Need advice on a reckless ticket in VA
 

First off let me start by saying that this is not a thread where I'm trying to ask how to get out of this ticket. I was speeding and that's the end of the story. I was on 295 near Richmond heading to OBX and got nailed for 92 in a 70. It was stupid, I just wasn't paying attention and let my speed creep way up on an open section of road.

So the advice I'm looking for is do I get a lawyer or not? It's actually pretty funny, my name must have gone into some database because I've probably gotten 15 letters from traffic lawyers offering to represent me. My initial thought was just to show up, plead guilty and pay the ticket. I have one previous speeding ticket in Fairfax County in 2009 for 15 over. No other VA traffic tickets.

Help me understand the theory behind getting a lawyer here. My concern is that I'd just pay a couple hundred bucks for some lawyer and end up with the same damn fine.

Damn, bro.. sorry to hear about this.

The suggestion I would give is definitely get a lawyer. In my personal experience (YMMV) getting a good lawyer for this type of thing is worth it. I would definitely get a good lawyer who knows the local district/court where you got the ticket (it makes a difference if the lawyer knows the DA).

In my mind, the only reason to get a lawyer for a ticket is if you are facing jail time or the loss of your license.

Its not the money for the fine I would worry about but some insurance companies will rip you for speeding that much over the limit. If you know a good lawyer or can talk to someone who knows one, might be worth it.

lawyer up
 

if you have to ask, then it is time to hire a good attorney.

no apologies.

in this country when good people make a mistake

the smart play is to spend your money


do it

Get a lawyer since you already had another ticket in the past.

+1 on getting a lawyer, better chance of possibly avoiding points on your license.

Dont admit to speeding man. Either get a lawyer, or put together a case doubting the clocking of you. Even if you were speeding, they have to prove you were. If the radar gun had issues, it goes away.

At a minimum, you need to get it knocked down from reckless, unless you want a misdemeanor on your record.

Not in va.

I would say get a lawyer

Everyone has this dream that they are going to go into the courtroom and somehow get the cop to flub up and the case gets dismissed. Just my opinion, but I'd think a better plan would be planning on going to court to own up to screwing up, asking for forgiveness in the form of reducing the crime, and letting the cards fall where they may.

Again, just the opinion of this guy, but going in there trying to disprove the radar is likely to just annoy both the cop and the judge.

Reckless in VA... get a lawyer!

Def get a lawyer cause in VA if not your fuked big time

There is a number on your ticket for the Virginia Traffic code you broke. Google the number + Virginia traffic codes or laws , see what your up against!

I've gotten a traffic lawyer before -- if you can find one who is good, knows the judges, etc, it's worth it.

No guarantee he'd be able to get you off, but the odds are worth taking the chance, especially if you will rack up a lot of points for the ticket.

Anyway -- that's the reason to do it: To avoid getting the points. You may or may not get stuck with the fine, but the lawyer should at least be able to keep the points off of your record.

Just wondering, how much would s good lawyer for a traffic ticket cost?

Depends on what all you want them to do for you. Just showing up to court can cost $100-300. Contesting the ticket, a few hundred bucks up to a couple grand.

I have some experience in this since I have fought several kinds of tickets. A couple of my favs include "displaying fictitious plates" here in AZ, and doing 114 in texas.

"displaying fictitious plates" :confused:

What you do, altering a number on the plate?

Naw, totally dealership's fault. They stuck the wrong plate on a the car. (So my volkswagen had a saturn plate on it).

Edit: It was my first day with the car. Cop thought it was a stolen car, pulled me over with all my friends and had us all sitting on a curb in 110 degree heat.

Done it twice.


You Don't pull it in court, you request records beforehand. Most departments require daily calibration. If your officer forgot, you're off free.

I've watched an ***-load of court cases and never seen a cop come without the calibration records. Sounds like you have a bunch of slackers :icon17:

Most tickets don't get contested in VA because there's a lot of money here, and a penalty for contesting the ticket. We also happen to have very strict calibration requirements-- some departments require that the gun be calibrated between issuing tickets.

I've found (mostly from helping friends) that if you start requesting information in advance, you will usually get a phone call from the officer offering to work a deal with you:rofl2:

That might be a big difference, no penalty for fighting tickets here. So our officers might automatically plan on fighting tickets. I also don't get the impression that our cops or courts put much effort into settling tickets outside of court. I'm not sure how often they are required to calibrate though. I'd find it very hard to believe it's anywhere near that frequent though.

