ticket in virginia (Richmond: live in, cost, dangerous)

[travel2b]

i was traveling on rt 85 in virginia about three months ago and got a ticket for "reckless driving"...i was doing 86 in a 65 which in va they consider reckless driving...the officer would not let me speak and i was told to call a number and find out what the fine was..hmmmm. almost had a heart attack. the cost would be $2,500 and or one year in jail..and 6pts on my license!!!!!!. are you kidding me?
i have to appear and the woman at the court asked me if i had a clean driving record and that if so i should fight it...does any one know what the ususal outcome might be? i have heard horror stories. needless to say i am going to fight it but should i bring an overnight bag?????
i live in nj...it will take about 7 hours to drive there and i have to be there at 10 am...would love to hear if anyone out there has similar story. i think it is about revenue but come on...

[Electron]

Slow down, yankee.

Go to court. Judge will likely lower it to improper driving, reduce the fine, and knock off a couple points.

[Marks]

Originally Posted by Electron

Slow down, yankee.

Go to court. Judge will likely lower it to improper driving, reduce the fine, and knock off a couple points.

Heck yes! Your right Electron. Slow down. We vacationed in Virginia in 2000 for about a week, got to the Airport (Richmond), rented a car, then got to the motel. Next morning started out on our drive. Now, coming from California where we drive 85-90 on our freeways I immediately knew that those speeds would land us in hot water, I could tell by how others drove, and that the troopers sitting in the grassy median weren’t there taking a nap. We drove all over even up into WV and Penn. without a problem. It really is respecting other states highway laws.

[dullnboring]

Fight the ticket. I forget the specific percentage, but I've read that a majority of the time, people who fight tickets win their cases. Especially if this is your first offense and if you're from out-of-state, judges tend to be more lenient and will at least lower the offense and/or fine.

Interestingly enough, I had a similar situation occur in New Jersey when I was visiting from Virginia. I was pulled over for making an illegal right on red (there was a sign but I swear I didn't see it) and when pulled over, I couldn't find the car's registration (wasn't driving my car). The cop chose to write me up a ticket for only one offense, that being the lack of a registration. However, while he was writing up the ticket, I managed to find the registration, showed it to him, but he told me he had no choice but to still give me the ticket as apparently cops and not allowed to tear up or nullify tickets after they write them, meaning I was going to have to fight the ticket in court to get it dismissed. I was pissed, thinking that I was going to have to trek back up to Jersey for a court appearance only to find out I could do the whole thing by mail which I did. It took some time but some five months or so later, the ticket/case was dismissed. I'm not sure if the laws in Virginia are different or more stringent since this is a reckless driving case, but you may want to see (if you haven't already) whether or not you can fight this via mail. I had no idea to the fine for reckless driving was so severe. I think most people who are charged with reckless driving fight it. I know other people who have been charged with it and none of them told me about having to pay $2500 and certainly none of them served time in jail so presumably either they were able to get the fine/offense lowered, paid the fine and just didn't tell me, or they've significantly increased the fine since then.

[GradVT06]

No idea if this works.... so take it with a grain of salt. Call the police station where the officer works, and ask what days off that officer normally has, if it's regular. If so, call the court and reschedule for one of the officer's off days because you'd have to drive in from New Jersey and for some reason can only make it those days (like Thursdays, for example). Perhaps the officer will not show up, in which case you should win your case without having to say anything because the cop isn't there.

Read it along with several others things from (I believe) edmunds.com a while ago. No idea if it works, just something I read. Might want to search edmunds to see if the article is still there.... they had a bunch of ways to 'avoid' stuff once you get a ticket. Hope something works.

On a side note, sucks that the officer didn't knock of some mph. I got a ticket 2 years ago and the officer said he'd knock several to lower it to below reckless driving.. got lucky i guess.

[vb_rtc757]

In VA., any speed 20 or more miles over the posted limit is automaticaly RECKLESS DRIVING. That being said, ....most of the time drivers from out of state will get a good amount of the 'initially stated' fine reduced for just showing up in the Va. court. Sad to say, but as the earlier post stated, the troopers in the grassy median are NOT taking naps. I know it's a little late, but let the traffic around you give you an idea what the locals will tolerate, I've found that usually works. ( driving 47 yrs. and only 1 ticket for speeding, and that was after driving only 2 years - on a motorcycle doing 95 in a 55 zone. Trooper dropped it to 70, so I beat reckless) Not that I don't have a bit of a 'heavy foot' at times, just I pay attention to adjacent traffic when in doubt.
Try to get the case continued maybe once, for a 'good' reason, of course, then keep the next. Be EXTERMELY polite and regretful about your wrongdoing, eat a little 'Crow' and maybe save some dough!
Good Luck!

[amuelle]

i am in the same boat...i have to go to court next week. let me know if you have already gone and what you did. i am debating on hiring a lawyer!?

[Steven2149]

Might I suggest taking responsibility for your actions instead of trying to "beat" the ticket. Too many people die because of "good" drivers who think its okay to drive mach 10 everywhere they go. I used to work in the judicial sector in Va. If you go and just owe up to the violation, don't get a lawyer, and show that aside from that incident you have been responsible as a driver.... the judge may very well reduce the ticket to improper or simple speeding. If you go get just some lawyer, you will spend a lot of money for the same result. If you go to court with the right attitude, not blaming the officer, you will spend less money overall.

[tarp]

You're wrong. People don't die because of speed. Speed is just one factor.

[akm4]

The World Health Org says-

"Speed has been identified as a key risk factor in
road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of
a road crash as well as the severity of the inju-
ries that result from crashes.
The relationship between speed and injury
severity is particularly critical for vulnerable
road users such as pedestrians and cyclists."

My brother-in-law is a CA Highway Patrolman. He says if alcohol and speeding didn't exist, he'd be out of a job.

You speed, you lose control, you have less response time, etc. It just makes sense that speed is dangerous.