Does your kid need to be in a child safety seat? A booster? Probably! There are so many people who count on accidents not happening and allow their kids to ride improperly (and illegally) restrained.
Getting a ticket should be the least of your worries. We can handle that. But what would happen if you were in a wreck and your child was injured more seriously than they would have been had you been following the law? You don’t want to live with that sort of guilt. Just follow the rules, folks.
Child Car Seat Laws
Kids younger than 8 years old and weighing less than 80 pounds must ride in a car seat or booster.
Depending on which comes first, kids can upgrade to a seat belt once they turn 8 years old or top 80 pounds.
Car seats must be fastened in a rear seat if your child is under five, weighs less than 40 pounds, and if your car contains passenger-side airbags. You can bypass this requirement if your child’s safety seat is airbag-compatible.
Seat Belts
Kids, younger than 16 years old, must wear a seat belt regardless of where they sit and follow the child safety law weight requirements above.
Everyone 16 years old and older must wear a seat belt in any seat.
In a nutshell, this inmate was a dialysis patient who happened to be just a few days from being released on parole. Prison officials – who have an obligation to provide health care – failed to get the dialysis team to him and he died as a result.
It is clearly wrong when anyone dies when they shouldn’t have to. Granted, this man was a convicted rapist, so I certainly wouldn’t be jumping over pits of flaming crocodiles to help him. Personally, I’m not sure how much I’d want him back out on the streets. But still, prison officials have a duty to make sure their inmates are receiving adequate health care. This inmate’s needs were no secret or surprise to this particular prison; the staff just dropped the ball and a man died due to the error. It’s obvious negligence and there should be consequences. Even convicts with horrible pasts have rights.
But as I’m writing this article it reminded me of the contradictions of American society. Our prisons are over-crowded, and it’s acknowledged that for the most part this is due to the unwarranted prosecution of non-violent drug crime offenders. Citizens are clamoring about not wanting to pay so much in taxes but we keep our prisons more than full, creating a huge burden on our coffers. What’s more is that we are bound to provide health care for all of these inmates, which only serves to drain more money from taxpayer contributions.
Where it really gets wacky is when you think about American citizens’ rights to health care: There is, essentially, no “right” to health care held by American citizens. Emergency rooms are mandated to provide emergency care regardless of ability to pay, and in some part this is funded. Medicare and Medicaid, for those that qualify, help to get care for people in particular circumstances (mostly the elderly and poor mothers and their children). But the rest of the population has no right to basic preventative health care.
So where is the wrong here? Maybe it’s everywhere. It’s wrong that a man died in prison because he didn’t get the health care he is guaranteed. But what about the overwhelming numbers of citizens – who haven’t done anything to warrant incarceration – who need health care and can’t get it? What about them? Why is health care a right to inmates but not to everyday citizens? And why do we have to have so many people in prison? Has anyone ever thought that maybe we should legalize marijuana, tax the bejesus out of it, and use that to fund a universal health care system? I’m just spit-balling, but there are several birds right there and I think I can get ’em with just this one little rock.
I don’t have the answers, but it’s something to think about.
“How long is it going to take to settle my injury claim?”
My response is this: “How long is it going to take for you to recover?”
I love answering questions with a question, mostly because I’m a jerk. But this is a legitimate response. The length of time it takes to handle an injury claim is intrinsically tied to the recovery of the victim. It makes absolute sense that the value of a case where someone takes 1 week to recover is going to be less than the value of a case where it takes 1 year for them to recover. How do we know early on which of those situations you have? We don’t! We can’t! What about lost wages? Medical expenses? Permanent impairment? Scarring? How do we find the real depth of these issues without allowing them to reach their nadir?
If you really want a fair valuation of your claim, you have to give it time to develop.
It’s trite, but true: Do you want it done fast or do you want it done right? With respect to injury claims if you want it done fast, you’re not going to get it done right.
When you get a ticket in North Carolina, you have to a) show up for court and work it out, b) hire a lawyer to do that, or, in some circumstances, c) just pay it off.
If you don’t do any of these things, then the court gives you 20 days to get your junk together and go to the court house to say mea culpa and get a new court date. If you do, you then reset and get those options above.
But if you miss your court date and don’t get it rescheduled within 20 days this is reported to DMV. The clock starts running on you then and if you don’t meet DMV’s deadline they will revoke your license indefinitely.
This happens to a lot of people, and some of them call me to fix things. Some of them go to court themselves, some hire other attorneys.
What most people don’t realize is that even if you handle that ticket that revoked you your license is still going to be revoked until you contact DMV to pay a reinstatement fee. A lot of people don’t do this, so even when they think they’re fixed, they’re not.
Just don’t miss your court date. That’s the best way to avoid trouble. Call and attorney or show up.
But if you do miss it make sure you get some help and don’t forget to contact DMV after the ticket is resolved or you could end up with even more headache.
It’s absolutely fascinating, and an intriguing part of NC legal history.
In a nutshell: Two legislators are embroiled in a battle over estate of one of the legislator’s wives; the other legislator represented the wife’s family. The former (Fleming) being as another friend of mine says, “bigger, stronger, and more comfortable with violence,” attacked his diminutive rival attorney (Avery) with a whip and beat him to the point that he could not defend himself.
Weeks later as they both entered the courthouse in Morganton, Fleming was hurling insults at Avery, with no response by Avery. After Fleming was wrapping up his business with the court room clerk, Avery shot him within 5 feet of the judge.
Avery was found not guilty of murder by reason of “emotional insanity.” He would have to be insane to murder someone in front of a judge, right? That’s some fine lawyerin’.
Here’s the gist: Paying off your ticket is pleading guilty. That gets you a conviction. If you are paying off a moving violation, there’s a good chance you’ll get DMV and insurance points. That can get your license revoked and/or raise your insurance rates for three years. So don’t just pay off a ticket without talking to an attorney first. Most attorneys who handle tickets will tell you when paying one off is OK. Call one. Call me!
