Help for reckless driving? Please? (Fairfax, Cana: lawyer, school, costs)

[Psh211707]

Hello, everyone. I hope people are having a good evening.
I need some serious help. Today, I was pulled over on 66, going 83 miles on 65 speed limit.
In VA, anything over 80 is reckless driving.

I am 18 years old, and have been driving for about two years. I have never broken the law till now.

I have already thought of some options. I am going to sign up for driver's school first before court, and bring the certification of passing from the school. My father is going to go with me, and tell them that he has punished me for poor driving behavior.

I have also written an apology letter for my offense, but I don't know who I should send it to. Does anyone have an idea?

Help would be GREATLY appreciated.

((By the way, when I was speaking to the officer, I remained calm, I didn't ask for a warning, and I manned up for what I have done. I just want to know what I can do, to get points reduced, and not have my license taken away. Where I work, it is IMPORTANT that I have the ability to drive.))

PLEASE HELP!

[jbird82]

Others here who have had experiences with Reckless Driving should be able to help you better but you should be able to get that reduced to just a speeding violation.

[Bigfoot424]

I would call the commonwealth attorneys office for the county where the offense occurred and check with them on attending the course before the court date. Make sure this is accepted before doing it.

I would not hire an attorney if this were me. I was a police officer in this area for over 25 years so I'm speaking from experience of how the courts work. I would attend court dressed in a manner appropriate for court. Having your dad with you is okay but you're an adult now so the judge may not want to hear from him but you never know. Find the trooper involved before court and ask him for his recommendation to the prosecutor for a reduction to speeding for a guilty plea. If you can't find the trooper you will have a chance to speak with the prosecutor at some point. Ask for the same thing. I will almost guarantee this will work. Everyone wants to get out of court and plea bargaining is a normal process. You can try mailing the letter to the commonwealth attorneys office (Google them) and maybe they'll give it to the prosecutor handling court that day.
If this does not work then you have the right to ask for a continuance but like I said earlier, it will work. 83/65 is not that bad compared to many others. And don't go in claiming you've never broken the law before, you just hadn't been caught before this day. Now slow down.

[Psh211707]

Thank you, Bigfoot424. This has been the greatest advice yet.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by Psh211707

Thank you, Bigfoot424. This has been the greatest advice yet.

You're welcome. Another option, although no guarantees, it to have your speedometer checked. If it is off in your favor then you may have an easy reduction to speeding. But this costs money and it doesn't always work in the drivers favor.

[boyd888]

I would suggest not doing traffic school before you go to court. It isn't going to help you any. A written apology is also pointless. Sometimes you can request traffic school in court in exchange for having a ticket dismissed...you complete traffic school, show proof to the court, and they dismiss the ticket (but to be dismissed it has to be court ordered). Since you got reckless I seriously doubt the judge will do this, but it is a good idea to keep that traffic school in your back pocket for a later time.

If you go to court it is a 100% guarantee the ticket will be reduced to only a "regular" speeding ticket, like you plead guilty to 75 in a 65 or similar and in exchange they drop the reckless part.

[reckless99]

There are no guarantees in life, especially when it comes to the Criminal Justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Despite what some folks have advised, I'd ask you to consider whether you think you are competent enough to represent yourself in court over a criminal charge.

You wouldn't go to court yourself for a DUI or Assault & Battery, or any other Class 1 misdemeanor criminal charge, so why folks think it's OK to go it alone is beyond me.

And in case I forget:

The Code of Virginia has over 20 sections pertaining to reckless driving. It is defined as a Class 1 misdemeanor criminal offense, not a traffic infraction or a speeding ticket. For example, Virginia code explicitly defines the act of speeding 20 mph or more above the posted speed limit (or at any speed greater than 80 mph) as reckless driving.

All drivers convicted of reckless driving in Virginia, including out-of-state and foreign (e.g. Canadian) drivers, will have a permanent criminal record that will be indexed in the NCIC criminal database. The conviction will also be added to a Virginia driving record for 11 years, and six demerit points will be applied.

In many jurisdictions in Virginia, such as Fairfax County, the prosecutor won't even talk to defendants without representation.

If you follow some of the other advice given here, be sure to keep your options open. To do that, if you feel that you might not be given a fair shake, be sure to ask the judge for a continuance, as this will give you a chance to get a lawyer who might actually know what they are doing.

If you have dressed appropriately, as advised, when the judge asks you what your plea is, simply tell him in a "humble-pie" sort of manner that you'd like to ask for a continuance since you didn't realize that this charge would result in a criminal record if convicted.

You might just luck out and the judge will either:

a. Give you a continuance on the spot
b. Ask you more about your case and reduce the charge to something like speeding, or improper driving, or defective equipment
c. Ask you more about your case and give you the option of completing "driving school" to dismiss the charge
d. Refuse to give you a continuance (in which case, you must appeal the verdict to Circuit Court ASAP if he tries it there and then and finds you guilty)

As you can see, this charge is nothing to dick around with.

Hope this worked out for you.

[Guamanians]

My fiancee got her 1st speeding ticket at age 16. She was driving 88 in a 55, and thus a reckless charge was pending. Her Dad went with her to court, and she got it dropped to a speeding ticket. She also got received a package in the mail... a cassette tape of Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55"! -- her uncle sent it to her ;-)

[bmwguydc]

We now have an official information thread for all reckless driving tickets for Northern Virginia. Because of various dates, and similar responses, all the existing threads are being closed and redirected to the new thread here: https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...on-thread.html. Please use the new thread to discuss these issues, and if you have any questions DM a moderator. Thank you.