My last two tickets have been from Troopers who "paced" me , one from a mile back. Basically its your word against theirs and its hard to beat that.

In addition to a radar detector I now use Waze alot more.

 

Escort 8500 radar detector.

Pacing from a mile away is BS.

It was a State Hwy patrol. I don't see where it says how he decided I was going 60.

I'll give Tim a call. Thanks everyone.

 

As previously stated, every county is different, but it's worth exploring if Wake is similar to my experience.

In Iredell County, there is a preliminary court date with a couple of DA assistants for minor traffic violations (15 and under, expired tag, etc) I went for my last ticket. Nobody had a lawyer and the Assistant DAs offered all the speeding tickets 9 over to forgo their day in court. Nearly everyone accepted the offer. A few wanted improper equipment but were denied and assigned their day in court to plead their case to the judge and lawyer-up if desired. If you're okay with 9 over, it's a cheap out.

I got very lucky! I was the last person in the room and was well prepared, so they actually gave me improper equipment. I am certain if other defendants had still been in the room, they would have denied my request too.

If you are new to NC tickets, here's the 10-cent tour. 9 over and PJC both defer the points and insurance increase for 3 years. If you don't have any other moving violations in that time, it is dropped. However, if you get another moving violation of any kind you get the points for both violations and they both remain on you license and insurance for 3 years from the date of the second violation. There are small differences, but I'm no lawyer, so I cannot tell you what they are.

IMO, pleading guilty to improper equipment is the best outcome. It carries a higher fee (~$25 more as of my last ticket), but it is not a moving violation, so there are no points nor insurance increases and no "probationary" period as with the above.

 

lawyer up

 

One thing that might not be so well known is that PJC's are one per household/insurance policy, not per individual. You allowed one every three years.

 

Thanks, Will. That helps. 3yrs is a LONG probationary period. Sheesh!

I am single and live alone. So household/individual is a moot distinction.

 

Wake is the worst county to get a speeding ticket in NC; the DA will not deal (no improper equip option for example, but Kev states differently) so you end up with only a few options. From what I can remember:

1 - Hire a lawyer to deal with it - Find out exactly what the lawyer will do for you - in Wake you can typically get a lawyer for ~$200 plus court fees, and this saves you a lot in time and money in the long run. Typically they will reduce your infraction to 9 over, but it saves you 2-3 hours of your time to do it yourself.
2 - Go to court, pay to park, wait in line to plea for 9 over with an assistant DA, pay fines and court costs - waste of time if you ask me.
3 - Go to court, fight the ticket, waste a day getting a court date to come back and fight the ticket - a bigger waste of time.
4 - Accept PFJ - Three-year suspended sentence that will be applied if you get another infraction while on probation - Rarely a good idea and not recommended.

My only advice - never just pay a ticket; it ends up costing you money and tarnishes your record, which makes any future violations harder to get out of.


Other counties are easier to deal with; you can plea for improper equipment, pay a higher fine, and save on the back end. Like will mentioned, sometimes if you are courteous and have a good record that will get you to improper, avoid driving school, etc.

Side story - I have a friend who just got a ticket (not in Wake) for 58/45 in a speed trap. She lawyered up and it was her clean record that got her improper equip and no driving school. Apparently the guy before her was a bit of an ass and was able to get improper equip but had to attend driving school (and pay for it). When the judge asked her if she would accept the same, she pointed to her clean record as evidence that she didn't need driving school, and the judge agreed. So the guy before her saved ~$250 on a lawyer but got a $250 driving school and a Saturday to be there.

 

This is news to me - what changed? (New DA?)

 

I used Tim before...you have to be very clear with him that you DONT want to go the PJC route if he can help it. Otherwise, he'll take your money, file the PJC, and then you'll still get points on your license.

 

Not sure but ask me how I know . My guess would be more revenue with going that route.


Agreed when you speak to Tim follow up with Donna and make sure that you tell them you want to go for IE. You will need to pull your driving record and get it to them.