Interesting! :lol: Nicholas Sparks Speeding Ticket Reduced Internationally known novelist and screenwriter Nicholas Sparks of New Bern did not appear in Benson District Court Friday morning for a speeding ticket he received January 9 while traveling through Johnston County. Instead, Attorney Frank Wood of Selma represented Sparks, 45, in court. Sparks was ticketed in January for speeding 75mph in a 55mph zone. In court on Friday, the ticket was reduced to improper equipment. Wood said he did not personally know Sparks. Sparks has 17 published novels about Christian faith, love, tragedy, and fate. Six of his books have been turned into movies including Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John, and The Last Song. True Believer and The Lucky One are expected to be released as a film later this year. http://www.wtsbradio.com/
Settles the question of whether or not you can still get an improper equipment charge for a first offense. Thankfully, my '08 ticket was the first in a long time (18 years) and was pleaded down to improper equipment by my attorney.
Why is that interesting? I've gotten a few tickets in Johnston & Wake Counties and never gone to court on any of them. You pay a lawyer $300.00 or so and forget about it. You have to figure that even if they drop it to improper equipment (which they always do) it's going to cost $25.00 for the fine and $125.00 in court costs. So for another $150.00 or so he doesn't have to drive up here and back, which would probably cost $50.00 in gas. Besides, the tickets have nothing to do enforcing the law anyway. It's just a shake down to get government revenue, so why not get a lawyer? They play their games and we play ours.
Well, it was just interesting to me because I'm a fan of his books. I apologize if u didn't find it worthy of posting. :roll:
Hey, we had a celebrity in JoCo besides Eva Gardner...even for a brief time...and at a high rate of speed. Perhaps we should put up a historical marker?
:cheers: I thought it was interesting, and I love his books. I've never thought they were slow. Dear John is my favorite so far.
I honestly didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised that you were surprised. I guess you've been one of the lucky ones never to have received an invitation to the courts. Wish i had learned my lesson sooner. :lol:
Knock-on-wood, I have not had a ticket in probably 24 yrs (hope I didn't just jinx myself!). But my dd has gotten 2 tickets. The first one - 17 over!!! :banghead: We went to court, she had to attend the driving school to get it reduced. About a yr later got another one :evil: in Durham county, got tons of letters from lawyers, choose the cheapest one (and crossed my fingers) and she got it dismissed for improper equipment, I think it was under 10, over the speed limit. I think (and hope!) she has learned her lesson - made her pay for the lawyer the 2nd time.
Good thing the cop pulled her over going that fast before she wrecked and killed herself or someone else. Even though the court was willing to reduce it, i think i would have had to take her license/keys/car for a while....after the second time for sure.
speeding The first time - she was on I40, driving a car she wasn't used to, and said she really didn't realize she was going that fast...... So this an excuse for not looking at the numbers and needle on the speedometer?
I'm not saying it's an 'excuse', thats just how it happened. Haven't u ever been driving along and not realize how fast u were going? I sure have!
Heck, there are some places along I-40 it would be more treacherous to actually drive the speed limit than to flow with the traffic.
