I was coming back from the beach in what appeared to be three lanes of 40 West. I thought that everyone to the right was getting over to merge onto 70 so I got in what I thought was the passing lane - there was even a couple cars behind me when I did it. It had some faded yellow lines through it and I realized it was a ?? lane/zone so I saw a gap in the traffic and got back over. A SHP saw me and pulled me for illegal passing. This is in Wake County. The ticket is $50 and the court costs are like $188. I honestly had no idea and tried to explain that to the SHP but he wasn't having it.

Can an attorney actually get this dropped or should I just mail in the fine/court costs and be done with it? I'd rather not use a PJC since this is only one point.

Any advice / recommendations for an decently priced but effective attorney would be appreciated.

8/17/2015 5:33:28 PM

just pick a lawyer from the dozen letters you will get this week

8/17/2015 5:45:14 PM

that lane used to be an actual driving lane, but somehow they figured it would help traffic flow by closing it

8/17/2015 8:34:00 PM

Well now they make money off of it.

8/17/2015 9:39:33 PM

^^yeah I've driven back from the beach a million times and never remembered anything like that.

Anyone ever had this citation and got it dropped? I'll call around tomorrow when the letters start pouring in.

[Edited on August 17, 2015 at 10:45 PM. Reason : remembered the lane being closed that is]

8/17/2015 10:45:28 PM

^^^^lol true

I'm sure any lawyer could get it dropped, you're just gonna have to pay them more than the court costs to do it. Just depends on if you want a vaunted minor traffic violation on your record!

8/17/2015 11:28:24 PM

I would not plead guilty to that.

#1 it should be easy as fuck to get out of

#2 if its a moving violation it will fuck up your insurance and give you points, which is bad

8/18/2015 1:28:10 AM

Just say fuck the fine and don't bother going to court. That's the Ferguson way. Obviously the mean police was picking on you

8/18/2015 10:26:45 AM

Quote :

" I honestly had no idea and tried to explain that to the SHP but he wasn't having it. "

good, even if you didn't see the yellow hatching lines, you shouldn't have crossed over a yellow line to get into that space. it doesn't appear suddenly, the yellow line angles over to create that space and the lanes shift

8/18/2015 11:00:35 AM

if by "fuck up your insurance" you mean you might have to pay $250 every 6 months instead of $240, then sure, spend hours of your time on it.

8/18/2015 11:09:10 AM

^^i hate agreeing with dtownral, but he's right.

8/18/2015 11:52:49 AM

were the other cars pulled too?

8/18/2015 11:56:55 AM

Quote :

"good, even if you didn't see the yellow hatching lines, you shouldn't have crossed over a yellow line to get into that space. it doesn't appear suddenly, the yellow line angles over to create that space and the lanes shift"

Somebody's always gotta be the White Knight. As I said before, the lines were extremely faded and as soon as I noticed it, I made an effort to get back over but it was bumper to bumper. Yes, it was a mistake and the SHP did his job - I'm not arguing against that. I'm just saying it wasn't a calculated effort to do something illegal - it was an honest mistake.

Hiring an attorney is to save me the cost of insurance increasing for the next three years. The state/county will still get its money and, hell, I'm even supporting a local business while I'm at it, rather than giving more money to some national insurance company.

I'm hoping when it's all said and done I can get this taken care of for around $500.

8/18/2015 12:36:51 PM

Quote :

"just pick a lawyer from the dozen letters you will get this week"

this. or just call around to some local law offices and pick someone, preferably a golfing buddy with the officer/DA and ticket will go away.

8/18/2015 12:47:54 PM

That's how i'm hoping my "illegal U-turn" ticket goes away. My lawyer is an old ADA and his friends with my ticketing police officer.

Apparently U-turns are only permitted in Oregon at intersections that specifically have a U-turn symbol. Go figure.....

8/18/2015 9:05:30 PM

Shopped around a bit today. Gonna use Bill Young (Hatch, Little and Bunn). Surprisingly, he was the cheapest of the firms I called. They're gonna try to get it dismissed, but if not, get it reduced to improper movement and get a PJC. Apparently this ticket is one license point and two insurance points (45% increase for 3 years). $400 including all fees, court costs, etc. Their fee is $200 of that.

[Edited on August 20, 2015 at 12:05 PM. Reason : .]

8/20/2015 12:04:26 PM

Jury trial...

8/20/2015 12:18:03 PM

Quote :

" Don't incriminate yourself - There is always the chance that a member of law enforcement could browse this board. Do not post anything that will incriminate you or someone else. "

8/20/2015 11:24:10 PM

That's a stretch.

8/21/2015 1:11:18 AM

SHP=Revenue officer

We should get rid of almost all SHP officers and replace them with camera systems. It is exceptionally rare they provide any public good. Can't think of one positive experience with a SHP officer, yet I've had plenty with Police Officers.

8/21/2015 11:20:17 AM

For real. Raleigh cops have always been very fair and helpful to me. SHP not so much.

8/21/2015 12:20:34 PM

I did have a SHP pull over and help me change a tire on my pick-up truck.

He wasn't very friendly though.

8/21/2015 12:42:01 PM

Quote :

"We should get rid of almost all SHP officers and replace them with camera systems. It is exceptionally rare they provide any public good. Can't think of one positive experience with a SHP officer, yet I've had plenty with Police Officers."

They provide a lot of good. I would not want to be injured in a wreck that happened because of a drunk driver. No camera is going to spot a drunk driver before they wreck. They also play an important role in assisting local law enforcement agencies in rural places that don't have as many officers.

8/23/2015 9:58:29 PM

Camera systems have been declared unconstitutional in a lot of places since you don't have the right to face your accuser. So yeah, not gonna happen.

8/23/2015 11:05:31 PM

yeah, i got no beef with the highway patrol. would much rather have to deal with them than with local law enforcement 99.99% of the time.

(raleigh PD always seemed pretty cool, but so many rural sheriff deputies are terrible.)

8/24/2015 1:30:13 PM