There are a lot of common myths about speeding tickets.
Speeding tickets are a lot like mosquitos. Almost everyone has been stung by one. And if you get to talking about them at a picnic, everyone has a story to tell. With those stories come myths that are repeated – bad advice that can cost you in insurance premiums, and can even cost you your license.
Many jurisdictions in western North Carolina (WNC) handle over 1,000 traffic citations each week. This means that most of the people you know have gotten a ticket at some point or another – probably in the very city or county you got one in. The original source of much of the bad advice is – the police officer. That’s right, your friend asked the police officer who gave them the ticket how to minimize the impact, and believed what they told them. Some of these ideas are as old as Barney Fife.
Police officers know about giving out tickets, not reducing their impact
The police officer was not necesssarily ill-intentioned. But while we presume that officers are experts on charging motorists with traffic offenses, they are not experts on court processes. The advice they give may be out of date, incomplete, or just plain wrong.
Let’s take a look at some common myths that are given as sage advice (like how the fogs in August tell you the number of snowfalls in the winter):
Just take the class and they will dismiss the ticket
To this day we have not discovered the source of this myth. It’s like one of those mythical dinosaurs that you’ve heard so much that you don’t know if it used to be true. Or did someone make it up? The District Attorney (DA) may require a class to be taken for some tickets. Your attorney will still need written permission from the DA to get a deal that helps you avoid insurance premium hikes or points on your license. But a dismissal just for taking a class is never going to happen.
Just pay it; it won’t impact your license
Police officers often tell you this one while they are writing the ticket at nine over the limit, which does reduce the impact compared to being cited for ten or more miles over the speed limit. But it still affects your rates and puts 2 points on your license, even for “only” nine over. If you get another citation months later, the cumulative points on your license may cause your license to be suspended.
No one ever wins in traffic court anyway
It’s true that disputing the facts of a traffic stop is often difficult. That’s usually not the point of going to court. An attorney with training and experience with traffic citations can often reduce your costs, lower the insurance impact, and may save your license.
Contact Andrew Dennis for a no-obligation consultation if you’ve recently received a traffic citation.
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