Recently was issued a ticket for 79 mph in 70. I was actually going much faster than this, but officer courteously dropped it to 9 mph over on the spot. I know, it’s my fault, but any ticket at all is no good for my license. Chances of this getting reduced to improper equipment, or at a lower speed? Additionally, can the police officer RAISE my actual speed in court if I contest this as “not guilty”? If I plead not guilty, it would be very unfortunate to be charged with my original speed (of about 95 mph). The state is North Carolina.
Conditions:
– Probably was actually going 95 in a 70, and interstate was clear with no vehicles around me. The ticket states under the category of Speed with “P 98”. Not sure what this lingo means but I assume it could be the speed the officer originally clocked me at, before he reduced it. The ticket is only charging me with 79 in 70, however.
-Vehicle is 15 years old
– I only have one other moving violation, which was reduced to improper equipment after taking a defensive driving course (2 years ago). Currently, my license record is clean.
Speeding 79/70 triggers a discretionary suspension; 74/70 does not. My advice is to avoid that by picking one of the options I had spoken of previously. As for the cop (actually the DA) amending the citation to reflect the higher speed the cop COULD have charged, I don’t think that’s in the cards. I think the DA could do so lawfully, but I’ve never seen it done. What I have seen is the DA take a hard position when you ask for any kind of relief and he sees the concession the cop has already given. More reason to have a lawyer finesse this for you, IMHO.
