North Carolina Tolls

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North Carolina has its first toll road.  As someone who has lived in the Northeast, this is not an unusual sign.  However, for most of you, toll roads are new or you have not traveled on one in a very long time.    Some people are against toll roads.  I on the  other hand think they are great if it gets the road built faster and it will save me significant time as I travel.  I travel the current toll road once a month.  For about $3, I save at least 30 minutes in travel time.  Since it is for business, I will take that trade off every time.  I may sing a different tune if I had to travel the toll road every day just to get to work or school.

The first thing you will notice is there are no toll booths.  All payment is made through an electronic transponder or by receiving a bill in the mail.  If you travel the road frequently, I would suggest a transponder.  The tolls are lower and are painless.

If you do not have a transponder and you receive a bill in the mail, make sure you pay it on time in that the late fees can quickly turn a $2.00 toll into a $22.00 toll.

Below is a great article on the process and affect of not paying your toll on time from the North Carolina Criminal Law Blog.

Is Failure to Pay a Toll a Crime?

May 21st, 2014

By Shea Denning

Growing up in North Carolina, the only time I saw toll roads was when my family took a road trip out of state.  But now that I’m a middle-aged soccer mom, toll roads are an essential part of my weekend travel from soccer fields in one end of Wake County to another.  (I know that the state is required to maintain alternate, comparable, non-toll routes, see G.S. 136-89.197, but I can’t make it from Knightdale to west Cary in 30 minutes without travelling on a toll road.)
The Triangle Expressway, the state’s first and only toll road, has an open road tolling system. This means that drivers traveling on the road are warned that a toll will be assessed, but are not stopped on the highway—or provided a place to stop—to make a cash payment. Instead, motor vehicles entering the expressway travel underneath a camera system that records an electronic image of the vehicle’s license plate.  And don’t get any bright ideas. Willfully covering any part of a registration plate to interfere with a toll collection system is an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $100. G.S. 20-63(g).
If the vehicle is not equipped with an electronic toll collection transponder linked to an account with sufficient funds to pay the toll, a bill for the toll is then mailed to the registered owner. G.S. 136-89.214.  The bill must be mailed within 90 days of the travel.  The bill states the date and time of the travel, the toll road traveled upon, and, to further jog the owner’s memory, an image of the vehicle’s registration plate.
The bill explains how a person may contest liability for the toll.  The registered owner must pay unless he or she can establish that the motor vehicle was in the care, custody or control of someone else when it was driven on the toll road.  G.S. 136-89.212. This might be the case, for example, for vehicles that have been leased or recently sold.  An owner who contends someone else is responsible for payment must submit a sworn affidavit to the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.  If the vehicle is leased, the affidavit must be supported by a copy of the lease agreement, and if the vehicle was sold before it was driven on the toll road, the owner must provide documentary evidence of the transfer.
I haven’t invested in an NC Quick Pass toll transponder. My bills for trips down the Triangle Expressway generally arrive about a month after my travel.  The Turnpike Authority sets the rates, which vary depending upon where one travels on the road and the number of axles for the motor vehicle driven. Holders of pre-paid NC Quick Pass accounts pay lower rates.
What happens if you don’t pay?
Processing fee. I found out the first response the hard way.  I received a bill for approximately 80 cents, which I promptly forgot about and failed to pay within thirty days. The next bill was for the original 80 cents plus a $5 processing fee.  The Turnpike Authority is authorized to charge a processing fee of up to $6, though a person may not be charged more than $48 in processing fees in a 12-month period.  G.S. 136-89.215. Lesson learned here.  I haven’t paid late again.
Civil penalty. Things get worse for repeat offenders.  A person who receives two or more toll bills that are not paid within thirty days is subject to a civil penalty of $25.00.  G.S. 136-89.216. Only one such penalty may be assessed every six months.
Registration block. If the person still fails to pay, the Turnpike Authority must notify DMV, which then must withhold the registration renewal of any motor vehicle registered in that person’s name.  G.S. 20-54; G.S. 136-89.217.  The Turnpike Authority explains its collections process for delinquent Quick Pass holders here.
It’s not a crime. There is no criminal penalty for failure to pay a toll.  However, displaying an expired registration plate (which could result from the inability to renew due to unpaid tolls) is a Class 3 misdemeanor. G.S. 20-111(2).   So pay those tolls.  North Carolina needs the money.

