Traffic laws are frequently violated by many people, but there are consequences to violation of those laws, primarily financial. As a private citizen or a business owner, everyone is subject to those costs if you, a member of your family, or one of your workers is convicted of a traffic violation. This article is intended to better help you understand those consequences. I have spent time as an assistant district attorney prosecuting traffic cases, and I have worked as a defense attorney defending traffic citations. Hopefully, some of my observations will be helpful to you.
First, what should you do if you get stopped and get a ticket? A good start is to cooperate with the officer. He or she is just doing their job, and the officer has some discretion as to whether to cite you for every violation that he or she finds. However, because you could be facing criminal charges, do not admit to any violations. If you admit the violation, that admission may be used against you in court. Keep your conversation with the officer to a minimum. The cooperation with the officer should consist of being polite and following the officer's instructions. I also recommend that you be polite to the officer. It has been my experience that officers frequently remember the persons that were polite to them. If the officer mentions that fact to the assistant district attorney (ADA) that handles your case, it is more likely that the prosecutor may give you a break. Also, keep in mind that some officers make notations on their copy of the citation that indicates whether a person was rude or obnoxious to them. This notation will not show up on your copy of the citation and will only hurt you in negotiating with the ADA.
Second, don't get angry. Getting angry will not do you any good and may tempt the officer to cite you for a minor violation that he or she might otherwise overlook, such as a burned out taillight or an expired inspection sticker. If the officer has decided to write you a citation, your anger is certainly not going to change the officer's mind.
Once you have received the citation, what do you do then? If the violation is "non-waivable," then you must appear in court at the time and time specified on your citation and either plead guilty or defend yourself. Examples of non-waivable offenses include driving while license revoked (DWLR) and driving while impaired (DWI). For serious traffic offenses such as these, you should strongly consider hiring an attorney to represent you. If you cannot afford an attorney, you should consider asking the judge to appoint the public defender or a private attorney to represent you. (Some counties in North Carolina have public defender's offices, but most do not. If there is no public defender office in the county where you must appear, then the judge may appoint a private attorney to represent you.) Depending on your prior criminal record, a conviction for some non-waivable offenses could result in active jail time and a fine. Therefore, if you have a prior criminal record, it can be more important to at least consult with an attorney before appearing in court.
If the traffic violation is minor and is considered "waivable," you can pay the ticket without appearing in court. However, this is not always a good idea. However, keep in mind that, by paying the citation, you are pleading guilty to the offense and inviting all of the consequences that may be imposed by your insurance company and the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. If the offense is sufficiently minor, such as a citation for an expired inspection sticker, you can pay the citation without incurring insurance points or driver's license points (see discussion below of the point system). If you do decide to pay the citation, (1)pay it on time, (2) pay the payment with a cashier's check, not a money order (money orders are more difficult to trace if lost in the mail), and (3) hand deliver the payment to the Clerk of Court or send the payment by commercial delivery service (such as Fed-Ex or UPS), or by certified mail so that you have proof the payment was received and can track the payment if necessary. If you pay in person, the Clerk should give you a receipt that indicates your case docket number, how much you paid, and what the payment was for. If you send the payment by mail or carrier, provide the Clerk of Court with a stamped, self-addressed envelope in which to return the receipt and include a note asking the Clerk to return the receipt in the provided envelope. Also, you should keep the receipt in a safe place to guard against administrative errors in logging your payment.
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