an attorney in Rockbridge County, VA. I was returning from a long week of work in West Virginia in my 2000 A8L. Got snagged by radar at 83 mph. Apparently anything over 80 in Virginia is automatically considered reckless driving. I was coming east on Rt. 64 just about to get on 81 and there wasnā€¼sup>TM</sup>t a sole in sight. Not a visible car in front or behind me. The car picks up speed by itself in those conditions. :-) I can understand if I was weaving in and out of traffic at that speed, but it seems a bit ridiculous to consider my act reckless. Anyway, Iā€¼sup>TM</sup>m looking for an attorney in that area that can take my case before the district court in Lexington, VA and at least reduce the charge. Iā€¼sup>TM</sup>m trying not to attend personally, but canā€¼sup>TM</sup>t sit back and accept the reckless charge. Thanks in advance!

 

I don't know if Virginia allows it, but if you don't think you can beat the ticket then ask for probation before judgement (PBJ). I don't have much experience with this, but I know some guys who represent the feds in Magistrate Court and they tell me PBJ is the way to go for defendants.

 

You will still pay a hefty fine, but usually the DP or ADP will have a standardized plea bargain for everyone at traffic court. This is usually the case in larger metro areas so I dont know what type of town/city your ticket is in.

 

You could put a very uncomfortable look on your face and say," My job is very driving intensive and my employer would look very unfavorably upon me if I showed up with points on my license". dont forget to cal him/her, Your Honor.

 

Can probably call the court clerk's office to find out who to talk to. Often you can talk them into reducing the speed or changing it to "failure to obey traffic control device" or some non-moving violation. Should save you some points and some cash.

They just want your money, so if they can get you to plead to something and pay up, they get their money, and you don't waste the court's time.

The guys at the NMA also have a bit of useful information, may want to check them out too...<ul><li><a href="http://www.motorists.org/">National Motorists Association</a></li></ul>

 

showing-up on your record at all. Again, I don't have personal or professional experience with this tactic, but if it works then the offense is never entered in your driving record, but the Court still gets their money.

 

points transferred to my home state as of yet.

 

The law community is very closely knit and a quick phone call should have you well on your way to a non-moving violation.

 

I'm not an expert, but some quick googling came up with some info which may or may not be useful:

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/post-4531.html

http://www.speedingticketcentral.com/Virginia-speeding-ticket.html

I would definitely suggest getting a professional opinion or some kind of official answer on that though.

And yes, if you end up pleading or judged guilty, the ticket WILL most likely be reported back to your home state. Almost all states are members of the Driver License Compact: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_License_Compact
Note that even though it appears that Michigan is not a member, I had a New York State ticket appear on my Michigan license back around 1998.

However some states are more lenient, I heard of a guy (*wink*) who got a ticket in West Virginia a few years later, got it reduced to 9mph (or less) over the limit, which is 0 points, fine only, in WV (they really just want your money). The conviction was not reported back to the home state.

Also, aside from driver's license points and the fines and legal fees, your insurance company will most likely screw you for it as well. They have their own system of points and what they consider minor/major/reckless/etc. That NY/MI ticket was only about $150 (78 in a 55) but my insurance bascically doubled, and it stayed on the record for 3 years. Since MI is so expensive anyway, and we had 2 cars/2 drivers on the policy, it probably cost me $3-4000 in insurance premiums over those three years. So whatever you do, please don't just roll over and plead guilty to the ticket as written.

Good luck,
TZ

 

I've had points from NY show up in Indiana