Zurichgnome

Sorry -- not advocating for GEICO or any insurance company. Just used that as an example. Fill in your favorite.

dotframe

I almost lost my license several years back here in Tx due to too many speeding tickets and our insurance didn't go up at all. (I was on the road a lot) It has made me a very loyal customer for sure.

I have had a few since then and still no increase. Even got a fantastic rate on the p-car.

Wellardmac

Eric, thanks for the offer. My wife called a few attorneys today and found someone she was comfortable with. Let's just hope she found someone competent that can make the points go away.

One comment that the attorney made was that NC police are notorious for pushing for the highest speed possible on the tickets and that it's rare that they give anyone a break. Looks like I'll be investing in radar detectors for each car when I get home tomorrow.

Kazual99

The attorney is the way to go and they should be able to make the whole thing go away with no impact on her driving record and a few funds from your Porsche Mod account.

Zurichgnome

This has become a really interesting thread ...

On one end we have someone with a minor 11 mph over moving violation and a clean record facing an immediate 45% premium increase ... And the need to hire a lawyer.

On the other end some folks who have had multiple and/or occasional tickets and absolutely no impact...

Two polar opposites ....

Would love to hear from an insurance expert. Is this a state issue, a policy issue, a reporting issue or a combnation thereof.

Wellardmac

Yup, just shows how screwed up NC is. Our impression since moving here recently is that it's a nanny state - we have rules for everything and they don't improve the place.

rpm's S2

I have to disagree. Having lived all over the US and in Europe, I find that the South in general, and NC in particular, is a pretty open and fair place. The police and legal systems/requirements are child's play compared to states like CA, NY and NJ. And insurance premiums here are about as low as they get anywhere in the country. The state's insurance commisioner is famous for denying requests for rate increases. The new Republican state assembly is trying to undo those regulations to let 'market forces' prevail. While I am all for free enterprise, I really hope that effort fails.

Now, it is the South, so there are the old-time speed trap towns here and there. But overall, I find it to be a great place to live and to drive.

And as for Wake County, and Apex and Cary specifically, the police are a bit overzealous, particularly in Cary. But I think they are just trying to keep the rest of us safe from all the idiot Northern transplants flying around town in their SUVs and minivans trying to get their precious above-average children from play date to soccer practice (the joke is that Cary is an acronym for "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees"). An honest local speeding in a Porsche rarely has to worry. Just don't leave the front NY license plate on the car

fpena944

Just to make sure NYers feel at home our cable service recently added the NY1 news channel to the cable lineup!

I can't complain too much though because I did live in New York for six years before moving here.

02TX996Cab

One other option to try...it takes no lawyer...is to call the traffic court and request "deferred adjudication". Essentially you end up paying the fine and if your wife does not get another ticket for some period of time (6 months to a year) then the original ticket never hits the books. This offer is often accepted when someone has no recent tickets on their record.

If NC is interested only in revenue and if they have a deferred adjudication program, this may be the way to go.

Good luck.

pesuazo

Clayton
C ary
L ike
A rea
Y ankees are
T rying
O ut
N ow

I moved to Clayton, NC 10 years ago (from NYC), I have had 3 speeding tickets, they have all been over 3 years apart. I show up, ask for "Prayer Judgment" (or something like that) and 2 of them got "dismissed" with a 100 dollar court cost.
Now, do not get another one within 2 years, or they both count.
The last ticket (about 2 years ago) really made me angry, the idiot told me: "You know why I stopped you?".....No..... "You look like you where going fast".....really?, and how much is that over the speed limit?...."I do not really know, but it was about 20 over"....I started laughing...he wrote me 20 over (85MPH). That day I was doing 60 on a 65...but was driving a convertible with the top down.
Went to court, told the judge the story (with a piece of paper dated the date of the ticket, I wrote the conversation with the cop when I got home - as evidence).
Judge looks at me, looks and asks the cop "..do you recall this conversation?.."no, but he looked like he was going fast"...and then the judge states "ticket is dismissed"....no court costs, but spent the whole morning in court.
The ADA was an ash hole too, as he did not want to drop (not prosecute) the ticket when I approached him to explain the cop himself stated he did not know what speed I was going.
The cop is from the town of Knightdale, and usually is parked under the bridge on 64 and 540

Eric - Plug Guy

Let's just say I've paid my fair share of funds to a few select attorneys, mostly in NC (Mecklenburg County/Charlotte area, Guilford County/Greensboro area, Wake/Orange County Chapel Hill/Raleigh area; and of course, all places between Charlotte and Myrtle Beach).

I have NOT walked away with freebies in each case, no jail time, no loss of license, some great outcomes where none expected, but I have had to pay the piper for a few.

The sucky part from insurance is if my kid got a ticket in a honda, the insurance rips my Porsche premium. Yep, they take the highest rated premium vehicle, and attach the massive increase to that one, along with all your other vehicles.

However, having a top notch insurance guy in the fold really helps. As does a few well-placed legal friends. Beyond that, I don't screw up in city street driving, it's typically freeway, minimal traffic, and WITH radar.

One of the pressing issues is whether the ticket was issued by local police, or hwy patrol. Outcomes are usually different with locals than with the state boyz.

rpm's S2

Last ticket I had the judge in Asheboro publicly and loudly thanked me for being so polite to the officer that ticketed me on US64 in Ramseur - apparently a well known speed trap except by me. The judge made his statement not for my benefit, but to make a clear point to the 100's of yokels in the courtroom behind me. Court costs and no points.

Obvious lesson: always be polite to the cops and wear a tie to court, but not a fancy suit.

jpowers

My insurance agent got a speeding ticket and he obviously didn't want to have a speeding ticked on his record. So his lawyer found a non moving violation to plead guilty for. The speeding ticket was 125.00 and he pled guilty for "excessive noise" for a 150.00 fine.

In the end it's all about the money.

Wellardmac

My wife was very polite about it. The LEO basically said that she was getting a ticket to make a point. Idiot. I just spent $300 on a radar detector for her last night. The stupid thing is that out of the two of us she is the slower driver and rarely pushes speed limits.

I'm actually also a little annoyed at the attorney she has selected, as he is just going to argue it down to <9mph so there are no insurance points. I would have preferred him to push for a non-moving violation and a fine, but my wife is so upset by this issue that she will not push for that. The attorney acts like there's no consequence to <9mph ticket, but the reality is that is we change insurance in the next few years she will be asked if she has a ticket on her record and we'll still get dinged on rates.

sjfehr

Insurance agents are real people, too. They know everyone speeds- and I do mean everyone. A single ticket after decades of driving, and it's <9mph over? That's pretty much frameable proof she's not an excessive speeder.

FWIW, my wife and I have each averaged a ticket every 2 years or so, always for 10-15mph over, because we typically cruise at 70mph on the highway, just like everyone else. Our insurance rates went down when we married and hit certain age brackets, but have never risen due to a ticket.