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Old 06-04-2010, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Sterling, VA
1,059 posts, read 2,964,182 times
Reputation: 633

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I was involved in an accident almost 2 weeks ago and received a summons to appear in traffic court, charged with failure to yield right of way. No one was injured. I have only a speeding ticket (35 in a 25 zone) from 2003 on my record. Today I received solicitations from 3 attorney's offices. Do I need a lawyer for this? I would like to hear from anyone with a similar experience.
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Old 06-04-2010, 05:28 PM
 
Location: Alexandria, VA
15,145 posts, read 27,805,301 times
Reputation: 27275
No, you don't need a lawyer. I HATE how attorney's can find out about traffic summons, etc. Since you have a good record, you most likely will only get a fine (and pts.).
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Old 06-05-2010, 03:27 AM
 
Location: Virginia-Shenandoah Valley
7,670 posts, read 14,250,535 times
Reputation: 7464
I'm speaking from over three decades as a police officer so take it as you will. I know some people don't like advice from LEO's. I would not hire an attorney unless it's your contention that you are innocent and want to fight the charge. If you plan on pleading guilty then in my opinion you would be wasting your money hiring an attorney. Fines for cases like this are pretty much set at a certain fee and can go up or down based on ones driving record. If you are interested I would go in, plead guilty and ask the judge for driving school. It's one day in a classroom setting or even online from what I've heard. Once completed you drop the certificate back off at the courhouse and the charge is dismissed. I don't know what county this happened so hopefully this works where you are. If driving school is not an option then plead guilty and you'll be out in 15 minutes.
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Old 06-05-2010, 06:21 AM
 
Location: Sterling, VA
1,059 posts, read 2,964,182 times
Reputation: 633
Thanks to all, I appreciate the advice.
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Old 06-05-2010, 06:21 AM
 
Location: Orange, California
1,576 posts, read 6,352,370 times
Reputation: 758
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigfoot424 View Post
I'm speaking from over three decades as a police officer so take it as you will. I know some people don't like advice from LEO's. I would not hire an attorney unless it's your contention that you are innocent and want to fight the charge. If you plan on pleading guilty then in my opinion you would be wasting your money hiring an attorney. Fines for cases like this are pretty much set at a certain fee and can go up or down based on ones driving record. If you are interested I would go in, plead guilty and ask the judge for driving school. It's one day in a classroom setting or even online from what I've heard. Once completed you drop the certificate back off at the courhouse and the charge is dismissed. I don't know what county this happened so hopefully this works where you are. If driving school is not an option then plead guilty and you'll be out in 15 minutes.
That sounds like good advice. Particularly for a routine traffic citation. The only caveat that I would add is that I think there can be a benefit of hiring a lawyer if you are charged with a more serious traffic violation, such as a DUI, even if you intend to plead guilty. Not your situation though, and I would definitely go it alone here.
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Old 06-05-2010, 09:29 AM
 
68 posts, read 222,767 times
Reputation: 47
Another option is if Virginia allows deferred adjudication. I'm new to VA so I'm not yet familiar with it's traffic laws but in many states you can ask for deferred adjudication...Basically you pay the fine and are put on probation for a certain number of months and after the probation period if you don't get another ticket it is effectively wiped from your record (ie insurance never learns about it).

Jim
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Old 06-05-2010, 09:57 AM
 
Location: Virginia-Shenandoah Valley
7,670 posts, read 14,250,535 times
Reputation: 7464
Quote:
Originally Posted by jm76 View Post
Another option is if Virginia allows deferred adjudication. I'm new to VA so I'm not yet familiar with it's traffic laws but in many states you can ask for deferred adjudication...Basically you pay the fine and are put on probation for a certain number of months and after the probation period if you don't get another ticket it is effectively wiped from your record (ie insurance never learns about it).

Jim
I don't believe VA has this or at least I don't recall ever hearing it referred to as such. I have seen judges withhold a finding for say 6 months and dismiss the case if the person receives no further violations.
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Old 06-05-2010, 04:03 PM
 
Location: Central Maine
1,473 posts, read 3,202,583 times
Reputation: 1296
You should feel lucky. In order to raise revenue the officers here give out a lot of Driving to Endanger citations.

I really wish people would post the RESULTS of their trip to court here. We never find out what actually happened.
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Old 06-05-2010, 04:17 PM
 
Location: Sterling, VA
1,059 posts, read 2,964,182 times
Reputation: 633
Quote:
Originally Posted by bangorme View Post
You should feel lucky. In order to raise revenue the officers here give out a lot of Driving to Endanger citations.

I really wish people would post the RESULTS of their trip to court here. We never find out what actually happened.
I wish many posters that ask for help with a problem would post results. My court date is not till July 19, I promise to post what happened after it is over. This is in Loudoun County.
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Old 06-06-2010, 01:22 AM
 
Location: Virginia-Shenandoah Valley
7,670 posts, read 14,250,535 times
Reputation: 7464
Quote:
Originally Posted by bangorme View Post
You should feel lucky. In order to raise revenue the officers here give out a lot of Driving to Endanger citations.

I really wish people would post the RESULTS of their trip to court here. We never find out what actually happened.

Lovely. Another "revenue" post. You are wrong but based on the past you don't care about facts. There is no Driving to Endanger law in Va.
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