Traffic Violation.....HELP!!

My mother (71) recently got a ticket. "Failure to reduce speed" which resulted in a rear end collision. Not speeding. She has never had a ticket in her life. As of today, she has received letters from 8 lawyers offering their help to reduce points, save her inconvenience of appearing, etc. Has anyone ever had this happen and if so, did you hire a lawyer or go with the insurance company paying off court costs and you putting in you appearance in court?

My mother is a very vibrant, active adult. In some ways I think she might need to "put in an appearance" just to show the court official that she is not a senile 70+ woman who has lost her marbles?

If a lawyer could in fact get points reduced or eliminated, that would probably be worth the cost. Anyone with any suggestions?

 

Everytime my college son got a speeding ticket, all the lawyers in the area solicited for business. You DO Not need their help. They are just trying to scare you and you get scared and give them your business. Just show up in court on the day she is to appear and get a prayer judgement, and you just pay court costs. She won't even need to stay and wait to see a judge. Before court starts they will call anyone wanting a prayer to get on a line in the courtroom and the lawyer looks at each ticket and says stay or go pay the cashier outside the court costs and you are done.

 

I got a failure to yield a few months ago. I flat out just did not have time to deal with the BS and time off of work to go to court (new job). I just mailed the payment, end of story. My insurance didn't even go up. I was all worried for nothing.

 

I would go and ask for a prayer for judgement. I decided not to and they raised my insurance rate.. It would only have taken a few minutes more!!!
Being the age she is and a clean record they probably will give it to her!!

 

Rear end collision

In 2004 I had an accident. A rear end collision. The trroper told me I wanted to protect my CDL. He said just go to court, take a letter from my insurance company showing they intended to pay for all damages and the charges would be dropped, Sure enough, no fine, no points, no court costs. This is common practice. NO LAWYER FEES!!!!!

 

But see when I moved here 19 years ago, I got a ticket for not fully stopping at a stop sign. And I didn't know about a Prayer for Judgement and so I just sent in the money (which proved I was guilty) and the points stayed on my license for 3 years and my insurance went up. Never had any other violations.,, So go figure?

 

Thanks for all the info. I do believe with my mom's clean record she should be OK but who knows? I was very suspicious and so was she when the 8 offers landed in her mail from lawyers. I did find the following on a website. I suppose this is what several of you haven mentioned (Prayer for Judgement) and I knew nothing about!


In NC for automobile insurance purposes, one can have up to one PJC per household every three years that will not cause insurance premium increases. For driver’s license purposes, a driver can have up to two PJCs within a five year period which will not result in driver’s license points nor have any effect on the driving record of the person receiving the PJC.

Oops, may have chosen the wrong paragraph. At any rate, her insurance company told her to ask the adjuster for a "court letter" saying the insurance company would pick up all court costs (I believe about $150.) But the insurance also told my mom the points would be based on the cost of repairs...under $1800 would = 1 point. So if you go for Prayer for Judgement, do you just walk in and say you want that? Are you asked? Does that eliminate points and insurance costs going up? As you can tell (and I've very thankful!!) I've had zip experience with this myself and can't help my mother at all in what to do!!

Thanks to you all....any answers to the question above I'd really appreciate!

 

I received a speeding ticket a few months back. Called all the lawyers that sent me letters. They were all $275. Took my visa number over the phone, sent me a letter saying they got it reduced to improper equipment. I didn't have time to go to the court and stand in line.

 

The attorney fees for traffic citations aren't that expensive. Its a well oiled machine. Give it a little grease and it keeps on turning. Sounds to me as if she's not exactly prone to getting a lot of tickets. To alleviate the stress, simply pony up $250-$300 and let a professional handle it. They'll send you a letter after your court date and you're done.

 

You go into the courtroom and sit when they tell you to. Then listen to when they say all who want a Prayer for Judgement get on this line, and get up and get on that line, and when you get up to the lawyer just say Prayer for Judgement Please. He gives you a piece of paper and says go to the cashier outside the courtroom and you just pay for the court costs and not the ticket. Amen. You go home relieved.

 

You sure about that? I got a PJC once and didn't pay anything.

 

Are you sure about that? I got a PJC and didn't pay anything. The judge granted the motion and said, "You're free to go".

 

Pretty sure you gotta pay court cost when you go to court, unless you're acquited. A PJC is not an acquital, it's conditional on you staying out of trouble, almost probation, if you will, with your record expunged at the end of your time. They could realistically charge you MORE ( but they don't) because your case is not disposed of immediately, it is CONTINUED, and stays in the system until discharged.










......but then again, what do I know?

 

I used my "prayer" a few years ago in Wake County for a stop sign violation (just didn't come to a complete stop before proceeding), and I had to pay court costs, $110. I had to wait to be called by the DA, he asked if I wanted to use my "prayer", I said Yes and was instructed to sit back down. I did have to go before the judge and explain what happened, then he let it go with no fine and just pay the court costs.

 

PJC

In this case a PJC doesn't need to be wasted. The insurance letter will get the charges dropped. There are two types of points. Insurance points that insurance co. ***** to infractions to determine your premiums. And DMV points assessed against your license. The insurance letter will prevent points going on your license. You don't need a PJC for that. The insurance is still going to ***** points because of the wreck. If in doubt consult with a lawyer.

 

Well the second year of college my son got a speeding ticket, did Prayer judgement, paid the court costs and that was it. Third year of college he gets another speeding ticket, Prayer for judgement, court costs and was out of there. Fourth year of college gets another speeding ticket and before they would give him another prayer for judgement he had to go take an all day driving seminar safety class. He didn't like that and had no choice, when that was over he bought the certificate to the court and they did the prayer, but I tell ya what, after he graduated and his insurance was more expensive and the class was not fun, he has been good for the last few years! All the points are now finally off his license.

 

Every insurance agent on this board will back me up when I tell you that 99% of the time, when a ticket is given in conjunction with an accident, as long as you mother shows up in court, with a letter from her insurance company (which they will give her) showing they have accepted responsibility for the accident and paid the damages, the DA will drop the ticket and that will be the end of it.

 

kevin, this is what happened to my mother. She rear ended a car. I did call one of the 8-9 lawyers that happened to write to her. For $195. the lawyer will represent her. This includes cost of court which is $145. The paralegal said " in all honesty, I'd get a "court letter" from the insurance saying they intend to pay the costs, you'll see the D.A., then the judge and you're through." I then asked about the claim that the "insurance points might be dropped" and she said if it was under $1800. there would be 1 point, more than $1800...2 and on up. According to this person, doesn't matter if an attorney is there or not, the insurance company will hit you with points.

My question is: are the points you're referring to Insurance points or dmv points? TKS!

 

I didn't finish reading posts before responding to Kevin (and now see another one from him that I hadn't read before posting!!

Jennifer, will the DA drop the ticket and there be NO points even if there is damage? As I said in the previous post, the paralegal said there would be points based on the amount of damage.

For what its worth, my mother is determined to go without a lawyer. I like her spirit! She said it was her first (hopefully last) ticket and she wanted to see what it was all about!

 

Exactly. Points are assigned from the damage paid out from the insurance company. Those are insurance points, not DMV points. If the ticket is dropped, she will get no DMV points but will still have insurance points.