Red Light Camera Ticket

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In most cases it is difficult to fight a red light camera ticket.  Here is a great article on the issue here in Raleigh.

If you received the citation from Raleigh and you are the owner of the vehicle but not the driver, you have a State-sanctioned way out of paying and not disclosing the name of the driver.

If you received the citation from Wilmington, there is no fast way out of paying a ticket. See "Ignoring Your Citation".

If you received the citation from Knightdale, then it must be for a violation prior to October 2013. At that time Knightdale let its contract with Redflex expire. Knightdale turned off the cameras and the cameras have been off ever since.

The conditions which make red light cameras blossom like weeds come from the practices of NCDOT traffic engineers, not from driving behavior as most assume. Raleigh and Wilmington simply exploit the conditions for profit. Fighting the problem on a front other than engineering/physics is really vanity. You may use the easy-way out as described below for your own personal ticket, but your problem won't go away. You will most likely get another red light camera ticket. The NCDOT has stacked the deck, the City deals the cards, and the house always wins. For a permanent solution, see "Fighting the Engineers" below.

Know that the lion's share of your money is not going to education but to the red light camera company. Raleigh pays a fixed cost per camera per month ($2250/mo) + other fees resulting in about 65% going to ACS. Knightdale gave $45 out of every $50 fine Redflex. Cary gave 90% to Redflex. Wilmington is far worse. In order to keep its red light cameras, Wilmington runs about a million dollar deficit each year. Under a different State law, Wilmington must pay the school district 90% of gross penal fines. In order to do that and still pay American Traffic Solutions (ATS), Wilmington has to money launder. Without operating the cameras, Wilmington could give the school district the same amount of money.

Owner But Not Driver

This option works in Raleigh.

If you are the owner of the vehicle but were not driving at the time and location on the ticket, do not pay. Do not divulge the driver's name either. You have another choice which the citation does not mention. You can say, "I was not driving at the time and location on the citation." Sign the appropriate affidavit below and mail it first-class to the mayor. It is legal to do this and the city must accept it. The instructions are in the download.

If you are angry enough and you want to take action beyond just mailing in the affidavit, then you can do something fruitful. Sign up for an Administrative Hearing. See below.

Raleigh	Affidavit
Wilmington	Sorry. Wilmington operates under a different statute.

Red light camera citations from Raleigh have been fraudulent since the beginning of its red light camera program. Every citation is intentionally worded to omit your legal rights.

With willful intent and prior knowledge, John Sandor of Raleigh commits felony fraud by omitting the accused' legal rights on the Raleigh citations to secure payment. The Cary News published Sandor's confession on August 22, 2012. In his statement, Sandor lies to vehicle owners to prevent vehicle owners from possibly lying. At this time there are some 160,000 counts of fraud against Sandor. The mayor of Raleigh, Nancy McFarlane, also confesses in this ABC TV news report.

If you choose to settle the owner-not-driver issue personally with Safelight Raleigh, then you can walk into the Safelight Raleigh office and ask for the owner-not-driver affidavit. Safelight has prepared an affidavit for this purpose. The problem of course remains. With just a citation in hand, no one knows the possibility exists.

Finally your obedience to Raleigh's city ordinances while the government of Raleigh willfully disobeys the ordinances is your decision. Past and current acts of making statements omitting an owner's legal rights in order to secure payment have always been felonies. If Raleigh was a person, Raleigh would have been ordered to make 8 million dollars in restitution and would have been thrown in jail for 20 years. The wording of the law has been clear since 2001, yet Raleigh chose and still chooses to disobey the law in order to secure money. The combined cities of Raleigh, Knightdale and Cary have illegally collected over 17 million dollars.

Ignoring Your Citation

In all of North Carolina you are not responsible for paying a red light camera citation if you do not receive the citation within 90 days of the violation.

