Aggressive Driving Tickets in Arizona – Frequently Asked Questions
What is considered Aggressive Driving in Arizona?
To get an aggressive driving ticket, an officer must allege a whole potpourri of violations. As set forth in A.R.S. 28-695, an officer must claim to have observed:
1. criminal speeding or civil speeding, and at least two other moving violations, chosen from the following:
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- Failure to obey traffic control devices as provided in section 28-644.
- Overtaking and passing another vehicle on the right by driving off the pavement or main traveled portion of the roadway as provided in section 28-724.
- Unsafe lane change as provided in section 28-729.
- Following a vehicle too closely as provided in section 28-730.
- Failure to yield the right-of-way as provided in article 9 of this chapter.
AND
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- The person’s driving is an immediate hazard to another person or vehicle.
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What kind of driving can result in an Agressive Driving ticket?
Aggressive driving requires at least 3 different moving violations. As a result, such a ticket usually involves an officer following a driver for a little bit and observing a series of driving manuevers. The officer must also believe that the driving he observes poses an immediate hazard to other people or property. Opinions vary on what exactly constitutes an immediate hazard to another person or property.
However, what we usually see is that an officer alleges a driver was speeding, tailgating (following too closely is the technical name), and making unsafe lane changes. The officer believes that the combination of those three moving violations poses an immediate hazard to the other drivers on the road.
Aggressive Driving Defense Attorneys
David Enevoldsen, Partner
My favorite thing about being a criminal defense attorney is getting my client’s charges dismissed at trial. Driving on the beautiful Arizona highways is a close second.
Chris Rike, Partner
I love being a criminal traffic defense attorney because it marries two of my favorite things: cars and fighting for the rights of drivers.
What Are The Penalties For An Aggressive Driving Conviction in Arizona?
These are the consequences that are possible under the law:
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- A class 1 misdemeanor conviction
- Fines up to $2,500 plus surcharges and court assessments that could nearly double the total fine
- Up to 6 months in jail.
- Up to 3 years probation
- The judge may suspend your driving privileges for up to 30 days. See A.R.S. 28-695(C)(2).
For the majority of people, the penalties will be:
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- Class 1 misdemeanor conviction.
- Fines less than the maximum
- Jail time is rare, but it does happen. We most often see jail in city courts like Scottsdale City Court.
- Probation is rare.
- We don’t usually see license suspension from the court (there may be a points suspension)
There can also be some collateral consequences:
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- 8 points on your driving record.
- Increased insurance rates
- Traffic Survival School
- Immigration issues
- License suspension depending on the driver’s history and accumulation of points
- Having to disclose a criminal conviction on job applications
What happens if you get a second aggressive driving conviction?
If a driver is convicted of aggressive driving a second time within 24 months, the driver’s license will be suspended for 1 year. After serving 45 days of the suspension, a driver is eligible to apply for a restricted driver license so they can drive to work, school, and some other limited places. See A.R.S. 28-144 for details on the restricted license.
How do you fight an aggressive driving ticket?
The main goal in an aggressive driving case is to avoid the criminal conviction. There are a number of things we look at to achive that goal.
Legal Arguments
First, we try to create doubt as to whether our client actually committed aggressive driving. Aggressive driving requires the prosecution to prove at least three different moving violations PLUS that the driver was a hazard. We look for errors or inconsistencies in the citing officer’s story, we look for errors in the speed measurement, and we also look for facts that would call into doubt the officer’s allegations. This includes interviewing the police officer, reviewing any video, and looking at GPS data from the officer’s vehicle if that is relevant. The goal is to convince the prosecutor that they would be unlikely to prevail at trial, and that offering a civil plea is a better use of resources than taking the matter to trial.
Personal Background
The second approach is to leverage notable details in our client’s background, such as a clean driving record, work or school achievements, community involvement, volunteer work, commendations, letters of reference, or anything else that tends to show that our client is a peaceful, productive, and law-abiding citizen who should be given a break. Often, these personal details make a big difference in the outcome we are able to achieve.
