All Pleas Must be Approved by the DA or Presiding Judge.
9mph Over the Posted Limit (NC Drivers) Provided your offense is not in a school zone, if you have not had a moving violation in the past 4 years, reducing your speed to 9mph over the limit does not cause the 45% per year (for 3 years) insurance increase associated with speeding. In North Carolina speeding convictions result in both DMV "driving points" and Safe Driver Incentive Plan "insurance points". For DMV purposes, if you are convicted of speeding 16mph or greater over the posted speed limit, you will lose your license for 60 days. If you are convicted of speeding 25mph or greater over the posted speed, you will lose your license for 1 year. So a plea agreement reducing your speed to under 16mph will usually help saving your license. For Insurance purposes, if you have not had a "moving violation" in the past four (4) years, a reduction to a speed of 10mph or less over the original charge will not result in insurance points being assessed against you. Non-NC Drivers: Call your Insurance Agent or DMV: Your insurance point system may be similar to the one in North Carolina.
Prayer for Judgment Continued ("PJC"): This is North Carolina's version of Deferred Adjudication (used in most states) whereby a "judgment" is not entered and thus points are not created. But the PJC does not make a ticket disappear - it is reported to NCDMV (and your state if an out-of-state driver) who will see it and list it on your record. They just will not "act" on it thus it will not result in points for the violation unless you have a CDL license or were driving a commercial vehicle or you've had more than two (2) PJCs in the past five (5) years. DMV points may be important if you have lots of driving points within a three (3) year period. But DMV points are different from insurance points. For insurance purposes a PJC is not a conviction so it will not add driving points or increase your insurance rates provided you have not had a prior PJC within the past four (4) years on you insurance POLICY - which takes into account all drivers on the "policy", not just you. Out of State Drivers? The PJC seems to work in some states but not others. We've heard from clients a PJC works in TN, FL, NJ & OH, but not in SC, GA, or VA. So if you reside out of state we do not recommend a PJC because we are not sure what happens in your state. You should check with your own DMV, but a reduction is probably safer. Eligibility: A PJC is completely up to the presiding judge. But generally you are eligible if your speed is less than 20mph over the posted limit and you've not received any: (1) 4pt violations or revocations in past 5yrs; (2) DWI in past 10 yrs; and (3) more than 6pts total in past 3 yrs. Reducing a future ticket to 9mph does not "activate" a prior PJC.
Unsafe Movement: If within the past four (4) years you have already had a PJC and a "moving violation" neither remedy will help you avoid an insurance increase. So the goal at this point is to minimize rather than eliminate your insurance increase. A highway ticket - over 10mph - creates a 45% increase; unsafe movement creates a 25% increase. In both cases the increase lasts for three (3) years. Unsafe movement is grouped under "all other moving violations" for DMV point purposes.
PJC vs. 9mph Over: A PJC does not result in driving points or insurance points. It is the closest Buncombe County comes to a dismissal. But it has some limitations: (1) whether it results in insurance points is determined by EVERYONE on your insurance policy - only ONE (1) PJC is allowed per POLICY every four (4) years. This may be just you or it may include your spouse, your kids, your dog and anyone else you insure under your policy. And (2) you are not eligible for a PJC if you "hold" a commercial drivers license (CDL). And "hold" includes an "inactive" CDL. But PJCs are hard to come by so we generally take the position of "use it or lose it" if you are eligible and it will benefit you now.