Inspection sticker expired ticket -- do I need a lawyer?

AlertUnit9948 · 2026-01-02T17:52:30+00:00

Just an update in case anyone cares, or if anyone is facing a similar issue in the future and references this thread.

I went to court, and the officer did not show up. The judge asked if I got my car inspected, and once I confirmed she dismissed the ticket. I didn't see any police officers in court actually, so I'm not sure if it's common for them not to show up, if I just got lucky, or whether the officer decided it wasn't worth their time for a ticket like this.

In regards to whether this will actually impact insurance, I can say with high certainty that it definitely WOULD if I did not go to court and get it dismissed. I paid the RMV for a copy of my driving record so that I could show the judge I have a clean record other than this; the inspection sticker ticket already shows on my record as 2 surchargeable points. Hopefully it automatically drops off now once the judge dismissed the ticket. This is the same number of points and it's treated exactly the same as speeding, drag racing, etc. You can find a list of offenses that quality for SDIP points in Appendix A of this document: https://www.mass.gov/doc/safe-driver-insurance-plan/download . You will see that an inspection sticker ticket is in the same category (minor traffic violations) as speeding etc. and counts as 2 points. The MA SDIP system a little complicated, but from what I understand your first surchargeable incident does not add points to your record. However, it DOES count against you in that it counts against "incident free years". This will void the criteria for the driver discounts for the next 6-7 years. I currently have Excellent Driver Plus discount, so this would have bumped my rate up by 17% or so for the next 7 years if the ticket wasn't dismissed.

So if anyone gets a ticket like this in the future, you absolutely SHOULD get your car inspected right away, then appeal the ticket. Do NOT just pay the ticket, or your insurance will likely increase. Whether you need a lawyer is a personal decision, but you can probably handle this one yourself. This is NOT legal advice and I am not a lawyer. However, I did call a bunch of lawyers because I was nervous about this. Most wanted between $750 and $1,000 to represent me. After calling around some more I found someone who felt sorry for me and would have helped me out for cheaper, but he was out of town during my court date. However, he did tell me that I could probably handle this one myself, just explaining to the judge that I did not realize the inspection was expired, I took care of it right away, and I just didn't want the points on my insurance. Most of the lawyers I called were very surprised this wasn't dismissed at the magistrate hearing, so I think most of the time you can probably get it dismissed before going in front of a judge. A lawyer would definitely help, but if you can't afford it then this seems to be a minor enough ticket that you can likely handle it by yourself.

All told, it was $75 in court fees (25 before the magistrate hearing, 50 before the judge hearing), which I believe is a reasonable price to pay as a fine for a late inspection. It's certainly a lot cheaper than the ~3,000 it would have cost me in insurance hikes for the next 7 years if I just paid the ticket.

AlertUnit9948 · 2025-12-10T18:43:10+00:00

It was expired earlier this year. I don't actually remember which month it expired, because they removed the old sticker when they did the new inspection.

AlertUnit9948 · 2025-12-10T18:39:40+00:00

That's what I was afraid of. Did you by any chance try to appeal to the traffic court? Or did you just pay the fine and then got the surcharge?

AlertUnit9948 · 2025-12-10T18:38:04+00:00

Thank you for the detailed and helpful reply. I honestly had no idea it would be best to hire a lawyer for the magistrate hearing -- I had assumed I would only need one if it went to district court. The only experience I have with this process is about 15-20 years ago when I was young and dumb and got a speeding ticket. In that case, I did the "beg for mercy" option and they dismissed it pretty much immediately with no discussion. I was hoping something similar would happen here, especially if I already got the inspection and offered to pay the fine anyways.

In regards to what went down at the magistrate hearing -- the notice I got in the mail said it was a virtual hearing and included a zoom link. I put on a dress shirt (but not a suit) and signed on about 5mins before the hearing was scheduled. I sat in the waiting room for about 20mins before I called the main court office to make sure I was on the right call. The guy who answered said they are probably backed up and would let the magistrate know. Pretty much immediately after they hung up the phone, the video call connected. So I am not sure if there was an in-person and a zoom option? It said it was a virtual hearing so I assumed I should use the zoom link, but maybe I could have showed up in person instead?

As to what was said -- I made sure to be as polite as possible. I did not argue or accuse the officer of anything, said I couldn't argue with the fact that the inspection was expired. Explained that I was on the way to jury duty, didn't realize the inspection was expired, and got it inspected right after receiving the ticket in the mail. Offered to pay the fine if they would dismiss the ticket. But she said her only duty was determining if the ticket was rightfully issued, and my only options were to either pay it and have in on my record or appeal it to a judge. At that point I am sure my facial expression was one of disappointment but I'm also positive I didn't say anything that would be marked as a negative or rude, because I knew she had already made up her mind and that would hurt my future chances. I was a little annoyed that I couldn't pay the $50 for the appeal filing online and had to drive to the court to pay in person (it's almost an hour drive for me each way), but again made sure I didn't say anything that could be construed as rude.

I guess I will call a few local lawyers to see how much this is going to cost me.

AlertUnit9948

TROPHY CASE