Raleigh and Knightdale: Session Law 2003-380 Section 3(2)

Wilmington: NCGS 160A-300.1(c)(1a)

Because Safelight does not hand-deliver the citation but rather sends the citation by mail, Safelight really does not know whether you received the citation. State law hinges on you receiving notification, not on Safelight's word that it mailed you notification. If you are going to ignore your citation, you must truly ignore it. Do not respond to the original citation. Do not respond to the penalty notice. Wait until the Safelight makes the next move (see below for what that is) and make sure that when you respond, you respond 90 days after the alleged violation.

Know that many people never receive their citations. Know that you do not have to give an excuse to Raleigh or Wilmington for why you did not receive notification. In civil cases, it is the plaintiff's responsibility (Raleigh or Wilmington) to produce a preponderance of evidence that you received notification. It is not your responsibility to prove that you did not receive notification.

Here are common reasons why one never receives notification:

1. Many people are on vacation and never receive the mail until it is too late.

2. Many people are in the process of moving, and the mail does not get forwarded to them.

3. Spouses separate for an impending divorce. The spouse remaining in the house does not forward the mail to the spouse who fled.

3. Many people find that these citations look like junk mail or a scam letters and throw them out.

4. Many people have family members opening the mail. Your spouse may have simply thrown away the citation. It happens.

If Safelight real wants its money legitimately, Safelight can serve you civil notice the old fashioned way--by dispatching a person who hands you the citation. That option is explicitly written into the North Carolina red light camera laws. Safelight opts not to use this method because it costs too much. Instead Safelight relies on the US mail and intimidation tactics, the latter in order to get you to turn yourself in.

The following is what to expect when you ignore the citation. Different cities do different things:

Raleigh

As of July 2013 we know that "ACS Raleigh" will hit your credit score if you ignore your citation. A credit report from TransUnion (a credit reporting agency) will reveal a line saying, "ACS Raleigh" at "212 Wolfe Street Raleigh, NC 27601." ACS is the private company who owns Raleigh's red light cameras.

You can call TransUnion and dispute the item.

The nature of the dispute is that the civil fine which ACS wants to collect is by federal definition not a debt. Because it is not a debt, it is not subject to collection. TransUnion is violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by taking ACS's word for it that the ACS reported a valid debt. TransUnion's legal obligation is to ignore ACS-Raleigh, and could even file criminal charges of fraud against ACS Raleigh.

The legal definition of debt is:

15 U.S. Code Section 1692A. Black's Law Dictionary goes into more detail.

While the North Carolina State Session Law 2001-286 allows ACS to regard the fine as a debt, the US Code does not. The wording in the NC State Law contradicts the higher law. (Red light camera companies routinely introduce these change-of-definition deceptions.) A red light camera fine is not "an obligation to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes." The fine is not a judgment: No court or other tribunal has resolved a controversy and determined the rights and obligations of the parties.

There also remains the matter that you were never served a notice. ACS mailing you a fine without requiring your own signature to indicate you received the notice, then assuming that you have received the notice, violates civil procedure and section 1 of the 14th Amendment of the United States. The NC Session Law requires that you receive notification before the fine becomes legal and ACS does not provide the instrument by which it can verify your notification.

In the end there are no grounds for ACS to collect. As it has been reported to us, a call to TransUnion and filling out their on-line dispute form will remove the blemish from your record. Here is a letter you can attach to the dispute form. One person had the issue resolved within minutes. Another person called John Sandor, the director of the Safelight Raleigh, and Sandor called TransUnion and had the blemish removed.

Legally TransUnion has 30 days to respond.

If Safelight Raleigh tries to get you to pay the citation by revising the due date on your citation, that is illegal. Safelight Raleigh has overstepped in the enabling statute. If you receive the citation 90 days after the violation, by enabling statute Session Law 2003-380, the citation is void. Period.

Wilmington

If you ignore a Wilmington citation, we know that the City of Wilmington will eventually try to garnish your North Carolina State Tax Refund $100.00; that is, if you have a refund coming. The City of Wilmington uses a little known law to do this: NCGS 105-A. To prevent the City of Wilmington from collecting either do what's in the following paragraph, or do your personal accounting in such a way that you do not get a State Tax Refund.

