I don’t want to hijack the other traffic stop threads so I started my own.
A couple of weeks ago I got pulled over on my way to the doctor’s office. I was running late because of vomiting and I was trying to get there before I threw up on myself. A NC State Trooper pulled me over for 61 in a 45. I was out in the open country in clear weather.
This is only the second ticket I’ve ever gotten. The first was back in 2000. My court date is Oct. 23rd. My question is, what should I do? I got a bunch of letters from lawyers wanting to take my case. I called the one with the cheapest quote. They want $135 for themselves and up to $285 in court costs. That’s a LOT of money for me. Should I try to go it alone and just hope that my record will work in my favor or should I lawyer up?
According to the fine schedule linked at this site your fine won’t be more than $50. You don’t have to go to court but if you do there will be court costs in addition to that.
Why on earth do you want to go to court over this? It’s just a speeding ticket. Why would you need a lawyer? It’s just a speeding ticket. I’ll bet with the help of a lawyer this will cost you at least 10 times what it will to just mail them a check.
Well, for starters, the OP’s insurance rates will likely rise a fair amount in response to the ticket. That alone probably makes fighting it worth it. Especially since the OP has a reasonable reason.
I don’t want to go to court. I wasn’t given an option.
When he stopped me he told me that I had to go to court. That it was mandatory. The ticket has no amount to pay on it and no contact info for anyone to call and pay anything.
Going faster than 55 while going 15 or more over is a mandatory appearance in North Carolina. It also appears to result in a 30 day suspension for a first offense. I guess they don’t mess around.
Let me guess - not far from Lumberton? Somewhere close to where it goes from 65 to 55?
Anyway, depending on which municipality, the right lawyer can get it to a no-points offence. They are worth what you pay them in that regard. Be prepared to have him postpone and postpone until it’s in front of the “right” judge.
It has always felt like a racket to me, but then again, we always had the option of not speeding.
Which is why I plan to be at the court house with bells on. I’m hoping they’ll reduce it due to my nearly spotless record. I just don’t know if I should go alone. The guy I talked to at the lawyer’s office said he could could get it reduced to the point that there would be no points on my license and no insurance increase. Is it worth it? Is he just trying to make a quick buck? Do I stand any chance on my own?
A cop in Calgary handed me a ticket for running a yellow light.
He was a lying son of a bitch. The light was green. He knew it and I knew it. But it was the end of the month.
So I went to a fight-your-ticket joint, and the guy I paid to do it, purported to be an ex-cop, phoned city hall. Ten minutes later I could pay the fine but have nothing on my record, including notice to the car-insurance company.
They don’t give a damn about anything but the cash grab.
“She”, actually. I was trying not to miss my appointment. This was on a Thursday. I hadn’t kept solid food down since Tuesday. I was running late because I was vomiting again. I wanted to get there on time and before I could throw up on myself in case they wanted to send me back to the hospital for more tests. The idea of being covered in my own vomit for hours while I waited for the hospital folks to get their act together did not appeal to me. I’ve done it before. No fun.
They did want to send me for a CT scan but I talked them into waiting on my blood test results. I only have one kidney, the contrast solution causes acute kidney damage and that has put me back in the hospital before. Again, no fun.
I’m definitely not saying that going faster was a good idea. It’s just that at the time, I felt so bad, I wasn’t really thinking about how fast I was going. It’s not like I’m a habitual speeder. Seriously. Second ticket in my life with fifteen years between them.
North Carolina has something called a Prayer for Judgement, basically a deferred prosecution. You haven’t pled either guilty or not guilty, and the judge makes a finding of guilt without sentencing and sets a new court date a year or so later at which time, if you’ve met the conditions set forth in the original case you get a dismissal. Not a lawyer, never done it, know a lot of people who have, usually with a lawyer’s help. Expensive, but no points from what I’m told. If you’re caught speeding again within the year the original finding of guilty takes effect immediately, and you’re up to your second offense, so there’s that.
Here’s how it works in NH: you choose Not Guilty or Nolo and mail the ticket in. You then get a court summons in the mail.
You go to court on that date, but you don’t usually actually see the Judge. Instead, you meet with either a prosecutor or LE and discuss the ticket. If the ticket wasn’t issued by the State Police, then usually you can get a deal right then and there that at the least will reduce the fine, or get the points waived by agreeing to Community Service. If it was issued by the State Police, then they can reduce the fine only. Waiving the ticket requires trial for them.
You then sign a form and are on your way (this assumes it was just a typical speeding ticket). If you can’t come to a deal, then you have to go to trial. That would then require scheduling for that appointment.
There really is no one answer. Each jurisdiction and court will act differently. In general going into court with a clean driving record will let the prosecutor give a plea bargain for a lesser offense. Everyone benefits from it. You, who are admittedly guilty of the offense, gets a lower fine and/or no points. The prosecution gets to move things along quickly. In most courts there is enough volume of minor traffic offenses that if everyone demanded a trial the court would be paralyzed.
In my court having a lawyer for a minor traffic violation has little benefit other than lawyers go to the front of the line.
Pay the cheapest lawyer and court cost. You don’t even have to show up. It will be reduced to “improper equipment.” Your insurance rates won’t go up. You will have no repercussions. I went through this with my son about 3-4 years ago. Trust me–I’ve don’t the research. You just have to play by the old boy rules of NC. It sucks, financially.
If it was a normal speeding ticket, I’d tell you to just pay it, but facing this kind of sanction you NEED someone there who understands how they typically deal with these kind of cases. I’d spend the $135. Don’t cheap out and think you’ll convince a judge with your tale of woe. Traffic judges don’t give a fuck.
A few years back, on a road trip from Atlanta back up north, I got a potential scorcher of a ticket in North Carolina for doing…wait for it…93 in a 55 mph zone. :eek:
And since I live up by NYC, getting back to NC for court was going to be tricky.
So I hired a lawyer to deal with it, and he got the whole mess taken care of so that I received NO points. The fine was around $2500 though.
Totally worth it to avoid the hike in my insurance, especially considering that I had no defense whatsoever for going so fast. :rolleyes:
$135 for a lawyer might not be a bad deal if everything in the posts above is true ($50 fine, possible 30 day suspension). The increase in insurance costs over the next few years is a certainty, and the potential $285 in court costs may very well apply if you are convicted whether you have a lawyer or not. I think I would pony up the $135, personally.
