I got nailed by a NC State trooper last night doing 101 in a 55 on an otherwise pretty empty stretch of 4 lane divided road. (421 near Greensboro for those who know). He was very polite, we sat in his car talking about Germany and the car and such, and I thought he might let me off easy. NOPE! He wrote me up for every MPH.<p>I have an otherwise spotless record, and I REALLY can't afford my insurance to go up.. I have to ire a lawyer, partly because of the speed, and also because I'll be deployed to Georgia when my court date comes. (I'm in the Army for those who didn't know)<p>Any advice??? Plead "no lobo conteste", or overpay the fine, and then never cash the refund check? I'm pulling my hair out here...<p>Rich Quinlan<ul><li><a href="http:/home.att.net/~richquinlan">Quinland</a></li></ul>

NT

Talk to your legal office about the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act. If your court date is while you are deployed, you will be permitted to postpone it until you return. HTH. <p>Chris<br>To reply, remove anti-spam x<br>Go Navy, beat Army!<br>

2. If you are not charged with reckless driving or another offense that has more serious consequences such as loss of license, consider denying the charge and appearing on your own in court on the assigned day to negotiate with the prosecutor, and... 3. Try to get the charge reduced to the type of offense least likely to produce points triggering insurance increases. If NC is the state where you are licensed to drive, you may have more to lose, and should consider getting an attorney. If you aren't sure what the charges are, and especially if you aren't sure what the maximum penalties are (criminal and administrative, such as loss of license), consulting an attorney familiar with traffic court is all the more important. If you already have points against your license, your need for help is only increased. Be sure to get a general idea of what you will be charged by the attorney and what the range of expected outcomes may be. Most importantly, if you truly can't afford to pay, don't drive 101 mph.

A word of caution about appearing in court and trying to negotiate on your own - A friend of mine is a local prosecutor - he says that while people with attorneys have success doing that, he is much less likely to do a deal for non-represented people. His way of trying to get full employment for attorneys.<p>Also, attorneys here can sometimes get the sentence reduced without going to court by calling the clerk up and getting a sentence recommendation. <p>Good luck.<p>Steve P.

If your getting a lawyer take it to court. The officer isn't an "expert wittness" on the operation of a radar detector. This is why some states have done away with speed limits. If the officer doesn't know how a microwave tube emits waves etc etc, then you can get off the hook. Look at the O.J. trial. Alot of DNA evidence was thrown out because the person who colected it wasn't an expert. Radar detectors are not 100% correct all the time. My cousin is a officer and has told me he clocked trees going faster than that. I hope you fight it and win. 100 miles an our isn't unsafe in the A4 and it should be legal given the right conditions.<p>Corey<br>

I think you will have a VERY hard time fighting that 101mph is safe in an A4. I had no such luck in Montana, and they have a "flexible" limit. Having lived in NC for a year, I am sure they'd only laugh about such an argument.<p>Besides, if you want to argue that 100mph is safe in an A4, you can't argue you weren't going that fast and the gun was wrong...<p>At any rate, good luck.<br>- Stan<br>

Rich,<p>I like the idea that you gave reference to about overpaying the fine, which was posted a while back on the forum for others who haven't seen it. Perhaps you can try it and let us know how it works!<p>Otherwise, sounds like maybe a lawyer might help in this case--if you actually want to go in there and plead. You'll end up paying no matter if they help or not though. Of course, the lawyer fees don't recur for years to come like the higher insurance payments would. I'd find out how many points it amounts to, and work down from there. Probably unlikely to get them all removed though, I guess.<p>I'd disregard the posts about 100 + being safe in an A4...no one can control a blown tire or a deer running out onto the road, and we all know what such things can do to a speeding A4. I'm quite confident in the A4's abilities on the track at speed, but the road at night is an uncontrolled environment that can sometimes dangerously introduce hazards that pit the A4 vs. the laws of Physics, which beat any type of car.<p>No matter what you decide to do, good luck! If you go in to the court, you should probably stress your safe driving record, and the fact that you "normally never drive that fast" : ) and had "just sped up" to test your new Autobahn cruiser , and ask them to take that under advisement.<p>Rich <br>'98 2.8Qsport, keeping fingers crossed

not to mention the innocent victim(s) you kill or seriously injure!<p>take this stuff to the racetrack....not on public roads.<p>and if you still sadly believe that your A4 is safe at 100 mph<br>please crash it for us and post your results!<p>I wOuLdN'T eVeN wAnt tO sEe JiMbO iN sUcH aN aCcIdEnt!