Wilmington invented a number of contingencies in order to collect from people who claimed never to have received the citation. For example Wilmington has an prepared affidavit saying you were on an extended vacation and did not receive the citation in time. If you sign the affidavit, Wilmington cancels the penalties and resets the clock and makes you pay the original $50. These contingencies are illegal. Wilmington is overstepping North Carolina's enabling statute. Statute Session Law 2003-380 calls a violation not received after 90 days void. The law stops there. The law does not authorize any contingency procedure. Do not sign such an affidavit. If Wilmington insists that you pay, you might have to call the police and have the police force the City of Wilmington to honor the law. (Such a thing happened in a parallel circumstance in the Town of Cary.)

Knightdale, Cary

As of July 2013 we know that Knightdale's and Cary's Redflex citations will not hit your credit record. Absolutely nothing happens in the end if you do not pay a Redflex ticket. In October 2013, Knightdale shut down its red light camera program. Cary shut down its program in August 2012.

Who is your Advocate?

The media is your best advocate. These cases of fraud are clear-cut and of public interest. The media generally does not hesitate to expose the fraud.

It is possible to go to the police but there is no long term success in this. The police may take your one isolated citation and force its City's Safelight program to cancel it, but the City will continue defrauding the public. The City will continue to screw everyone else without blinking an eye. For example even after two legal confrontations with Cary over the owner-not-driver issue, Cary choose continue to defraud the public for two additional years. It was only after a Wake County Superior Court judge chastised Cary in court when Cary changed its mind. After hearing Cary's outcome, the Town of Knightdale decided to comply with this law too. Cary and Knightdale both have shutdown their programs.

The NC State of Bureau of Investigation is not your advocate. The Attorney General is not your advocate. They do not get involved in local police matters. The SBI's suggestion is to contact the media.

Fighting the Engineer

The real fight is here. The NCDOT traffic engineer is the problem. The best thing you can do is file a complaint with the North Carolina Board of Engineers (NCBELS) against the traffic engineer who signed and sealed the traffic signal plan for your intersection. Ask the City Clerk for the "current traffic signal plan" for your intersection. The name of the engineer is on the plan. The complaint form requires a witness. We will sign as a witness.

North Carolina laws for legal red light camera operation require the yellow light durations to be in full compliance with the MUTCD and that the traffic engineer must conform to NCGS 89C.

The yellow light durations do not comply with the MUTCD and the engineer does not comply with NCGS 89C.

MUTCD

Violation 1: Steady Yellow Duration Shorter Than Traffic Signal Plan

All yellow light durations in North Carolina fail the MUTCD. MUTCD Sec. 4D.26-01 requires yellow change interval to be a steady yellow light. "Steady" is the key word. The law requires the steady yellow change interval to be at least as long as that written on the signal plan. But NC traffic engineers never account for bulb illumination time. The signal plan may say 4.5 seconds, but the steady part of that yellow time is about 4.3 seconds. North Carolina traffic engineers always short the yellow light by about 0.2 seconds. That mere 0.2 second accounts for about 30% of the red light camera revenue. This video illustrates the problem.

Violation 2: Yellow Not Same Duration Following Protected and Permissive Greens

North Carolina traffic engineers fail the MUTCD when setting the duration of left-turn yellow arrows on those left turn approaches which have both a protected and a permissive green phase. When traveling down a left turn lane, sometimes you get a green arrow. That green arrow is called a protected green: you have the right-of-way. Other times you get either a solid green ball or a flashing yellow arrow. The solid green ball or the flashing yellow is called a permissive green. You can go if you can but you do not have the right-of-way. The NCDOT traffic engineers fail the MUTCD for left turn approaches that have both a protected and permissive phase. The yellow following these phases must be the same duration (MUTCD 4D.17-07, 4D.26-09, 4D.04-3B, 1A.13-258). They do not. NCDOT typically sets the yellow duration after a protected green to 3.0 seconds and the one after the permissive green to 3.8 seconds (35 mph road) or 4.5 seconds (45 mph road). The yellows durations differ during the light cycle for the same yellow light--a direct violation of a MUTCD standard.

