In New York City, Rochester, Buffalo and most of Suffolk, there is no plea-bargaining of traffic tickets. If you fight one, it is “all or nothing”. Hearings in these areas are held at the Traffic Violations Bureau, an arm of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Because the rest of the state offers reductions and most people usually accept them, the 10 TVB courts are the hardest places to win in the entire state. So how hard is it to win?
City-wide, 46.3% of motorists were successful fighting their traffic tickets in 2009. Does this figure sound encouraging? Technically, it is a pretty good number. However, this percentage is deceiving due to some statistic-padding (but that discussion must await a future blog post).
So where does a motorist have technically the best chance to beat a New York City traffic ticket on the merits? Based on statistics from 2009, the single best place to win a hearing is the Manhattan North Traffic Violations Bureau.
And the worst place … Staten Island which is, by far, the single toughest place to beat a traffic ticket in New York City (and the state). There are only two judges there and both are very much pro-police.
Outside New York City, the odds of beating a traffic ticket at the TVB are pretty bad. With the TVBs in Suffolk, Rochester and Buffalo success percentages just slightly better than that of Staten Island.
Below is the breakdown of percentage of not guilty determinations from highest to lowest:
Manhattan North Traffic Violations Bureau – 53.8%
Queens South Traffic Violations Bureau – 51.5%
Manhattan South Traffic Violations Bureau – 50.1%
Brooklyn North Traffic Violations Bureau – 46.7%
Queens North Traffic Violations Bureau – 45.6%
Brooklyn South Traffic Violations Bureau – 42.7%
Bronx Traffic Violations Bureau – 42.3%
Buffalo Traffic Violations Bureau – 29.3%
Suffolk County Traffic Violations Bureau – 25.2%
6 Comments. Leave new
Please sign petition to remove Brian Levine:
https://www.change.org/p/andrew-cuomo-fire-staten-island-dmv-judge-brian-levine?utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_campaign=wj_welcome_email_v2.2_q1&j=90137&sfmc_sub=521660410&l=32_HTML&u=16252966&mid=7233052&jb=124275
Serena,
Given his record, it is not surprising to me that Staten Island residents want Traffic Judge Brian Levine removed.
Matthew Weiss
Yes, there’s a lady judge who, although a mere rubber stamp for police harassment, is at least respectful. The other judge is extremely disrespectful to anyone not wearing a uniform.
In my 3 trips there, over the course of 15 years, I had the same judge every time. He’s a sour-faced, sarcastic jerk who mocks the defendants and kowtows to the police. The one time I saw a defendant win was when he brought an attorney who happened to have gone to the same law school as the judge.
Johann,
There are only 2 judges at the Staten Island Traffic Violations Bureau so it is not surprising that you had the same judge every time. This is the hardest court to win in the whole state. There is no plea bargaining and the judges are very, very tough.
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Matthew Weiss
Can I assume that the 46.3% rate includes cases heard without an officer present – a) unlicensed, etc. where docs are produced, and b) no show by officer?