Negotiation
After we have finished the discovery process, we may submit a written request to the prosecution asking the prosecution to deviate from the charge. In other words, we may ask them to offer a plea to something less. This request will present all of the defendant’s good background details and ideally we can make a factual argument too. In an aggressive driving case, often we may seek a plea to some of the underlying civil violations that make up the aggressive driving charge, in lieu of the aggressive driving charge, and thereby avoiding the criminal conviction.
Trial
If we cannot negotiate an agreement that everyone is satisfied with, then we may need to take the case to trial. Whether or not a trial makes sense depends on what information we’ve found during our investigation. When contemplating trial, we have to consider a number of factors, such as the likelihood of success and the risk of leaving the outcome up to a judge. Aggressive driving is not a jury eligible charge. This means the trial will be in front of the judge, what is called a bench trial.
How many points is aggressive driving in Azizona?
8 points.
If you are convicted of aggressive driving, the court where you are convicted will transmit a record of that conviction to the Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicles Division (MVD for short). When the MVD is notified of a conviction, they will assess 8 points on your driving record. Check out this post for more discussion about points.
8 points means that the MVD will send you a letter saying you have to complete an 8-hour Traffic Survival School (TSS) class to avoid a license suspension. If you have taken TSS in the previous 24 months, you will just get a 3-month suspension.
These MVD consequences are in addition to any consequences imposed by the court.
Even if you do not have an Arizona driver license, the Arizona MVD will still impose essentially the same penalties. The MVD will create a record for you, send you the same letter about traffic survival school, or issue a suspension of your driving privileges.
These MVD consequences will likely also impact an out of state driver license. Arizona, and most other states, participate in an interstate Driver License Compact. This is an agreement between states to share information about driver license records and suspensions.
What if I don’t live in Arizona?
Most courts will let you appear by telephone for court appearances other than a trial. Some courts may require you to make this request in writing, others not. If you live out of state, call the court and ask them about their policies regarding telephonic appearances. If you have an attorney, your attorney can take care of this. If your aggressive driving ticket up going to trial, you will need to come back to Arizona for the trial. If your case is resolved without going to trial, you probably won’t need to physically return to Arizona.
Will an aggressive driving conviction affect my job?
It depends.
This will of course depend on your job, but for the vast majority of people, the answer is probably not. We frequently represent clients who are required to undergo background checks as part of their job, or who hold security clearances, or who have professional licenses (like attorneys or doctors), and an aggressive driving conviction probably won’t derail your career. However, an aggressive driving conviction will likely require an explanation, and it is always ideal to avoid having to make that explanation.
For some people though, like commercial truck drivers, an aggressive driving conviction can be a big problem. Depending on the driver’s history, it could result in the driver’s CDL being disqualified for 60 days or more.
If you are concerned about how an aggressive driving conviction could impact your job, you may want to review your company’s policies regarding criminal traffic convictions and consult an attorney about your specific situation.
Can I expunge an aggressive driving conviction?
Expungement of an aggressive driving conviction is not possible in Arizona. However, there are two things that can be done to help clean up a conviction after the fact.
Set aside the conviction
First, you can apply to the court to have the conviction set aside. This application can be made anytime after all of the sentencing requirements have been completed. In most cases, this means after the fines have been paid.
If the court grants the request, and it is at the court’s discretion, then the conviction is set aside. This means that if someone were to conduct a criminal background check, this charge would still be reflected there, but the disposition or outcome would say “set aside and dismissed” rather than show that you had been convicted.
In other words, once the conviction is set aside, it means you have no longer been convicted of the charge.
It has been our experience that most courts are pretty generous with granting applications to set aside convictions.
Seal the criminal records
Arizona now has a pathway to “seal” the records related to an aggressive driving conviction. This is not the same as an expungement, but it comes close and goes a lot further than a set aside. You can read more about sealing of criminal records here.
A conviction cannot be removed from a driving record
Unfortunately, neither setting aside a conviction nor sealing the records does anything to undo any MVD consequences or remove the violation from your driving record.
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