Violations of a MUTCD standard are winnable in court. We did not file complaints on these MUTCD violations in Court because we did not know about them at the time of the trial. For our trial, we complained about violations of NCGS 89C.

NCGS 89C

Every US State and Canadian Province has a clause like "the engineer must know the special knowledge of the physical sciences to do his engineering work." It is the engineers' failure to understand physics which is the root of the red light camera problem--which explains why the entire red light camera sector exists. We explain this problem in the papers on the home page of this web site. A good summary of the problem is in the Oct/Nov 2013 issue of Traffic Technology International.

Though it should be just a matter of fixing a physics mistake, traffic engineers will not even take the time to check their own assumptions and therefore never get to the point where they see their mistake, let alone correct it. When confronted with the mistake, they are instantly dismissive. "We are correct because we have been doing it this way for 50 years." Yet at the same time neither a single traffic engineer knows the math and physics behind their formula nor could name Newton's Laws of Motion. Their depositions testify to these facts.

We took the physics issues to court. The NCDOT basically plugs in the wrong numbers into the wrong formula. Unfortunately we found out the hard way that Wake County Superior Court is not the venue to discuss physics. It is too much to ask a non-scientific though-well-meaning judge to understand physics when the opposition is doing every thing it can to strike the laws of physics. We found that a simple truth gets overshadowed with poker-playing over culpability issues. In the end the judge was too uncomfortable to decide a matter of physics with such far-reaching consequences. He instead used the Town of Cary's culpability argument. That combined with a disparate local ordinance, the judge essentially trumped the laws of physics. So to this day, the problem remains unsolved. The NCDOT continues to harm people and continues to enable cities to capitalize on engineering malpractice.

To make it easier for a judge to come to the right decision, but moreover to solve the engineering problem, we are going to submit one complaint against each traffic engineer to the Board of Engineering. These complaints are not law suits submitted to the Court. These complaints are physics, math, engineering and ethics violations submitted to the North Carolina Board of Engineers. Under NCGS 89C, it is the Board's mandate to discipline engineers over these violations.

NCBELS is the government's empowered final authority on issues of NCGS 89C. Our hope is that NCBELS understands physics. If NCBELS rules that the traffic engineers do not comply with NCGS 89C, then all the red light camera operations in the State become illegal. North Carolina's red light camera law hinges on compliance with NCGS 89C. With such a ruling, we can go back to Court. The heat is now off a Wake County Superior Court judge. The judge can blame NCBELS for his far-reaching decision.

Sign up for an Administrative Hearing

It is possible to fight City Hall?

If you are the owner of the car but were not driving at the time and location of the citation, yes. You can fight City Hall and win. This is how you do it: Without claiming in any fashion that you were the driver of the car, sign up for a hearing. When you go to the hearing, say that you are the owner of the car but were not driving at the time and location on the citation. Do not say anything more than that. Let your lips be sealed. If the Hearing Panel convicts you, then pay the $50 fine and you are now in the legal position to bring a class action lawsuit against the City. Call us. With your involvement we can sue Raleigh or Knightdale for millions of dollars. This "owner not driver" issue can be won. The State statutes and city ordinances are very clear what Raleigh and Knightdale are supposed to do.

If you claim that "I just could not stop or the yellow did not last long enough", or "it was raining" then you are taking the punishment for physics errors made by the NCDOT when it sets yellow light durations. But this claim will get you nowhere. In the case of Ceccarelli vs Town of Cary, Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway used a local ordinance to trump the laws of physics, making it irrelevant whether the NCDOT practiced engineering correctly.

If you pay $50 without appealing your citation, you are guilty in the eyes of the law. You have confessed. You forfeit all legal rights. You can neither appeal your case in Superior Court nor be a representative in a class action.

Raleigh Intersection Problems

There are many engineering problems at all intersections with red light cameras. That is why the red light cameras are there--to exploit the engineering problems. Raleigh has made many mistakes setting yellow light times at all intersections. There exists problems common to every intersection. There exists problems specific to an intersection. We have analyzed only three intersections so far in Raleigh: Here are their specific engineering failures which Raleigh financially exploits at your expense:

	Capital Blvd. (NB) at New Hope Church Rd.
	New Hope Church Rd. (EB) at Brentwood
	Peace St. (EB) at West

We know that NCDOT engineers never measure approach speeds as required by their own spec. Engineers are supposed to set yellow light durations according to the speed of 85th percentile of freely-flowing car speeds, not the posted speed limit. We have not seen a single traffic signal plan where the NCDOT does this. We have measured approach speeds and they have always been greater than the posted speed limit.

