How Can a Ticket Affect My Insurance?

A Mecklenburg Traffic Attorney will be able to advise you whether a Waiver is available to you. A Waiver is used for individuals involved in “minor” accidents when an accident occurs, and there is no property damage, no conviction of a moving traffic offense, and no licensed operators in the insured’s household has had any at-fault accidents within the previous three years. However, if there is any bodily injury arising from the accident, the waiver will not be operable. In the event that an incident does generate accident and conviction points, only the higher of the points between the accident and the convictions from the accident will apply. The experience period for points is defined as the three years immediately preceding the date of application or the preparation of the renewal. Insurance points will be applied for three policy years.

How Can my License be Suspended?

In addition to criminal penalties that the court might mandate, a conviction of certain traffic offenses will result in the mandatory loss of your driving privilege. By hiring an Traffic Lawyer who is familiar with Speeding Tickets and DMV law, you may be able to avoid a license suspension.

How Long will my License be Suspended?

In the event that you are charged with the any of the following offenses, your driving license can and will be suspended. In North Carolina (NC) the following offenses highlight how long a mandatory driving license suspenditure will be valid.

How Many License Points Will I Receive?

Any person who commits an offense for which points may be assessed for violations while operating a commercial motor vehicle may be assessed double the amount of any fine or penalty authorized by statute.

What if I’m Charged with Driving While License Revoked DWLR?

If you’ve been pulled over and cited for Driving While License Revoked (DWLR), or Driving Without a License (DWL), you still have options. We consult with many individuals who have recently been pulled over with a revoked license or without a license at all and are now facing charges of Driving While License Revoked or Driving Without a License. If this has happened to you, it is not the end.

When Can My Attorney Appear for Me?

TRAFFIC OFFENSES FOR WHICH COURT APPEARANCE MAY BE WAIVED(on execution of written waiver of appearance and trial, and plea of guilty/responsible) (Adopted by the Conference of Chief District Court Judges, October 17, 2007, pursuant to N.C.G.S. 7A-148)

Traffic offenses in Charlotte, North Carolina

If you’ve been pulled over and received a speeding ticket or other driving offense, contacting a Traffic Attorney can save you thousands of dollars, time, and effort. An increase in driving license and insurance points from a single speeding ticket will not only affect you and your family financially, but may inhibit your ability to drive to work, school, and even run errands if your license is suspended.

As easy as it may be to receive a Speeding Ticket, understanding the reprucutions can be a difficult task. Once you are convicted of a motor vehicle violation in North Carolina, driver license points are placed on your driving record, and specific offenses result in a mandatory license suspenditure. If your convictions total 12 points within a three year period, your license can and will be suspended. If you are charged and your license is suspended according to the North Carolina Traffic Point System, your first suspension will result in a 60 day suspension, the second in a 6 month suspension, and the third in a 12 months suspension. Additionally traffic suspensions are different for individuals below 18 years of age; if you or your child is under 18 years of age it is imperative that you consult with a Charlotte Traffic Lawyer to preserve your child’s driving privilege.

Furthermore, in the event that you do loose your license, there are numerous requirements that you may have to meet before obtaining a limited driving privilege. There is no alternative to the convenience of driving your own vehicle. A Traffic Lawyer in Charlotte-North Carolina can assist you in exploring your options. You cannot afford to loose your license or have your insurance premiums skyrocket due to not being properly represented. Our Lawyers can even assist you in obtaining a limited driving privilege if necessary. Our Driving Defense is not limited to Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, but Gaston County, Cabarrus County, Lincoln County, Rowan County, and Iredell County as well. Sheehan today and speak with a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Traffic and Speeding Ticket Lawyer today.

What this covers

How Can a Ticket Affect My Insurance?
How Can my License be Suspended?
How Long will my License be Suspended?
How Many License Points Will I Receive?
What if I’m Charged with Driving While License Revoked DWLR?
When Can My Attorney Appear for Me?

Why a traffic ticket is worth defending

Most people decide how to handle a citation by looking at the fine. That is almost always the smallest number involved. The real costs are the license points that can end in suspension, the insurance surcharge that runs for three policy years, and — for some offenses — a criminal record.

A conviction that costs eighty dollars in fine and costs can carry several thousand dollars of premium across the following three years. The gap between paying a ticket and resolving it properly is usually measured in that difference.

The two point systems, briefly

Driver license points come from the Division of Motor Vehicles under G.S. 20-16 and threaten your license. Twelve in a three-year period exposes you to suspension; eight does so in the three years after a reinstatement.

Insurance points come from the Safe Driver Incentive Plan under G.S. 58-36-65, are applied through the North Carolina Rate Bureau, and threaten your premium for three policy years. A conviction can be light on one and heavy on the other, which is why both have to be considered before any plea.

What the firm handles

Speeding, including speeding over 55 and speeding in excess of 75
Reckless driving and aggressive driving
Driving while license revoked, on both impaired and non-impaired revocations
Failure to appear and the license suspensions that follow
Passing a stopped school bus
Hit and run and failure to stop
License restoration, limited driving privileges and Division hearings
Provisional license matters for drivers under 18
Commercial license holders, where federal disqualification rules apply

Improper equipment and other reductions

The most common favorable outcome in a North Carolina traffic case is a reduction to improper equipment, which carries no license points and no insurance points. Other routes include reducing a speed to under 55, reducing a moving violation to a non-moving one, or securing a dismissal where the citation or the evidence will not support the charge.

None of these is automatic. Availability turns on the speed alleged, your driving record, the county’s prosecution policy and the facts of the stop.

You usually do not have to attend

For most waivable infractions and many misdemeanors an attorney can appear on your behalf, which is why out-of-state drivers and people ticketed away from home so often instruct counsel rather than returning.

There are exceptions — cases set for trial, matters where an active sentence is realistic, and any case where the court has ordered your appearance. Whether yours is one of them should be confirmed rather than assumed.

Commercial drivers

Holders of a commercial driver license are governed by separate federal rules, and convictions that a private driver could absorb can produce disqualification. Some offenses carry disqualification even when committed in a private vehicle.

If you hold a CDL, say so immediately. It changes which outcomes are acceptable, and a reduction that would be a good result for anyone else may be no help at all.

Questions people ask

Written for North Carolina law and reviewed by David P. Sheehan, attorney, Charlotte. General information, not legal advice — see the disclaimer.

Ask about your own situation.

Every matter turns on its facts. Mr. Sheehan reviews each inquiry himself.

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