In East Texas, there is a good chance the officer wont even show up for court. They have like 1 officer for every 1000 square miles. :tup:

Damn dude, that sucks.. I think I woulda been highly upset.

My mom got out of her last speeding ticket because the officer didn't show up.

So if you wanted to find a lawyer, how would you even go about doing that? This isn't the kind of thing I keep abreast of.

I'm pretty sure points don't matter at all to me because I don't live in VA and have an out-of-state license. When I got the one previous speeding ticket in VA, there were definitely no points involved (I had an IL license at the time). I just paid the fine and went on with my life.

VA now has reciprocity with pretty much everyone but TN. More importantly, insurance will find out.

For a lawyer, get a referral. What country was the ticket in?

Double check this just to be safe...

Out of State Traffic Tickets and Reciprocity

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia participate in the Driver License Compact (DLC). Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Tennessee are the only states that don't participate in this interstate compact.

Started in 1960, the DLC, which champions a motto of "One Driver, One License, One Record," is used by participating states to share information on moving traffic violations. So say for example, you receive a speeding ticket or some sort of traffic ticket in Minnesota, your home state of Vermont will be notified. The violation will then go on your driving record. Depending on your state, this could be in the form of points which could ultimately affect the status of your drivers license. If however, you get ticketed for a moving violation in one of the non-participating states like Georgia, for example, your home-state DMV may or may not be notified.

Also worth noting that (I believe) all those states notify your home state, it is just iffy you you live there. I know TN sends the points back to VA...

Unless you are in the Armed Forces you cannot have an out-state license in the Republic of VA and I beleive in most of the states is like that too.

I just got a ticket last year for that reason because I had a FL license in top of the infraction that I was stop for.

However I got the stupid VA license, went to court and the charges where drop to driving with having possesion of a license.

What I learned in court that day is that if you go like a bully you are going to get hammer. If you admit your guilt and the infraction don't carry jail time the judge is more comprehensive with you and will reduce the charges if it is your 1st offense 99% of the time.

I agree for the most part, but every judge is different. It is often helpful to watch how they respond to earlier people.

My little brother got absolutely hosed. 4 counts of driving with a suspending license, operating a motorcycle without class M, reckless endangerment, running a red light, no insurance, no tags, no registration, vehicle not titled, etc... (he's our family's shining star:roflpuke2:).

Went with him to court...he was a total dbag to the officer and the judge, talking smack about "f the pigs" and whatnot.

Judge decided to drop everything to one count of disregarding a highway sign. I was like:eek2:

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

I would most definitely get a lawyer. A reckless is a misdemeanor, and in a whole 'nother class of "crime", if you will, than a regular speeding ticket. Your record sounds fairly clean, so that's ammo for your lawyer right there. If you're polite, wear a tie, and let the lawyer do the talking, chances are you can get it reduced. IMO it's a racket anyway...the lawyers are all buddies with the DA/DA assistant/WHOEVER will be representing the state.

You won't get out of it, and you'll have a hefty fine to pay; the differences in insurance in the long run will be worth it though. FYI, the lawyer will run you ~$1000...sucks, I know, but like I said, probably worth it long-term.

My advice is to look for lawyer reviews, find the most professional looking websites, and go from there. Call them up and see what they can do for you. Don't be afraid to ask for prices too...there will be no bargaining after the fact anyway, so couldn't hurt to ask up front.

If you do end up getting a lawyer, your guy will talk to the DA(ish) guy before the slew of recklesses and DUIs get under way and most likely strike a bargain with him. I had a reckless and had it reduced to "improper driving" which is just a traffic offense and carried less of a fine.

Hope this helps.

Thanks. I'll make some calls when I get a chance.

Good luck :tup:

I did some research and the most reasonable advice I found was to show up in court with no lawyer and attempt to speak with the officer and/or the commonwealth attorney prior to court. It was felt that you could very often make a deal with them where you would agree to plead guilty to a lesser charge (careless driving or speeding).

If you were unable to speak with either of them or they were unwilling to make a deal, you file for a continuance and then hire a lawyer.

The general feeling was that hiring a lawyer was an unnecessary expense that resulted in no additional good in most cases. There was no risk in trying to make the deal yourself because you could always request a continuance and still hire the lawyer. The only thing wasted was your time.

The one exception where you always hired the lawyer was if you were trying to get the ticket dismissed, which I'm not trying to do.

Obviously you can have an out of state license if, like he mentioned, you aren't a resident of Virgnia.