What should I do when I receive a traffic summons?

  • Immediately read any traffic summons upon receipt. This will help you when you’re speaking to an attorney to determine your best course of action
  • The Delaware traffic summons’s talk about mandatory appearances. That simply means that because of the nature of the charge, you have to communicate with the court
  • If you go through an attorney, an attorney can communicate with the court on your behalf, and attorneys are very experienced in knowing exactly how to do that communication.
  • The other thing is you want to know when the matter is set for your next appearance because you don’t want to miss that or a court will automatically issue what’s known as a capias for your appearance; and that counts as a warrant
  • You could be picked up and actually arrested for failing to meet the date that is on the traffic summons
  • I recommend contacting an attorney as soon as you receive a summons to discuss your options