We know that for some intersections ACS posts yellow times shorter than that of the signal. On Peace at West street, ACS says the time is 3.79 seconds. The signal plan says the time must be 3.8 seconds. This shortfall violates SL2004-141, and the operation of the red light camera is illegal.

We also know that at some intersections, Raleigh's ACS red light camera software prints false yellow times. The printed times are significantly longer than the signal gives, giving the impression that Raleigh gives you more time than they really do. For instance at Dawson @ Morgan, the printed yellow time is 4.1 seconds but the actual yellow time is 3.8 seconds. 0.3 seconds is the difference between 50 tickets per month and 150 tickets per month.

Safety

Raleigh advocates death for its motorists. On Raleigh's web site, there is a section called "Red Light Cameras is Other Cities." Raleigh uses the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) to justify its red light camera program. But IIHS studied Raleigh specifically and reported (p. 14) that the presence of red light cameras increased fatalities in Raleigh by 180%.

Wilmington has the same problems as Raleigh.

For a hearing, call:

Raleigh Safelight (owned by Xerox)	919-833-2549
Wilmington Safelight (owned by ATS)	910-343-4762

What is Your Defense?

If you sign up for a hearing in Raleigh you have to write down the reason why you feel you are innocent. Either say, "I am not the driver at the time and location on the citation" or write the following. It is true.

"[City] has created a dilemma zone at this intersection. I was in it when the light turned yellow. [City] forced me to run a red light."

When you go to the hearing, face the hearing panel and defend yourself with:

"All intersections have a dilemma zone because the NCDOT formula for yellow light durations sets yellow light durations which oppose the laws of physics. In order for me to obey the law, I have to break laws, unbreakable laws--the laws of physics. I cannot do that. Adjust your yellow light durations so that they are consistent with the physical laws of motions. Then judge me."

Additionally if you are a commercial truck driver, say "I need 2.5 second perception/reaction time for my rig and 0.5 seconds air-brake lag time. That is what the NCDOT CDL Manual requires for truck drivers. Your 3 second left turn yellow leaves me absolutely no time to brake." If you did not turn left, say, "You shorted me 1.5 seconds on the yellow. I am innocent. And you better increase your yellow light duration else I am going to kill someone and charge the City with wrongful death."

North Carolina Traffic Tickets

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This is the beginning of my second year blogging about North Carolina Traffic Tickets.  I want to thank the almost 3,000 people who have viewed this blog over the past year.  When I started it, I was just trying to keep people more informed about issues involving traffic tickets.  I hope it has helped.

As you are aware, there have been several political races for District Attorney in several judicial districts.We can expect a lot of change in several counties as sitting district attorneys have either left or have been voted out in the primary elections.  I believe voters are looking for a change from the hard nosed positions some district attorneys have been taking on simple traffic violations. In addition to Wake County, I believe that there are three. (1) Ron Moore, the long-time district attorney in Buncombe County, was defeated in the Democratic primary by defense attorney Todd Williams. No Republican is running so Williams will be the next district attorney in Asheville. (2) Melissa Pelfrey, the district attorney in district 6A, lost to Valerie Asbell, the district attorney in district 6B, in the Democratic primary for district attorney in the new consolidated district 6.  This district now covers Halifax and North Hampton Counties (3) In district 25 – Caldwell, Burke, and Catawba Counties – sitting district attorney Jay Gaither trailed David Learner in the Republican primary, but Learner fell just short of the needed 40% and Gaither has called for a runoff. No Democrat is running in the district so the runoff will decide the position.

In Wake County, Lorrin Freeman won the Democratic primary and there will be a runoff between long-time Assistant District Attorney Jeff Cruden leads John Bryant in the Republican primary for district attorney.

