A Brief Guide to Minnesota Traffic Fines
Technically speaking, Minnesota traffic law is some of the easiest to understand in all the nation. For starters, they are one of several states which does not have a penalty points system. In those states, points are given reflecting poorly upon a driver’s record and raising their insurance premiums. For Minnesota, however, these points aren’t given, so Minnesota traffic fines are the state’s principal method of exacting punishment upon violators of traffic laws.
A Sampling of Minnesota Traffic Fines
There are numerous different traffic violations that the state of Minnesota will punish with Minnesota traffic fines. These violations can vary from under $100 to more nearly $500, though you’ll see that most linger in the area from $100-$150. Note, too, that most of the money paid due to Minnesota traffic fines are actually court costs and not strictly speaking Minnesota traffic fines. The only time this will matter is if you are charged with more than one traffic violation at one time, and so you’ll have to pay multiple Minnesota traffic fines but only one court cost, making the prices much lower than what they may appear at first.
Here is a short list of a view different traffic violations the Minnesota traffic fines that the government punishes them with.
• Speeding, including speeding in a school zone, of anything above the posted legal limit—$145.00
• Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian or Another Vehicle which Should Have Been Given the Right of Way—$128.00
• Failure to Obey Stop Sign—$128.00
• Failure to Obey Traffic Control Signal—$128.00
• Careless Driving—$178.00
• Failure to Wear Seat Belt at All Times—$103.00
• Driving without Proper Licensing—$178.00
• Handicap Parking Violation—$278.00
• Driving Over Fire Hose — $118.00
• Unsafe Passing or Passing While Prohibited—$128.00
• Illegal Turning—$128.00
Driving While Intoxicated and Other Crimes
Minnesota charges a few moving vehicle violations much more severely than those above because they are charged as crimes in a criminal court. These include reckless driving, refusal to take a chemical test, fleeing or eluding a police officer, and Driving While Intoxicated.
Driving While Intoxicated in particular is treated very severely. The legal limit for the state is.08 blood alcohol content, but if you commit errors because of intoxication, you can be charged with Driving While Intoxicated no matter your blood alcohol content. Those found guilty of the charge face more than $680.00 in Minnesota traffic fines to be paid as quickly as possible.
An additional punishment for those found guilty of driving while intoxicated is that being arrested four times for driving while intoxicated during the course of ten years means a four-year loss of license and a felony charge. Drivers charged with felony Driving While Intoxicated face up to seven years in prison and a fine of $14,000.
Some first-time offenders and all second-time offenders will also have the option of joining the Ignition Interlock Device Program, which means the installation of a prohibitory device on their car but the possible regaining of driving privileges in three-to-six years.
