offtopic..Speeding ticket

[jcsb12]

Help guys. Only been here a week and got a speeding ticket. Down in Florida we just send them to the "ticket clinic" and they take care of it. Does this work here also? I searched online and found a couple lawyers but they dont promise to make it go away.I havent had a ticket in 10 years, welcome to Charlotte.

[Jerseyman4]

In my experience of speeding tickets in NC, typically this happens:

1. Call up a TRAFFIC lawyer who does TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS, tell them what happend. If not the lawyer, bookeeper or secretary suffices. Follow their directions

2. Typically, the law firm will request that you Mail the TICKET with a check of whatever money they ask you for, typically $375. Dont bargain or haggle, just send them the money!

3. Two or three days after the court date, call them up and ask how it went. Usually the charge gets dropped to malfunction with the radar or some stupid thing like that. In all of my speeding tickets, everything gets dropped in this state!

[monsoon]

How bad was the speeding ticket? You can go to traffic school if it was in Mecklenburg county to keep the offense from going onto your record and the subsequent rise in insurance.

No lawyer is going to promise to make it go away because if you contest the ticket, it is going to go in front of a judge and he will decide what to do with it. In any case, you will have to pay the lawyer. If you lose, then you have to pay the court costs and fine in addition to that. If you are lucky, you can just show up yourself and if the officer isn't there that charged you, the judge will probably dismiss the case. You get out free of charge if that happens. Of course you can always throw yourself at the mercy of the court to see what happens.

I always wondered why Fla had so many bad drivers.

[dubone]

NC does have "prayer for judgement", which does make it go away, and is not a lawyer trick. Basically the law allows you to plead guilty but have it stricken from the record. You are basically saying you won't get another ticket within a certain number of probationary years, otherwise, it automatically goes on your record.

If you really don't risk tickets by the way you drive, it is worth a shot.

Definitely NC is not a state where you just call up a lawyer to automatically make it go away. I have heard of places where that is true, though.

[Jerseyman4]

Definitely NC is not a state where you just call up a lawyer to automatically make it go away. I have heard of places where that is true, though.

Stanley County, Moore County and Columbus County are from my knowledge and experience. As long as you DO NOT give any lip to the officer and say "yes sir, no sir", the cop will not testify against you in court. THis is how ive held to have a clean driving record. Same goes in Horry and Marlboro counties in SC (could of been Aiken County for my newest one but got off with a warning [58 in a 55]).

[MZT]

OK, time to pull out our offtopic "encounters with the cops stories". Mine aren't real good, but my favorite is:

Pulling out of a quickie mart in Huntington Beach CA, I moved over to the far left lane, flipped a "U" and got the blue lights behind me. When the officer came up to my window he said ...

"I suppose you're going to tell me you didn't see ANY of the FIVE 'No U Turn' signs at that intersection?"

"Uh... " (feeling sheepish and not knowing anything better to say) "I'm from Fresno and not really familiar with the area".

Officer: "Yeah, I've been to Fresno and that's one wide-open town. I know they don't enforce traffic laws very well there, but you be more careful when you're driving in Huntington Beach." Heh, claiming to be stupid does work sometimes...

[cha]

if the cop ever takes off a few mph on your ticket from what you were actually going, just tell the judge that and they'll throw it out

[dubone]

"Well, I was actually going 80" is an admission of guilt. If the police clocked you at 80 and they were with you when you stopped, they clearly witnessed you going 75. But I think some judges throw stuff out just for people dressing up for court.

I got a ticket in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Despite the pretty name, it is one of the nastiest places on earth, in the golden triangle of Newark Airport, the Linden Oil fields, and Staten Island. I was on the NJ Turnpike trying not to miss the airport exit, where they have the electronic speed limit signs and didn't realize that the limit changes from day to day. The limit was 55 where it had been 65 the day before. I went all the way back to NJ for my court date to explain that to the judge, and I wore a suit and had a haircut. I felt so out of place, as the room was filled with junkies, prostitutes, and wifebeaters pleading their cases. It was very awkward. Anyway the judge let me off with a minor fine. (My friend's mother growing up always said to dress up for doctors and lawyers so they'll give you better service)

[Jerseyman4]

..............where they have the electronic speed limit signs and didn't realize that the limit changes from day to day. The limit was 55 where it had been 65 the day before.

The official speed limit drops from 65 to 55 (if heading northbound) right before the Exit 13 (I-278) approach. Speed limit can be changed at any time if theres an accident, road work, inclement weather, a turtle crossing... ANYTHING. It remains at 55 north of Exit 13 towards the GWB Approach. 65mph south of Exit 13 to the I-295 juncture in Penns Grove which then the DRJBC jurisdiction takes over the highway posting the freeway at 50mph all the way to the I-95 juncture in New Castle, Delaware.

[Mobuchu]

^^^Yeah, thank god for PBA cards up there or I woulda been screwed. Its a get out of jail free card saying you know another cop... They even have family member badges that you put on the inside of your wallet so when you give the officer your lisence he sees it and lets you go on your merry way. Not very many people have them though.

Has NC ever had anything like this.

[Jerseyman4]

^

The PBA cards rock. I have like 2 or 3 in my wallet every year (i get them renewed yearly) and maybe one or two FOP cards.

NC does the FOP but the way i see it, NJ is more of a buddy system. Its who you know and/or just how you talk to the cops. In NC (the south really), they dont care who you are and write you a ticket. AND PLEASE, do not use a NJ PBA card outside of NJ (NYC will suffice) because they will laugh at you, throw at your face and then write you a ticket.

Mom used to send donations to the NC FOP but after she was getting tickets, she stopped sending money.