No sitting judges have been voted out yet, but there will be several contested seats in November.  One will be in Wake County where Judge Meyer is being challenged.  Judge Meyer has never run for a seat.  He was appointed to replace Judge Ruth when she left her seat after the issued with back dated judgments.

The State Troopers have been stepping up their efforts toward speeders the last few weeks and it is expected to continue until the end of the month.  We have seen a big increase in the number of tickets written.  In addition, the Click it or Ticket campaign has started again.  Make sure you are wearing your seat belt in the proper manner.  North Carolina Law requires that the seat belt be worn properly.  So make sure you are wearing your shoulder strap the correct way and not under your arm.

Finally, although school is getting out for most traditional calendars at the end of this month or the beginning of next month, there are still a lot of year round schools.  As a results, please make sure you keep an eye out for school buses and school zones.  These tickets are much more difficult to keep off your insurance and in the case of passing a school bus, you cannot get a Prayer for Judgment.

Wake County Speeding Ticket

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Tomorrow is the primary for District Attorney in Wake County.  It has been 30 years since we had a new District Attorney in Wake County.  Last week, I sent the following e-mail to all candidates.:

My name is Lawrence Kissling.  I am an attorney in Wake County who represents clients who have received traffic tickets. Over the past 10 years, I have represented approximately 20,000 clients.  I have received request from most of them in the past month seeking my recommendation for the Wake County District Attorney race .  

My typical client’s only interaction with the court system is a traffic ticket.  As a result, they are not overly concerned with issues like violent crimes or new programs for decreasing crime.  What they are mostly concerned with is what will happen if and when they or someone in their family receives a traffic ticket.  Mostly, they want the know if you intend on changing the current policy and offering a reduction to Improper Equipment.  If  so, under what circumstances would you offer such a reduction.

The second question they are asking is about stop sign violations.  Currently, if you race through a stop sign and cause an accident, the District Attorneys Office will dismiss your charges if your insurance company pays the damages incurred by the other vehicle.  However, if you merely fail to come to a complete stop, you receive no reduction at all.  Do you plan on changing this policy or keeping it the same?

Thank you for your kind consideration in these matters.  My clients look forward to your response.

I received responses from three (3) of the candidates.  Here are there responses:

From Jeff Cruden:

I worked as an ADA in the 1st district for the first 3 years out of law school and we did IE's there and I did not notice a lack of security because of it. I see no reason not to offer them here also.

I have often thought about the unfairness of the dismissal in a wreck case upon delivery of an insurance letter but you can't get comparable treatment if your driving is less egregious and you don't cause a crash. I have not thought about that situation in a long time to be honest but when I become DA I would welcome the opportunity to talk with you & other members of the bar to hear your recommendations on how that should be handled. Thanks for your questions.

From Lorrin Freeman:

Mr. Kissling

Thank you for your email and questions.

At this time I have not committed to changing the policy on offering improper equipment pleas in traffic cases.  I do believe however that all tools to dispose of minor traffic offenses need to be considered in shaping policies as we move forward because court time needs to be used in a way to maximize time focused on more serious offenses such as driving while impaired.  I look forward to continuing this dialogue with the Defense Bar and our law enforcement community as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Lorrin Freeman

And from John Bryant:

I do not object to Improper Equipment reductions, but probably not for foolish driving or for multiple violations. 

Stop sign rolls, I’d find a creative way to help those with relatively clean records avoid having to burn the family PJC on rolling a stop sign. 

My goal would be to strengthen the driving habits of the people riding around in the County to help avoid some of the traffic in the Courthouse which is not necessary to accomplish the initial goal in this sentence.

Glad to speak with you about this, if you wish.  


 I did not not hear from any of the other candidates.

So why is this important.  Most of you will never be the victim of a violent crime.  Your only interaction with the court system is going to be with a traffic citation.  Wake County is currently one of the few counties where you cannot receive a reduction to Improper Equipment.  If you listen to those candidates who are currently working in the DA's office, there is a lot of talk about being tough on crime.  I would think that anyone elected with be though on violent crimes.  The question you need to ask yourself is how am I going to be treated when I have a speeding ticket or minor traffic offense.  Am I going to be treated like a criminal?