E-Pay,why it is good for the state, good for insurance companies. Bad for you.

www.sluderlaw.com
Recently, the state instituted a new payment system, initially in certain counties, but eventually statewide, allowing persons to pay their infraction speeding tickets, seat-belt violations, etc., online, using a credit card. (For a small addl fee).  For the state, it will save on personnel in the courthouses who would have to deal with individuals going to court, or mailing in payment which then has to be processed and entered into the computers. But that is the end of the good, as far as I can see.

The insurance companies stand to make a lot more money.  I guess that's good if you are a stockholder in State Farm.   People who pay their speeding tickets, stop sign, red light, following too closely, unsafe movement, failure to yeild, all these folks will get an insurance increase, from 25% to 40%  more. Each time their insurance renews. For the next three years. Even with a perfect record.  So, the insurance company stands to earn an additional $1000-1500 or more over the next 3 years, from EACH person who pays by e-pay and has a ticket other than a seat belt (drivers with a clean record and a ticket for only 9 mph over the limit may not get an increase- it depends on a couple other factors).  So, for all the drivers who are ticketed for going 15 over (the main violation I see written) when the officer tells you that you can go online and pay it, your insurance company is going to thank you for the next three years. (Hiring a lawyer for a couple hundred bucks, or less, will prevent this in almost all cases)

Drivers are being told by the officers that they can go online and pay their citations with a credit card. At the courthouse, you see signs directing persons not to stand in line, but go online.  No where does the state inform you that your insurance will go up, and paying it online will cost you $1000 to $1500 or more.  Ahh, the price we pay for convenience.  The few bucks a good traffic lawyer would charge to handle the citation makes a lot more sense. But, you wont see signs in the courthouse telling you that. And you will usually not hear that from officers.

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This Blog is not legal advice

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now, to give me a place to rant and rave about new laws, bad laws, misapplied laws, and other things wrong with NC law. I want to start off by making it clear that this is just that- my rantings. Don't take anything I say in this blog as necessarily correct. It is my personal opinion. It is not legal advice, nor should anyone base any actions on the things in this blog.

Having said that, I have a number of subjects I hope to blog about in the coming days, weeks, months.  Everything from DWI laws that have trampled the Constitution, DMV rules that seem to make no sense at all, Administrative rules that tend to create financial burdens sufficient to drive a good person to a life of crime.  And unintended consequences of laws passed, but not though about first.

For example, it seems the legislature would rather have young people smoke pot than drink beer. The penalties for having beer if you are under 18 are far greater than the penalty for having marijuanna in small amounts. Surely that isn't what the legislature intended, is it? That's the current state of the law. I will explore and explain this in my next post.