By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

There will be fewer breaks for speeders in North Carolina who are caught going more than 25 miles over the speed limit.

Under a new law (S925) effective Dec. 1, improper equipment, speedometer, and prayer for judgment continued (PJC) pleas are off limits to drivers charged with those speeds.
Improper equipment or speedometer pleas are non-moving violations that essentially do not affect insurance rates or points. A PJC also carries no points and does not affect insurance rates with certain limitations and frequency restrictions.

Rep. Dewey Hill said the bill that re-emerged in the last hours was “unusual.”
Pressure came from the Raleigh News and Observer that had cited several cases of repeat offenders being given breaks again and again, he said. Backing up editorials on the issue were statistics showing speeding caused more deaths in the state than drunk driving.

Opposed to the tougher restrictions were some attorneys who represent speeders. “Some of the lawyers argued it was an insurance bill,” Hill pointed out.

Certain provisions that would count PJC’s as a past conviction in determining insurance rates didn’t make it into the bill. By law, only one PJC is allowed per household per year.

Moving violations affect driver license points and automobile insurance rates are based, in part, on the points.

A person’s driving record has the greatest influence on insurance rates, according to the N.C. Department of Insurance automobile insurance guide.

Convictions for moving violations and at-fault accidents amount to insurance points ranging from one to 12 and insurance rate increases ranging from 25 to 340 percent.
Speeding 10 mph or less in excess of the speed limit but less than 55 mph results in one point versus four points for speeds in excess of 80 mph when the speed limit is 70 or greater.

Four points equates to an 80-percent insurance increase according to a NCDOI chart.
Driving during revocation or suspension of a license is eight points while a DWI or a hit and run resulting in bodily injury or death is 12 points.

On Aug.6 (one of two traffic days per month) held in Columbus County courts recently there were 460 traffic related cases on the calendar and the majority involved speeding.

Thirty-one of the Columbus County cases involved individuals charged with going more than 25 mph greater than the speed limit. In 16 cases the drivers were charged with going more than 30 mph greater than the posted speed.

In four cases drivers were charged with going more than 40 miles greater than the speed limit.

Three of those involved speeds at or greater than 96 mph and one was a 61 in a 20 mph zone.