OT: - Reckless Driving In Virginia | The Boneyard

OT: Reckless Driving In Virginia

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Looking for some advice- I was recently passing through Virginia on vacation, when I was pulled over right before the North Carolina border on I-95.

I was given a ticket for 81 in a 70 and I didn’t think anything of it. I recently started getting a million letters sent from VA traffic lawyers and then realized it was a reckless driving ticket and what ramifications it carried.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them and if so what is the best course of action. I don’t have the ability to get back down there for the court date. Should I hire a traffic lawyer, is there a public defender? I’ve never had a ticket before this.
 

FillTheRent

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I was pulled over in Hopewell, VA on the I-295 a few years ago and was given a ticket for going 81 in a 70. Convenient since anything 10 mph or over the speed limit in VA is reckless driving. It was my first speeding ticket, too.

I was able to make it to the court appearance to see if the cop would show, and he did. If I was going to contest it, I would have had to plead not guilty and reappear at a later date for trial. I couldn't take more time off of work, so I plead guilty and the judge reduced the speed to 79 mph so it wouldn't be reckless driving.

It wasn't reported to my insurance company, and I paid approximately $200 in fines and court fees.
 
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Last year my friend got pulled over in VA on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge for going 82 in a 55 on our way back from the Outer Banks (coincidentally, we’re back down now right row! Repping UConn gear everywhere). With some cheap help from a lawyer he didn’t have to appear in court himself and just paid around $300 (I think?) between the ticket and the lawyer.

I’d say get a lawyer and have them appear for you if necessary. Ticket obviously won’t be cheap but the cost of the lawyer is probably worth not having to drive back down from CT just to plead guilty to a speeding ticket.
 
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I was going to get one a few years ago, was going 81 in 70 zone also. Was early in morning and was starting 2nd day of trip from NOLA to CT with my SUV full of "ladders, tools, etc." as was going to fix house I rent in CT after tenant moved out. Guy stopped me and looked like he was going to pull gun on me as he talked to me from right behind passenger side window (I wasn't real awake and sure I looked a bit strange). Had trouble finding registration and gave him year old one that could find.
He took about 15 minutes and came back with a ticket. He wrote it as going 81 in 70 zone but didn't charge me with felony (guess they have discretion) so did not have to "appear" in court. Fine was a fraction of the "over 10 miles above speed limit ticket".
If you got the felony ticket you had better just get local lawyer and pay what it takes. Look it up, you will see this is a money making gig for Virginia and unless you can challenge the ticket (accuracy, or something) the best solution is take your loss and pay what it takes.
 
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Same thing happened to me - I live in NC now, was on my way to CT and got stopped in VA on I-85 doing 84 in a 70. I hired a lawyer in VA, they got it dropped under 10 MPH over the limit if I recall. But I had to complete a safe driving course online as well....
 
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Yep, pulled over on 295 south almost to 95. 82 in in a 70 zone. Paid it. Never reported to insurance.
 

Chin Diesel

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The Charleston Tourney thread literally went on a tangent discussing 81 and 95 being speed traps by NC/VA border.

Only got pulled over once on VA. It was near Va Beach / Norfolk border on Christmas Day 1995. Had driven over 200 miles from Pennsylvania and had 10 miles to go.
Was young and racing with some other cars on highway. Some lights came up from behind me.
Said he clocked me doing 108 in a 55. Got pulled out of car and got a royal ass chewing and a stern warning.
Guess I learned my lesson.
 

Chin Diesel

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Here was thread.

 

the Q

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My friend (an attorney) went the other way and requested a full discovery including line 13 bulleted records requests. I wish I still had the list.

Needless to say they threw it out rather than comply.
 
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Get a lawyer.

My dad got pulled over doing 84 in a 70 on I-95 as well. Lawyer appeared in court in my dad’s place and the ticket was eventually dismissed.
 

Baltic

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Virginia is notorious for speed traps from about the 40 mile marker to the NC border. I am living in Southeast NC and did get my only speeding ticket on this stretch, as have a fairly large number of my neighbors. This is the money maker for the local government and attorneys. Bite the bullet, hire one of the attorneys and pay the fine.

I now keep cruise control at 9 miles over the speed limit. I guess the speed traps are having their intended impact.
 
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I got pulled over close to the West VA border for going 73 in a 60, I ended up having to pay a little over $200 and had to take a defensive driving class for 8 hours to get my license back.
 

Edward Sargent

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Looking for some advice- I was recently passing through Virginia on vacation, when I was pulled over right before the North Carolina border on I-95.

I was given a ticket for 81 in a 70 and I didn’t think anything of it. I recently started getting a million letters sent from VA traffic lawyers and then realized it was a reckless driving ticket and what ramifications it carried.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them and if so what is the best course of action. I don’t have the ability to get back down there for the court date. Should I hire a traffic lawyer, is there a public defender? I’ve never had a ticket before this.
Yep pay the fine and then you will have to take the 4 hour online safe driving course. Got me a the I 95 one mile into Va from NC. The speed limit drops and they hang out at the bottom of the hill
 
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Yep pay the fine and then you will have to take the 4 hour online safe driving course. Got me a the I 95 one mile into Va from NC. The speed limit drops and they hang out at the bottom of the hill
Sounds like Manchester. I got pulled over and the cop asked me if I knew why I was pulled over. I literally did not know. He told me the speed limit was 35 and it dropped to 25 when I passed through a school zone and I didn't reduce my speed. This was at 8pm on a summer night. I was clocked doing 37 in a 25 mph zone.
 

