serious offense” under federal law for a CDL-holder to drive a commercial automobile at 15 miles per hour or faster beyond the speed limit. Committing two (2) “serious offenses” within a three (3) year period results in a 60-day CDL suspension. A third offense results in a 120 day CDL suspension. 16
The defendant’s home-state DMV will most likely treat the defendant as if he/she was ticketed for speeding in the home state. Every state has its own demerit point policies. So out-of-state speeding ticket defendants should consult with an attorney in their home state to discuss demerit point consequences.
Civil infraction speeding tickets do not show up on your criminal record. Though if you fail to pay, a civil judgment can show up on your record.
Misdemeanor convictions can be sealed one year after the case ends. 17 But if the judge completely dismisses the speeding charge or the judge acquits you at trial, then Nevada imposes no waiting period before you can commence the record seal process. In short, there is no waiting period when there is no conviction. 18
No, driving too fast is not a deportable crime. But out of an abundance of caution, non-citizen defendants cited with a Nevada traffic ticket should always seek out an attorney experienced in both criminal defense and immigration law. The attorney will know how best to proceed to safeguard the immigrants’ resident status.
It is highly recommended that traffic defendants try to get their speeding tickets reduced to a non-moving violation or dismissed outright. An attorney can help them do this. If successful, no demerit points will be added to the defendant’s driver’s license, the defendant’s criminal record remains clear of any moving violations, and the defendant’s car insurance premiums will not increase.
Speeding ticket defendants who wish to go to trial may request a bench trial but not a jury trial. A bench trial is the same as a jury trial except that there is no jury, and the judge is the one who delivers the verdict.
Note that speeding ticket trials hardly ever happen in Nevada. In most traffic cases, the defense and prosecution negotiate a resolution to the defendant’s benefit. 19
It is never required to hire an attorney for a speeding ticket, but it is highly recommended for the following reasons:
And if the defense attorney succeeds in getting the speeding ticket dismissed, the attorney will be in the ideal position to immediately pursue getting the record sealed.
Yes. The victim (“plaintiff”) in a car accident can bring a lawsuit against the speeding driver (“defendant”) under the Nevada legal doctrine of negligence per se. A defendant is liable under negligence per se if:
As opposed to negligence cases, “negligence per se” cases let courts presume that the defendant was behaving unreasonably. Therefore, all the plaintiff has to demonstrate is that his/her injuries were caused by the defendant’s unreasonable behavior.
Certainly, the vast majority of personal injury cases settle without a trial. Our Las Vegas car accident attorneys would fight for the biggest financial settlement possible to cover the defendant’s:
But if the case does go to trial, our attorneys would try to convince the court that the plaintiff deserves the largest compensatory damages and punitive damages available. Note that defendants who may have contributed to the accident can still be eligible for large monetary damages. Learn more about our Las Vegas personal injury attorneys.
Were you pulled over for exceeding the speed limit in Nevada? For a consultation, call our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys. If your case is in California, please see our article on Vehicle Code 22350 – California’s basic speeding law by our California traffic ticket lawyers.
We will fight to get your ticket dismissed or reduced to a non-moving violation with the smallest fines, zero demerit points, and no traffic school.
In California? Learn about Vehicle Code 22350 VC.
In Colorado? Learn about CRS 42-4-1101.
