Speeding Ticket Advice - 70 in a 65

need some legal advice…

my girlfriend got pulled over tonight by a state trooper on I-85 in Concord going 5 over, 70 in a 65. It was NOT in the contruction zone. I told her she was just un-lucky and in the wrong place at the wrong time because the state wouldn’t be in a budget crisis if it gave cars tickets for 5 over. It’s crazy to me. Well, what should she do? I think she used a prayer for judgement in 2010 and I think you can only have one every three years. So she def cannot afford a point on her license. What’s the odds she goes to court and they dismiss it for only being 5 over? Anyone have advice or experience? I would think paying a lawyer would be a waste of money in this situation but probably better than the chance of a rate increase.

She also got a citation/ticket for not having the correct address on her license. She live’s with me but her address on her licence is her parents address and used as her “permanent” address while she is in college. Does she just need to prove this is her parents address? Or does she need to get her address changed on her license?

Not sure about the lawyer, my only experience with a speeding ticket I showed up looking like I cared (shirt and tie in a room full of jeans) and it got thrown out. It was my first offense, but it was 15+ over. I know people who have had mixed experiences with lawyers, sometimes you end up paying them and not getting any less of a judgement, other times they get it dropped. At 5-over I would imagine the judge would have to be having a pretty bad day to let that stand, although with prior tickets you never know. I’m sure others on here have more experience with that.

For the address, it’s probably best to get that taken care of by ordering a new license online with her current address, it costs $10 and it’ll show effort. Most of the paperwork violations (registration, inspection, etc…) get dropped if you get it fixed before the court date.

I can’t believe a judge wouldn’t throw that out. It’s worth a try to fight it.

Cop probably won’t even show.

just did this. i cant imagine not having the internet. Waiting at the dmv to do this is a half day event.

I haven’t lived in NC for close to 10 years, but back then if it wasn’t 10MPH or more over the speed limit, there were no points, just the fine.

I would check into points. Like mentioned above, I don’t think there are any points. I had a lawyer help me with a ticket for 19 over (that was a gift by the trooper) and it was reduced to 5 over and I didn’t get any points. You are correct that a PFJ is not an option.

When I was in high school I got a ticket for 12 over when my speedometer turned out to be faulty. I went through the work to get it tested and proved that my speedometer read the speed limit when I got pulled. Judge made me go to 8 hr class. In the class was another guy who on his first traffic violation rolled through a stop sign and ended up in that class. It really depends on the judge and the day.

As someone said above, definitely go ahead and get the license changed because it will show that she is making an effort to comply. Go to court and fight it. 90+% chance it will get dropped. 5mph over is usually in the margin of error for radar guns. The cop isn’t going to show to fight for this one. Even with the prior ticket, 5 over is a joke. Wear nice clothes, show that she got the license fixed, and be polite.

Wouldn’t waste money on a lawyer for this one. Just show up for court and pay the fine/s.

Another trick is to call or go see the district attorney and they may dismiss it. Probably better than 50/50 chance with only 5 over and you don’t even have to pay court cost.

I’m hoping it’s all that simple and they dismiss it. The worst case scenario is they don’t and since she had a prayer for judgement less than 3 years ago, it brings that one up as well on her insurance. I would be so angry.

5 over is just rediculous. How can a cop/judge give a ticket and make them suffer the consequences when I would guarentee that they go 5 over on a daily basis. Stuff like this irritates me. We pay taxes for police to uphold the law but come on, we pay taxes for a cop to give us tickets going 5 over. Nuts.

I go 5 mph over the speed limit at all times on the road. If I was in the car, I would have asked to speak to his superior right there at the scene to see why my tax dollars are being wasted on this. I should argue that the cop hates women and that’s why he pulled her over. I should request a history of how many tickets he has written for 5 mph over because I bet he hardly does, otherwise he would probably be fired for wasting the court’s time. He should be consistent and in this case, he should be giving out atleast 20+ per day every day he works. I don’t think it’s right for a cop to give a ticket for one and then for him to see 1,000s of cars daily doing 5mph over and do nothing. Absurd.

“We” basically pay for this “service” but yet I feel so helpless. After this is taken care of in court and hopefully it is dismissed… I will let my opinion known to his superiors and whomever in the nc govt. Even if it falls on deaf ears, it’s still rediculous and would feel better saying so.

If you decide you want to go the attorney route, I’ve got a great recommendation. Without the PJC, I’d say it’d be worth it to fight it on your own, but with the chance of getting double whammied, I’d take the cautious route and hire a lawyer.

As for the address, they will probably just drop it if she gets it fixed.

I’ve represented myself for NUMEROUS tickets and have been able to get every one reduced. Just talk to the ADA before court begins and see what he will do.

A ticket for 70 in a 65 worries me. That is getting awfully picky.

[quote=“Ninercentral, post:12, topic:26707”]If you decide you want to go the attorney route, I’ve got a great recommendation. Without the PJC, I’d say it’d be worth it to fight it on your own, but with the chance of getting double whammied, I’d take the cautious route and hire a lawyer.

As for the address, they will probably just drop it if she gets it fixed.[/quote]

please pm me the recommendation. It would need to be from cabarrus county i believe. I’d at least like to see how much they would charge or get some free advice over the phone to see what they recommend.

[quote=“49r9r, post:13, topic:26707”]I’ve represented myself for NUMEROUS tickets and have been able to get every one reduced. Just talk to the ADA before court begins and see what he will do.

A ticket for 70 in a 65 worries me. That is getting awfully picky.[/quote]

Can 5 over be reduced? or is being dismissed the next step down from 5 over? Should she bring her driving record to court even if it has 2 offenses back in 09-10?

Dumb question… could we request a jury of peers in traffic court? lol.

[quote=“cibik02, post:15, topic:26707”][quote=“49r9r, post:13, topic:26707”]I’ve represented myself for NUMEROUS tickets and have been able to get every one reduced. Just talk to the ADA before court begins and see what he will do.

A ticket for 70 in a 65 worries me. That is getting awfully picky.[/quote]

Can 5 over be reduced? or is being dismissed the next step down from 5 over? Should she bring her driving record to court even if it has 2 offenses back in 09-10?

Dumb question… could we request a jury of peers in traffic court? lol.[/quote]

  1. Probably not able to be reduced - it wouldn’t help anyway, 2) The DA will want to see it before they do anything, though it will be somewhat prejudicial against her, and 3) Absolutely not.

clt says to blame it on her hoodie.

if she gets a lawyer most likely she could get it knocked down to a “faulty equipment” charge… I ran into same issue with my PFJ and my attorney just got the ticket reduced and was eventually dropped.

Everytime I’ve had speeding tickets they gave me exactly 15 over , hired lawyers in all different counties and had them all dropped. By doing this I never have any go on my record and can always get them dropped, but it cost.

Contact her insurance agent and ask how much over it needs to be to get insurance points. Mine is 10mph unless you get more than 2 in 3 years I think. The problem you are going to run into is the previous ticket. If it were me I would go with the lawyer. I doubt the DA will reduce a 5 over without a lawyer to buy him/her a beer. The lawyer can get both the address thing and the speeding thrown out basically for a hundred or two which is better than screwing around with that judgement ticket.

I learned the hard way that you don’t have faith in the system, you put money into the system. Money makes a lot of things go away.