Traffic Violations Bureau
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Traffic Violations Bureau is an arm of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. It acts as a sort of traffic court for traffic violations in New York City, the cities of Buffalo, New York, Rochester, New York, and in a significant portion of Suffolk County, New York. Traffic Violations Bureau is often abbreviated as TVB.
Unlike other courts, the procedure in TVB is administrative, and the judge is actually an administrative law judge, or ALJ. It often seems that the defendant does not receive the same level of due process that is expected in other courts. Some attorneys refer to TVB as a kangaroo court. Appeal is not to a higher court, but rather to an appeals unit within the DMV in Albany.
Also unlike other courts in New York State, the ALJ can suspend a driver's license after a conviction. In most other courts the points would be referred to the DMV, and the suspension or revocation would come weeks or months later. The fines vary in amount but a conviction in a TVB office for a relatively minor speeding offense could easily top $1,000.00 (U.S.) when the New York State Driver Safety Assessment Surcharge is added. These do not include insurance surcharges, which are often even higher than the fine and stay on a driver's abstract for 39 months, plus the end of that calendar year.
The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles has in the past noted that a 65% conviction rate is required to maintain the financial viability of the Traffic Violations Bureau System (Source: New York State Bar Association Committee on Administrative Adjudication).
The concept of administration adjudication was upheld by New York State's highest court, the Court of Appeals, in 1977 in a 4-3 decision in Rosenthal v. Hartnett. Judge Sol Wachtler, who was in the majority opinion in the matter, later resigned from the bench in disgrace for unrelated sexual misconduct.
The hearings DO NOT permit legal discovery, which is the equivilent to denying a motorist a decent chance at adequately defending him/herself. As there is no discovery permitted, convictions are frequently obtained based upon evidence that is not permitted to be examined and researched prior to a hearing.
Few attorneys regularly practice before the bureau, due the a perceived bias against the motorist and towards police (1988 Report of the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Administrative Adjudication, 1999 Report of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Administrative Adjudication). Evidence is often entered over the objections of defense counsel by the hearing officer due to the relatively lax standard provided by the "Clear and convincing evidence" rule rather than than proof beyond a reasonable doubt as is used in courts outside the TVB's limited jurisdiction in urban, high-minority municipalities (2000 U.S. Census of cities of Buffalo, Rochester, New York, and five western towns of Suffolk County). The rest of New York State, by contrast, uses the proof beyond a reasonable doubt standard and cases are adjudicated by judges elected by the people rather than hearing officers appointed by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
From motorists who have dealt with an appeal of a decision from the Traffic Violations Bureau, the road is difficult due to the high cost associated with obtaining a transcript required for an appeal of anything other than just the fine amount alone. The hearings are recording on analog tape and the quality is very poor and transcription times are excessive.
The National Motorists Association assists motorists and offers attorney referrals to motorists appearing before the Bureau.
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