Legal Question in Traffic Law in North Carolina

A seatbelt ticket is one that is in some districts actually cheaper to hire a lawyer for than paying it off - if you handle it timely. At this point, you are probably looking at the prospect of having to pay off the original ticket plus a $200 penalty or hiring an attorney to pull it and attempt to get it dismissed at around at least $500 or handle it yourself. This last option could be a mixed bag of possible results. It may be that you simply stroll up to the clerks office, ask that your old case be added on to the calendar and some young ADA dismisses your case and sends you home with a smile or it could be the clerks jerk you around, the ADA says pay it or go to trial and you end up wasting several days trying to take care of a seatbelt ticket that could most likely have been taken care of for less than $100 originally. One last thing, if you do handle it yourself I recommend not playing the fact that the officer has been fired like a trump card - just because the officer has been fired doesn't mean the officer can not be subpoenaed. Be nice and apologetic and maybe you'll get the first scenario.