advice for a speeding ticket! (speed trap, best, costs, racing)

[Listlady]

Help! I go to court Monday fo a speeding ticket, I need to ask for a PFJ and a reduction to 9 over the speed limit, he says I was doing 74 in a 55.

I was leaving Crossroads onto 440 and the right hand two lanes force you onto 40 very quickly, I had to get over to the 3rd lane, ayway I think his radar got another car, because I had to slow down to get over.. and when he stoped me I was going 58...any way who knows...any advice?

Thanks!

[jln69]

The only thing I can say is consult an attorney or pay the fine in court. I don't know what the ramifications are in NC for speeding. Good luck.

[Dire Wolf]

Not sure why they moved your post, since the advice you are seeking is specific to where you got the ticket.

Normally you do not want to burn your PJC (Prayer for Judgement Continued) if you haven't had a ticket in a while. Remember that these are 1 per family per 3 years, so if you can save it, do. See if the DA will drop to 9 over and just plead guilty to it. If not, you may want to just ask for a continuance and get a lawyer to deal with it.

Traffic court in Raleigh is set up very efficiently nowadays. You have a range of hours you can show up, they pull your case and you wait to talk to the DA in order (DA just calls your name). Then you wait just a bit longer and the judge handles the case. It is set up to move cases through the system. If you are actually going to have your case heard, they'll schedule you for a date on your officer's calender. This is worlds better than it used to be.

[steve54]

Originally Posted by list2buylady

Help! I go to court Monday fo a speeding ticket, I need to ask for a PFJ and a reduction to 9 over the speed limit, he says I was doing 74 in a 55.

I was leaving Crossroads onto 440 and the right hand two lanes force you onto 40 very quickly, I had to get over to the 3rd lane, ayway I think his radar got another car, because I had to slow down to get over.. and when he stoped me I was going 58...any way who knows...any advice?

Thanks!

Don't use your PJC for this matter . Turn up at court , speak to the DA and they should ofer you a plea bargain under 9 mph over the limit. In that case, with no pre cons, it shouldn't effect your insurance but maybe 2 license points (?).

Traffic courts are not speedily dealt with on the day so be prepared for a few hours wait

If they won't reduce it then ask for a continuance to speak to a lawyer , who will usually guarantee you a reduction in the above circumstances

[thepizzaguy]

It's not a big deal. Of course I don't have a speeding ticket in Illinois. I was busted out of state, and just mailed the fine. Just go to court pay the fine and enjoy traffic school.

It's nothing to worry about unless you are still in county lock up, or are currently about to be questioned by the cops at the police station.

[Racegirl]

I've learned it always best to hire an attorney. My experience in rally racing across the country has taught me this the hard way, but it pays off that is for sure.

[Mikeheel]

Dire Wolf offers good advice. I'll add a little more info about the PJC.

PJC stands for "Prayer for Judgment, Continued." The rule with PJC (and it is PJC rather than PFJ), is simply:

1. A PJC is a conviction that does not count, but it can come back later under certain circumstances. Consider it akin to a probationary time for good behavior. A PJC prevents points from being assigned to your license or insurance (those are seperate point scales in NC). A judgment is entered against you (you are found guilty or responsible), but the judgment is "continued" - or delayed - if you comply with the conditions of the order. The conditions are that you pay court costs and fines, and that you don't you don't get another PJC w/in a set time frame (see below). After the time frame is over, the judgment can't come back.
2. You get one PJC per household every three years for insurance purposes. A subsequent PJC by any household member w/in 3 yrs from the date of entry for the PJC (not date of offense, but date of the court judgment) voids both PJCs for insurance purposes. This simply means you get insurance points for both tickets at that point. The proverbial double whammy.
3. You get two PJCs per household every 5 years for DMV purposes. However, DMV really doesn't enforce this issue. The real concern w/PJCs is insurance, not license issues.

So, as DW said, your best bet is to reduce it to 9 over. You need to be aware, though, that 9 over will still put 2 points on your license for any conviction below 55mph (3 points if the conviction is in excess of 55mph). This is not important unless you have to renew your license in NC before the points fall off (points stay on 3 years). Nine over will not put points on your insurance as long as you have a clean record the past 3 years. But if you get another conviction for a moving violation within 3 years, this ticket and the new ticket would hit your insurance at that time.

Also, you need to know that if you get two convictions within a 1-year period for speeding in excess of 55 mph, you will lose your license for a month. Most folks don't know that.

If you need an atty, PM me, and I can refer you to a friend. I haven't practiced traffic law in about 7 years, but I still have good friends who handle traffic tickets.

Good luck,
Mike

[Listlady]

Thanks for the advice, I should mention I had a speeding ticket about 9 months ago, BUT I am not a speend demon, no other tickets in @ 10 years!

It was reduced to 9 over ..54 in a 45, the old speed trap coming from the airpost..watch it throught there..there were 5 people in court on the day I went from the same place! & I sa another one pulled over yesterday.

So my ? now is should I just ask for 9 over today, or the PFJ, being that I had the other ticket? THANKS!!

[Mikeheel]

The prior was in NC, right?

Assuming the answer is yes, your options are somewhat limited. If I understood correctly, the current ticket was written as 74 in a 55. If that's right, you might want to see if the DA would reduce it "Exceeding Posted Speed" and allow a PJC.

My thinking here is that you don't want that 74 showing up on your DMV report. Even though a PJC would prevent insurance points from going on your record, I'd be willing to bet your insurance company would put you in the Reinsurance Facility, which would bump your base rate by 40%.

But, with a PJC on an EPS, I doubt it would happen.

Best bet might be to just hire an attorney. I'd suggest either my friend <edit for advertising> (yes, it's my real name) said to call.

Good luck,
Mike

[Mikeheel]

I'll PM you. My reply got edited out, but I gave the name of two friends of mine who handle traffic tickets. They are not part of my firm & I don't get any sort of referral fee from them, so I didn't think it was advertising.

However, I do see the value in not putting personal info in the posts, but I gave the numbers to two law firms (not personal numbers). If anyone else needs them, please PM me.

Mike