reckless driving ticket for out of state driver (Woodstock: insurance, lawyer)

[cindy0317]

Dear friends,
I received a reckless driving summon two weeks back when I travling through VA, from NY to NC. I was pulled at I-85 (70 mph zone) in Mecklenburg county, just 90 miles away from my destination which is Raleigh, NC. I was wrote up as 84/70 mph and it is a reckless driving-speed.
A box is checked says that I can avoid going to the court and follow the instructions(pretrial waiver and prepayment instructins)
I called the district count number provided on the ticket and got the repayment amounnt is $181. The clerk says I can pay the amount before the court date without out showing up the court, which is a plea of quity. The court will forward the charge to my NY DMV. They are not sure what consequences I might get according to my NY DMV.
I have called couple VA lawyers. They are pretty confident about can defend my reckless driving to a regular speeding ticket and the charge is $200-$300 which does not include other fees,regular speeding penalty, court fee, cost for driving improvment course, etc.
1) What sever consequenses I might have if I just pay the $181 fine now?
I checked my NY DMV, they do not record out of state points. BTW, I have pretty clean record on NY license which I had for 2.5 years. I want to know how my insurance will be affected if my NY license does not have 'reckless driving ' record.

2) I definetely do not want 'criminal' or 'reckless driving' record. I am relocating to NC and will get a new NC license. I am thinking to pay the fine, $181, now and change my licence to NC when I still have clean record on my NY license. I want to know if this will work.

3) If I go to court myself, will I get the same result as if I hire a lawyer? To be honest, I don't think my case is that bad (Sorry for offeninding VA residents). If I have the document(clean driver record) lawyer asked and present myself in a polite way, can I have my 'reckless driving' removed?
My case is in Mecklenburg county, how is the judge and policy there?

Please help me with any information and any experience you have. Great thanks.

[letitbeirie]

Pay the lawyer. Reckless in VA is a misdemeanor and will follow you around for a long time. It'll be way cheaper in the long run to get it reduced to civil speeding.

[cindy0317]

Will do.

[AnneandGeorge2008]

You are so fortunate. I got one and the lawyer charged $500 to appear in District Court. I have a totally clear driving record.

Like you, I was passing through VA.

Despite my clear history, I was still found guilty. My fine is $400 plus.

I'm appealing to the next higher court - Circuit Court.

There is still no guarantee that this can turn around in my favor.

I'm worried about having a reckless driving because an insurance company can cancel a driver with that charge. Even though I have no accidents nor prev tickets.

I'm going to apear in court regardless. I have to drive back to VA.

I'm just wondering if an atty on the 2nd try will be worth it. Attorney's can't guarantee anything, but they claim to know the judges and how they operate.

[bridgebuilder500]

I've been in the law enforcement field for a decade and have seen many odd laws, but this reckless driving law Virginia has is completely absurd and in my opinion, nothing short of a money maker. I'm 10000% for safe driving and will admit, I write my fair share of speeding tickets out; it's my job. I will also admit that I do so in fair fashion and give at least 18 mph over before I'll even think about stopping you. A few points and a 100+ dollars is more than a fair punishment.

In Virginia's case, the punishment simply doesn't fit the crime. I know of someone who was stopped at 13 mph over the speed limot on a major interstate highway in Virginia. She now faces Misdemeanor charges!?!?

The state is being flooded with revenue from this as well as defense attorneys, many of whom are defending out of state drivers that are desperate and will shell out hundreds of dollars for help.

Reckless driving must be reckless... It has to put other people at serious risk. On some of their major highways in Virginia, ten mph over constitutes reckless driving. Get real. This is a scam in my opinion and helps no one but the state and defense attorneys.

[pplassm]

Yep. I learned long ago to stay within 9 MPH of the speed limit around here. You out-of-staters are hereby warned!

[candy20]

How do I find a good lawyer in Woodstock, VA to represent me in a reckless driving charge case? I live in Texas and rec'd a ticket on 6/11/2011 for 88/70 mph. I attend college in Maine and I am working in Massachusetts for my summer job before school in the fall. Do I need a lawyer or is this something I can take care of myself? My case is June 21st...so no time to waste!

[raj0105]

Guys... VA tickets no matter how bad they are will not effect you in any other states... I am from NC I had like 8 speeding tickets there .. but than I moved to ny and got a licence there my insurance company looked at my record and said it was clean.. I got cheaper insurance in ny than NC. And than I was driving throw VA and got a 98mph ticket in VA with reckless driving I never did anything about it..it never showed up on my record .. but than my destiny brought me here in VA I moved here and got a license here they told me that all I have to do is pay the fine and I did .. now I have a VA license ... it only shows that ticket I got here ... so basically what I am saying is state embed records are not connected... unless u r gona live in VA do not worry about the tickets here... I am saying that after the experience save your money my taxas brother.. VA tickets are bull****.. all VA is trying to do is make money I got caught at 98 in 65 zone ... no consequences.. I paid 400 fine after about 3 years of the ticket and I am paying 121 dollars per months insurance full coverage on 2 cars 07 accord and 04 Benz ... save your money... forget about VA ... that state is sooo crucked... peace..

