• Just about every serious traffic charge begins with a traffic stop. It is illegal for the police to stop a vehicle on a whim or mere suspicion, however the legal reasons for stopping an automobile on the road are staggering in number.
• There are many steps you the driver can take to avoid the traffic stop. If you are legally stopped there are still many ways to avoid arrest, prosecution, and conviction. An experienced trial attorney is essential to protect your rights once you have been charged with an offense, but you will seldom have the advice of a lawyer between the time the police encounter you and you are charged with an offense.
• Avoid the traffic stop.
• You can be stopped for any visible mechanical defect on the automobile you are driving. A missing taillight can be the reason you are stopped by the police and eventually sent to prison. Look at your car at least once a week and check for any visible defects.
• Just about every police car is equipped with a computer capable of accessing the MVA and checking the status of the automobile you are driving. There is no requirement that the police have a reason for checking your car by way of the computer so even if mere whim or suspicion is the motive of the police, you are the one who gets in trouble. The tags on the car must correspond to that car. The tags must be up to date with all fees paid and the proper registration stamp must on the license plate, which must be displayed on the rear of the car.
• Any minor traffic offense is grounds for the police stopping your car. At certain times of night the police will stop you for exceeding the speed limit by only a few miles per hour. They really are not trying to catch a speeder, but are using the offense as a pretext to pull you over, look at your eyes and smell for alcohol. Even if the officer admits that the speed was a pretext (an admission heard by many lawyers outside the courtroom, but never from the witness stand) an officers motive for the stop is seldom grounds for an acquittal.
• When driving, especially on the highway, try to stay out of the far left lane and remain in the middle of a group of at least three cars. Your chances of being stopped is reduced dramatically.
• Pay attention to your driving. Do not use a cell phone or fiddle with the radio.

Dominic J. Fleming

Mr. Fleming has successfully represented those accused of criminal and traffic offenses in Federal and State Courts throughout Maryland. His fees are very reasonable. For example, his fees for certain DUI cases are as low as $750.00