Dream Jobbed 2.0

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Sounds like Manchester. I got pulled over and the cop asked me if I knew why I was pulled over. I literally did not know. He told me the speed limit was 35 and it dropped to 25 when I passed through a school zone and I didn't reduce my speed. This was at 8pm on a summer night. I was clocked doing 37 in a 25 mph zone.
Just got the same thing on rt. 6 in Andover by a statey. 51 in a 40. Asked me how fast I was going I was like uhhhhh I guess it must have been close to 60? Wasn’t for speeding though, but for a “failure to drive a reasonable speed.” I had just came on and hadn’t seen a speed limit posted
 

Chin Diesel

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I know I-95 near Emporia is a noted speed trap and US58 between Emporia and Franklin is bad as well.
 

Tommyboy

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This is so funny. The EXACT scenario everyone reported happened to me. Back in 2010 we were visiting family on Long Island for Christmas and the blizzard canceled our flight home. They weren't able to get the family home for about 4-5 days. Couldn't do that as I was flying out in a couple days from Jacksonville for the Fiesta Bowl so we just rented a car and drove home. Got pulled over for 82 in a 70 in Virginia. Didn't think much of it until saw that it was reckless driving. Couldn't get back there so hired a local lawyer in Virginia that specialized in traffic cases. They got the case reduced to improper driving or something like that on a technicality but still cost me around 500 bucks with legal fees and a fine but at least no reckless driving that would have screwed me over in Florida.

It's a complete scam.
 

UConNation

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Looking for some advice- I was recently passing through Virginia on vacation, when I was pulled over right before the North Carolina border on I-95.

I was given a ticket for 81 in a 70 and I didn’t think anything of it. I recently started getting a million letters sent from VA traffic lawyers and then realized it was a reckless driving ticket and what ramifications it carried.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them and if so what is the best course of action. I don’t have the ability to get back down there for the court date. Should I hire a traffic lawyer, is there a public defender? I’ve never had a ticket before this.
This just happened to me last year. I was driving home from vacation in North Carolina and got a ticket for 83 in a 70. To make things worse, I couldn't appear in court because they gave me a date about 2.5 months from when I was issued the ticket, and I was deploying overseas. I didn't realize it was anything more than a normal ticket until my wife told me that we'd been getting letters about reckless driving charges (I was already several thousand miles away at this point). What I ended up doing was emailing the court clerk and pleading my case. I told them that I wasn't disputing my speed, but was just asking the judge to remove the reckless driving part of the infraction and I'd be willing to pay the fine. The court clerk ran it by the judge and they agreed.
 
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Same issue last year. Ended up hiring local lawyer. Had to get speed calibration test done and flew back for court date. Got it dropped to ‘defective equipment’. Just a fine. There were some others there without a lawyer that pleaded it down too. But between the lawyer plane ticket and calibration it was $$$.

In hindsight I think reaching out to see if u can plead to a lesser speed to make it not reckless driving is the cost effective solution. If u want to go through the process It did seems like it’s std procedure. The judge asked if the defense was defective equipment before my attorney brought it up. Lol

I also think I got Yankee pricing from the attorney. He didn’t do much except show up. But he knew the judge. Lol. I felt like My Cousin Vinnie was being filmed.
 

HuskyHawk

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Looking for some advice- I was recently passing through Virginia on vacation, when I was pulled over right before the North Carolina border on I-95.

I was given a ticket for 81 in a 70 and I didn’t think anything of it. I recently started getting a million letters sent from VA traffic lawyers and then realized it was a reckless driving ticket and what ramifications it carried.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them and if so what is the best course of action. I don’t have the ability to get back down there for the court date. Should I hire a traffic lawyer, is there a public defender? I’ve never had a ticket before this.

You need to plead to going 79 in a 70. Radar error, speedometer error. You have reasonable doubt. Most good cops will write the ticket that way, and warn you that if you don't just pay it they will show up with the higher radar slip.
 
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You need to plead to going 79 in a 70. Radar error, speedometer error. You have reasonable doubt. Most good cops will write the ticket that way, and warn you that if you don't just pay it they will show up with the higher radar slip.
No luck. I tried and even showed him
That my nephew is a trooper in nj. He just walked away and came back with ticket
 

CL82

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Just got the same thing on rt. 6 in Andover by a statey. 51 in a 40. Asked me how fast I was going I was like uhhhhh I guess it must have been close to 60? Wasn’t for speeding though, but for a “failure to drive a reasonable speed.” I had just came on and hadn’t seen a speed limit posted
The correct answer that question is "I don't know either, soooo I guess we're done here, right?"
 

CL82

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No luck. I tried and even showed him
That my nephew is a trooper in nj. He just walked away and came back with ticket
Your nephew? Man, that is cold.
 

HuskyHawk

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Worse than that. My nephew has a buddy that IS a trooper and the Va trooper wrote him a ticket.

It's a money making racket in VA. Nothing more than that. Same in Maryland.

My point is to contact the DA now and offer to plead to 79. Or call a local lawyer to have them do that for you.
 

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