Accelerated out of fear, speeding ticket no less.

[eyeslikeapisces]

I'm in North Carolina.

I was riding home from picking up some fast food and went down a road that is known for being "bad"-its refered to as "crack alley"

As I was going down the road (the speed limit is 20) there were various people walking up and down the sides of the street, obviously prostitutes,selling...ect.ect There is a red light in the center of this road.

The closer I got to the red light I noticed there were 3 guys motioning to my car, for whatever reason I wont make assumptions.

I weigh a whole 130lbs these were big burly guys.


The light was turning yellow and I did not want to get stopped there, so out of fear I accelerated to make the light and got clocked doing 37 in a 20.

I even told the officer that I felt unsafe and that it was a judgement call for me and he only said, "Yes its a bad neighborhood thats why I only wrote it as an infraction"


I have never had a ticket of any kind before, btw.


I called the clerk of court today and she said if I took the denfensive driving class they would lower it down and I would only have to pay the fine of 160, plus 60 for the DD class.


But, I still feel somewhat slightest, this was not an issue of me being careless if anything I was trying to be careful, and protect myself from what looked to become a bad situation.


any thoughts on what I should do?

[Two Bit]

There are times when we need to do things that are wrong for our own protection. However, when we do those things, we need to be ready to accept the consequences.

You did something that you thougth would keep you safer, but you broke the law. Sometimes we're stuck in a hard spot. You could try a necessity defense, but these people were motioning for you to come to them. I don't think it will fly.

In the future, I'd find another route.

[sukharev]

Figure out if DA deal included no points, if not, then consider fighting ticket in court (but not with your story, use regular techniques advised elswhere on this site).

[Robbie0723]

What County?

[Pugilist]

The driving law in many states includes what I call a "necessity defense."

Here, for example, is California's regarding traffic lights:

21462. The driver of any vehicle, the person in charge of any
animal, any pedestrian, and the motorman of any streetcar shall obey
the instructions of any official traffic signal applicable to him and
placed as provided by law, unless otherwise directed by a police or
traffic officer or when it is necessary for the purpose of avoiding a
collision or in case of other emergency, subject to the exemptions
granted by Section 21055.

Check your local law.

Pug