...for a prosecutor to refuse to give good deals to non-represented parties is unethical in my opinion. Unless he's saying that the attorneys make defenses that the pro se defendant doesn't think of, simply treating an unrepresented defendant differently is a violation of the canon of ethics. What state does this paragon of virtue practice in?

altho' it varies in details by state, in general one is an expert if, by training or experience he is qualified to testify as to the operation; your point leaves out the fact that the operating characteristics of radar, and its accuracy, have been given "judicial notice" (right or wrong) in almost every state, so you don't need an expert in microwave tubes, etc., to admit the radar result if the officer was properly trained in its operation and properly calibrated it, etc.

and try to explain. From the courts point of view, you are guilty, and that's that.<p>Thinks are different in TO. But:<p>1/ I would get legal advice from both: a lawyer, and one of those paralegals (POINTS, etc) The POINTS guys only get paid depending on the outcome, and usually consultation is free.<p>2/ Dont try to defend your self. I have never had success with that. Trying to negotiate with the Crown (prosecution) is somewhat successful. I have done that twice.<p>3/ Moving the court date around is pretty good approach. Most inconvient time makes it less likely that cop will show up. Do this in conjunction with representation, and you could get out. Remember that original court date is so that cop can hit as many of his ticket recipients in one sitting.<p>good luck dude, I have been there.<p>AND TO THE FLAMERS:<p>101 too fast? Depends on the conditions. <p>1996 a4 2.8 qm<br>

I hope, since you are in the military, that you have a driver's licence from another state. NC will probably send you a letter revoking your NC driving privilages. They sent me a 2 year suspension of driving privilages (in '91) for 85 in a 55 (only offense). Fortunately, I didn't live in NC then, and didn't really care. <p>Rick K<br>96 2.8M

<p>101 on a public road? You deserve what will come to you. Take to the track, where it belongs. I hope you loose your license.<p><br>

You've admitted to speeding, your guily!, pay the ticket and face the penalty. I do have one question, while sitting in the cruiser, did you admit to your speed to the officer?<p>For those of you who are unaware, the officer submits a short narrative on the back of the prosecutors copy of every ticket, and guess what's written in the narrative?.....Any thing you say.<br>

Like some others have said, bottom line - you did brake the law. But from my experience, at least with Wake county, is that you should not just pay up and admit guilt to the court. I was pulled over doing 80 in a 45 (comming out of the Angus Barn in Raleigh). The very polite cop wrote me up as 65 in a 45 and then the prosecutor reduced it to 54 in a 45 which is less than 10 miles over the limit and thus carries far less insurance penalties. <p>I would take caution with such dubious advise like "pay over and don't cash the return check". A Zebulon cop told me that contention was crap. Because you were going so far over the limit a lawyer may be your best, although then not only will you have to pay insurance points, albeit perhaps with his advise a reduced rate, but also for the legal advise.<p>There is this thing in NC called a prayer for judgement or something like that, I forget, which basically means you get off one speeding ticket every 3 years if your record is clean. But 101 in a 55 may be a bit excesive for that. At any rate, you should at least be able to get it reduced with out much trouble. <p>Best of luck but bottom line you were speeding and will have to accept some consequence.<p>Mariner<br>98 A4 1.8T QMS <br>

Yes, it may be unethical but it is a fact of life. You are much better off with representation--Part of the idea in traffic court is to intimidate the defendant for deterrence value. This is much harder to do if the defendant has representation-the prosecutor has to be much more careful with his p's and q's etc.