# Out of State Speeding Ticket

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-state-speeding-ticket/671573>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 18, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-state-speeding-ticket/671573 "2013-10-18T13:53:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-state-speeding-ticket/671573/1 "2013-10-18T13:53:42Z")

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I got a speeding ticket in NC headed home from an aborted trip because I was too sick to continue. The cop said something about because I had a previous violation in NC, I had to appear in court or hire an attorney to represent me. I thought my auto club would help, but apparently, they’ve cut almost all member services. How do I find an attorney out of state?

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-state-speeding-ticket/671573/2 "2013-10-18T13:58:44Z")

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I should clarify: Of course, I could pick a name from Superpages. Is there a better way?

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**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-state-speeding-ticket/671573/3 "2013-10-18T14:02:49Z")

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Mandatory court over a speeding ticket? How fast were you going?

Call the courthouse in the county where you are supposed to appear. Sometimes cops just tell you stupid stuff that does not turn out to be true.

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**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-state-speeding-ticket/671573/4 "2013-10-18T15:08:02Z")

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> [@Jinx](#):
>
> I got a speeding ticket in NC headed home from an aborted trip because I was too sick to continue. The cop said something about because I had a previous violation in NC, I had to appear in court or hire an attorney to represent me. I thought my auto club would help, but apparently, they’ve cut almost all member services. How do I find an attorney out of state?

If it does have checked MANDATORY appearance or such, it should be waivable and payable.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-state-speeding-ticket/671573/5 "2013-10-18T15:33:10Z")

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North Carolina (and South Carolina) are two of the worst states to get a speeding ticket in. Ask my son. :mad:

You need to hire a lawyer in the county in which the violation occurred. There’s no way around it. I spent weeks trying to help my son just pay the ticket. The old-boy network doesn’t work that way down there.

The lawyer’s gonna cost you somewhere in the $200-300. dollar range. He/she’ll get it reduced to a lesser offense called “improper equipment.”

This assumes you were going 15 mph over the limit.