re: OT: I could sure use some help. Re: my son's speeding ticket in Jefferson County

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Did a local or GSP write the ticket? I’m asking for a reason.

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I'm really curious to know what you know.

In 2014, on the way back to work from a funeral and with a colleague in my car, I got hit by a GSP for doing a whopping 36mph over the limit. This was in Hall county. It was, interestingly enough, not a super speeder because I was doing 71 in a (very poorly marked) 35. Super speeder is anything over 75 on a two-lane road or over 85 on a four-lane road. I wouldn't have qualified in either case, but for the record, it was a four-lane, limited access highway, similar to 316. My car's GPS showed the speed limit as 65mph. My stand-alone GPS also showed it as 65mph. Every sign on the road up to the point I was clocked showed the limit as 65mph. Except one. One single, solitary sign read 35mph and about 300 yards from it sat the GSP off the shoulder. No school zone. No construction zone. To hidden drive. Nothing. Just a random 35mph sign. When the officer pulled me over, I honestly had no idea why (thinking I was going about 6 miles an hour over the limit). When he told me, I felt like I was about to vomit.

Needless to say, I went to court (it was mandatory for that speed). I actually went back and retraced my route a few days later, with a camera, just to show what all the signs leading up to that one said and to show what two different GPS systems were saying. In court, I never really needed to show the video. The solicitor wasn't willing to negotiate the speed or the fine. When I went up to answer the charges, even the judge himself admitted that there appeared to be some inconsistencies with the signage and stated it wasn't the first time it had been in question. Still, I paid the fine (about $240) and went on my way.

At any rate, I say all this to say that I shopped insurance not long after that and my rate on the new company I went with was $70 a month cheaper than my other carrier ($117 a month for two vehicles, both full coverage). Major carrier, too. And they saw that ticket and the accompanying points. You just never know what will happen. I was 34, though, so that's a little different. Still, the OP has been given a lot of good advice here. Best thing to do is start by speaking with the prosecutor, if you can, and go from there. The kid needs to learn a lesson, though, that's for sure. I think you already know that and you'll have to figure out what works for you. You've been given a lot of good ideas for that as well.

Good luck!