[montu_n23]

Hello All,

I was pulled over for doing 83 in a 55 mph on dulles airport access way at 5 AM. I know I was speeding, n i was late dropping my fiancee off for her flight which was at 6 AM. (That will not be my excuse - I basically have no excuses). The officer was kind enough, he let me go to drop my fiancee off to the terminal (while he held on to my licence), and came up to me in the departure terminal and wrote me a ticket.

Based on the comments in various threads, I will be going in without an attorney. I have been in the US since 4 years and I have 1 ticket for not stopping before making a right turn at a red signal in Texas 1.5 years back (I had a texas licence at that time). now I am a MD resident with MD licence. apart from that, my record has nothing else. Here are my questions:

1. Will the ticket I got in Texas show up on my drivers record here in MD?
2. Can I know the general procedure as to who I should be speaking with to reduce charges?
a. The cop who gave me the ticket?
b. The prosecutor?
c. CA ???? (Dunno who that is but a lot of ppl refer to CA in the threads)
d. the judge??

If I get in a situation to ask them to reduce my charges, what is practically feasible? A reduction from reckless to speeding? or a speeding ticket with reduced speed? or can I expect a dismissal?

I suppose if I do not get a bargain with the cop and the prosecutor, I can explain to the judge and plead for a lesser charge. At that point, I need to plead guilty with explanation right? please correct me if I am wrong.

This is my first experience in a court and not really sure of the procedures and terminologies.

And, do you think this situation can be handled by myself? or do I need an attorney???


Thank you

[montu_n23]

Hello All,

Thought I shall update you all on my court hearing today. My hearing was scheduled at 9:30 AM in the fairfax county general district court.

I read most of the threads here. I did not get a lawyer - I was doing 83/55 on the dulles airport access..Read the previous post for full details.

It was a gamble but I was sorta confident I could opull it off. I had taken my MD driving record - 0 points. did not get a speedometer caliberation. did not take any driving course. I was expecting to be charged guilty of reckless driving with a fine around 300$. - this was my worst case expectation - for sure no jail term - I might have gotten a suspension of license.

Anyways, so I go there at around 8:30 AM. There are multiple lcd screens which tell you which court room you are in. I called the prosecutors office the day prior to my court hearing. They said, there is no way I can cuta deal with the prosecutor without a lawyer. my best chance would be to speak to the cop and the judge.

I went in to the court room at around 9:15 am. My cop wasnt there. The prosecutor was making deals with the other lawyers. I went out again, and saw the cop who gave me the summons. I went up to him, he didnt recognise me at first. Then I told him what had happened that day,. He recalled and said "yes, I remember you". Then I asked him if he would help me out to get a reduced charge. he said "I wont object if the judge reduces charge, or if he charges you with what it is, well see what happens, you tell what you want to the judge". So I went in...

The judge came, he explained the procedure. he started calling the cops and their respecive cases. The judge seemed nice and understanding with a friendly smile but he did not reduce the charges to anybody while i was waiting for my turn. The judge then called nme. I stood up, he asked me how I plead, I said "guilty". He asked me to come up. N then asked me if I have anything to say. I said :I have no excuses, I am guilty of speeding, just the circumstances that day made me speed." then i narrated what had happend with the cop letting me off and then giving me a ticket at the terminal. the judge smiled. Then I told him that im on a student visa and work in the line of defence and I cannot afford to have a reckless on my record and I requested if the court can reduce my charges. he checked with the cop about my history. he said its clean. then the judge asked me what I do - I told him and an engineer working with lockheed martin. then the judge asked me that what garuntee is there that I wont do this again. I told him this had never happened before and will never again, I promise.

He looked at the cop and reduced my reckless driving charge to a speeding ticket with a 250$ fine.

basically, the speed is not changed, im still charged with 83/55 but a regular speeding ticket and not a reckless charge,. Dunno how that would affect my insurance. but im glad I got reckless out of my way.

to all those ppl who are yet to go to the court, I would say dress nice, speak politely, be respectful, remorseful. If you were speeding above 85, I would suggest you take a lawyer.

For sometime, I was a lil worried inside if I made the right choice going in by myself. luckily it turned out ok. Even if I did hire a lawyer, he might have reduced my fine to less than 250 - but he woulda charged me another 800. Just a gamble I played and it worked out.

Hope this post helps others out here..

Drive safe guys..god bless all..