Shoulda had a bucket with you to throw up in (and show the cop).
That fine is fifty bucks PLUS COSTS. Court costs will vary by county.
A couple of years ago, my husband was caught doing 80+ in a 65. The cop was good enough to write it as 74, so we weren’t facing immediate and utter ruin. When we went to the courthouse, there were so many people in line that they did a mass plea bargain offer just to get people out of the lobby. He pled to four over, which carried a total cost of about $225, which we gleefully paid on the spot. There were no license points, but one insurance point, IIRC.
Do anything you can to minimize insurance points. They can kick up your premiums to unbelievable amounts for years.
You aren’t? Have I been confusing you with Billdo?
Do they have traffic school in NC? In California, that involves paying a fee to attend an 8-hour class in traffic safety by a certain date (the fee tends to be equal to what the fine would be). Once this condition is fulfilled, (and attendance and passing grade is documented) the citation is dismissed, with no points assessed and no notification to your insurance company.
My experience is from twenty years ago, so it may no longer be applicable, even in California.
For an older-than-25 driver with an otherwise clean record a single speeding ticket probably won’t do too much, if anything.
I’ve consistently averaged about 1.5 tickets per year since I was 16 and back in my younger days that was a serious problem insurance-wise, but once I got past the magical 25 mark it stopped really having any effect. Having a single ticket has zero effect because my company officially forgives one, and when I have 2-3 it maybe adds $20-50 per 6 months (for my 4 cars, 2 of them full coverage.) So it smarts a little, but not too bad. Certainly not as bad as actually driving the speed limit!
But, to the OP, in my all too extensive experience, a traffic attorney isn’t going to give you access to any special deals or anything else you couldn’t get by showing up on your own. Now, if you have some compelling piece of evidence that might give you a shot at actually beating the ticket, an attorney might maximize your chances, but they’re not really going to help if you’re essentially throwing yourself on the mercy of the court/prosecutor.
[QUOTE=GreasyJack]
For an older-than-25 driver with an otherwise clean record a single speeding ticket probably won’t do too much, if anything.
…Having a single ticket has zero effect because my company officially forgives one, and when I have 2-3 it maybe adds $20-50 per 6 months (for my 4 cars, 2 of them full coverage.) So it smarts a little, but not too bad. Certainly not as bad as actually driving the speed limit!
[/QUOTE]
Officially, one insurance point is a 30% premium increase. For the benefit of other NC drivers, what company are you with that forgives a speeding ticket? And is that per year or three years?
Looking at the PDF from the NC Department of Insurance explaining SDIP or insurance points, I see my memory is a bit faulty regarding my husband’s speeding ticket three years ago. As he pled to four over, there was no point assessed. If the officer didn’t give him a break on the 80+, we would have been looking at four points and an 80% increase.
Wow, that’s really odd. In most states there isn’t an official insurance points system and the insurance companies just have their own opaque ways of calculating your rates. Are insurance companies in NC required to follow those guidelines? (If so, Jeez, remind me never to move there!)
I’m with Progressive and they’ll basically just overlook one ticket on your record. So, yeah, basically a freebie every three years since that’s how long stuff stays on the record. I suppose it is also possible that maybe geography has something to do with it. I’m in a state where speeding is kind of a way of life and all of my tickets have all been on rural highways, so I don’t know if they weight that differently than if I lived in a big city somewhere.
But sounds like North Carolina has some wacky rules so I withdraw my “it probably won’t be a big deal” claim!
You may not have the best base rate to be making comparisons from, though.
That is true, and part of it is that the forgiveness thing is part of a loyalty program and so when I shop around, the quotes I get from other companies are all are with one more ticket than the rates I’m getting from my current company.
I fought my last one easily by googling one of those ‘how to beat a speeding ticket’ sites (there are several, I’ll let you pick). Found that the officer wrote an incomplete address on the ticket. Once they saw I came prepared and the officer was a no show (delay, delay, and delay again), they closed the case because there was no photographic evidence or witnesses. It was just a blinker violation but it pissed me off so I was determined to beat it. It worked!
She wouldn’t have had to sign the ticket until the tasers wore off and she regained composure though.
I told him about the doctor’s appointment. I wasn’t feeling too talkative and he was one of those stern faced guys that can make you feel like you’re breaking the law on your way into church.
I called my insurance company (Nationwide) and they said that if I can get it reduced to 55 in a 45 they’ll overlook it. I’m going to get a note from my doctor to prove where I was going and that I was genuinely sick. I think I might have a chance at this by myself.
People may find the NMA of interest. They’ll pay one speeding ticket/year for members if you fight it in court and lose (just the ticket cost, not insurance surcharges or the various fees that jurisdictions tack on).
This isn’t “ticket insurance” - they just feel that speeding tickets are often used more as a cash grab than a legitimate safety measure, and their goal is to make those tickets unprofitable for the jurisdiction.
[No connection other than being a member - I got tired of AAA taking my membership fee and spending it on anti-motorist activities.]
If you can prove you were on the way to the doctor then can you not claim Necessity? Sir Alex Ferguson successfully did this over here (UK) a while back. This is an affirmative defence, so you’ll need to prove your visit to the doctor and your medical condition.
I suspect your chances are much better if you have a lawyer.
Is it possible for you to “burn” the ticket by taking a defensive driving course? If so, do that. You’ll probably have to pay some court costs, but the ticket is dismissed and you will probably get a discount on your car insurance for taking the course.
It’s North Carolina. Pay the lawyer.
First I would take all the letters you had gotten and file them in your recycling
bin ! I got some too when I was rear ended and some greedy lawyer send me a
report from another accident , it had all the wrong details on it .I called my insurance and they told to throw it. Just pay the ticket and moved on , if you
were in a life threaten situation you could see if your DR. would write a letter for you. But the judge could ask you why didn’t you call 911 instead of driving yourself. Why spend money on a lawyer for a speeding ticket ???
Because this is NC. Without getting a lawyer, he/she will possibly get convicted of driving 61 in a 45mph.
If they hire a lawyer and pay the fines, the ticket will be reduced to a non-speeding offense. No points, no insurance rate increase.
Make arrangements to take the 8 hour safe driving class ($85.00) go to court the day you are scheduled and show them the certificate from the course (you may be able to go to the clerks office before court day - it is worth a try). You will probably be reduced to improper equipment. It is a slightly higher fine, but no insurance points. If you know any police officers ask them is this works for a 15 over ticket - I know for a fact it works for 12 over as of this past May.