Reckless by Speed, Traffic Ticket... Advice (Wytheville: lawyer, insurance, travel)

[CoachJuice]

I was driving home through Wythe County Virginia yesterday and got pulled over for speeding. The patrolman pulled me and the guy in front of me over but nobody else in the flowing pack of traffic. We were both in the right hand travelling lane not going any faster than anyone else in the pack we were driving with. However, upon trying to figure out my fine for this ticket I was instructed that it is not prepayable because of the speed, 83 in a 65, thus the reckless by speed lable on my ticket. Does anybody have any information on these tickets. If I show up to court do I have a decent chance of at least getting it reduced to a speeding ticket? From what I could research, it seems like VA gets pretty harsh with the traffic violations. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[vamtncat]

I live in Wythe County and yes they are harsh on speeders. Plain and simple it doesn't matter what "the pack" is doing down here. If you are speeding then you are speeding. I'm assuming that you might have been on 81 which through Wythe County is a dangerous piece of road with Tractor trailer accidents on a weekly basis. That's one reason why they crack down. Also, the regional State Trooper headquarters is in Wytheville. If you do go to court my advice is to dress well and be respectfull of the judge at all times. If you even come close to copping an attitude with them you will loose any chance of having your ticket reduced. Good Luck and slow down!

[bolverk]

Reckless Driving is a Misdemeanor in Virginia...

So unless you want a criminal record, don't just pay the fine...goto court and see if you can get the judge to reduce the offense.

I had the same thing happen to me last year returning home from NC...I got a ticket for 82 in a 65 on I95...the officer pulled me and the vehicle in front of me...he even told me I could avoid court by just paying the fine...yeah right!

I sought the advice of a Lawyer and here's what he told me to do....

Get a copy of your driving record from DMV (mine showed that I hadn't had a speeding violation for the last 10 years)

Take a "Driver's Education" class before going to court. Make sure you get a certificate of completion.

I did these two items and presented them to the judge and he dismissed all the charges and the fines for the ticket.

BTW, the guy in front of me didn't do anything other than show up for court and had the "reckless" bit dropped but still had to pay the fines.

Think on this...I believe in Virginia 3 misdemeanor offenses = FELONY

So get caught speeding 2 more times and your in real trouble

[MCDANIELLP]

I am a Deputy Clerk at a different General District Court in Virginia, and I can tell you that Bolverk has the best advice. Although every judge does things differently, being prepared with Driver Improvement and your driving record looks good when you appear. You are required to appear on that date, otherwise the judge will almost certainly issue a show cause or capias for your arrest (whether you are an out-of-state resident or not.) Because Reckless Driving is a jailable offense, you will need an attorney, and we see the most reductions of charges from Reckless to a regular speeding code section when you retain your own attorney prioir to your court date.

Reckless is a misdemeanor, but 3 misdemeanors is VA does NOT equal a felony...I'm not sure where he got that from.....but 3 misdemeanors is..3 misdemeanors.

[cb at sea]

Anything over 80 MPH is reckless...no matter how many mph over the limit you're going.

[msdmatt]

So a few months ago I was driving through Virginia and got clocked at 83/65 (reckless driving). I was informed I'd have to go back to go to court (I live in Athens, GA, so this sucked). With my record (2 speeding tickets within a year and a half and I'm a 20-year-old male driver) things didn't look so good. So we hired a lawyer for us (750$). I gave him all my information I could (College Transcript w/ 3.5 GPA from UGA, Driving Record, Speedometer Calibration (it was off by 1 mph), and 3 letters of recommendation by my Employers (Pharmacists, who gave good recommendations for me).
So we got up there yesterday to court (Dinwiddie County VA) and the court was full of traffic violations (I don't know if they give a lot of tickets or what but the courtroom was packed and only about 1/4 of the people who were given tickets during the given time period were actually there). So at first I thought this was going to take forever, and had I not had a lawyer it probably would have. The judge took on all cases with lawyers first (because they have other stuff to do afterwards) and then said if anyone else had somewhere to be that day to let him know and they would do their best to accomodate them. But when court started and all the lawyers started going up, the same result kept coming up: "Defective Equipment". To be honest, I have no idea what that means but it keeps the speeding ticket off my record, makes it so I have no points on my license, I don't have to take any defensive driving course, and I had to pay a small fine (mine was $100, but there were others with the same charge of Defective Equipment who paid anywhere between $50 to $150, that seemed to be the range). So after the ticket and court fees I ended up paying $161 and I was done with it all.
So I guess if you're like me and insurance and the problems a reckless driving ticket will cause is your main concern, it might make sense to get a lawyer who can get it down to "Defective Equipment" (because thats what ALL the lawyers had done, which was at least 8 or 9, and there were still more after me). Also, try to see if they can get that negotiated before your date so they can represent you and you don't have to waste any more time/money going on your own.
If you have a good record, though, and insurance isn't a problem or getting to court isn't either, you could try taking your chances by explaining to the judge and hoping he'll just knock it down to a normal speeding ticket.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

[daniel roberts]

as a cop im troubled by the "pack of traffic statement", if you can truly prove or convince the judge you were "picked out of a group of cars" then that might lessen the case of the officer. namely radars unless hand operated (a radar gun) cannot pinpoint which car is doing what in heavy traffic, unless your just blatantly speeding. if he can articulate his training and experience as being sufficient in this field then its a no win, but then if he impeaches his own testimony by stating that you were the only vehicle or one of two vehicles travelling in the path of his radar and this can be proven as untrue then win you will. check with that dept though, their equipment and training is a matter of public record, remember radar guns-just face the ticket

[Rosinante]

Originally Posted by bolverk

Think on this...I believe in Virginia 3 misdemeanor offenses = FELONY

So get caught speeding 2 more times and your in real trouble

If this is true, bolverk, then Virginia has actually softened things up over the past thirty or so years. It used to be back in the sixties that a single reckless driving ticket meant your license would be suspended for 90 days; ditto ANY two moving violations within a 12 month period. Get a third moving violation within 24 months and your license was revoked for 1 year. A reckless driving ticket back then, BTW, could have been written if your speed were 11 miles over the posted speed.

No way to get out of these if you got caught in a school zone.