Went to traffic court today to face "reckless" driving charge. I was tagged by a Virginia State Trooper with laser going 93 in a 65 mph zone. Was not intentionally speeding (this time) but was talking to my Wife and I was not paying attention to the speedometer. The Trooper complimented me on the car and said he has to give me a ticket. Under Virginia State law driving over 90 mph is punishable by a fine of $2500.00 and/or 1 year in jail, 3 year license suspension and 6 points on your license for 11 years. My lawyer got me off with a $61.00 fine and I have to take a 8 hour Defensive Driver Course. Unfortunately radar detectors are illegal in the State of Virginia.

 

From what I remember Virginia has a fine per mile over the limit rule $5.00-$7.00 per mph plus around a $60 flat fee...so unless you were going over 350 mph...don't think just the speeding fine would have been $2,500... :rolleyes

 

...respdoc...

they tagged him on with Reckless with gives you the big fine and year in jail.

 

There ya go.

Overall cost thus far: $250.00 Attorney + $61.00 Court Fees + $50.00 8 Hour Driving Course = $361.00...Ticket Dismissed, keeping my license, no points and my freedom...Priceless.

 

I see...the part that threw me off was when you put "Under Virginia State law driving over 90 mph is punishable by a fine of $2500.00" so I guess that automatically equals a reckless driving charge...

Does Virginia have both a Careless Driving charge and Reckless Driving charge or just one?

 

As someone living in Virginia, I gotta know, what did your lawyer do to get you off that lightly and what is his name (just in case)?

 

i had the same thing.

83 in a 55 on I-66.
reckless driving.
went to court without a lawyer.
told the driver the road was clear, no traffic, was not reckless, as i was not weaving in and out of traffic and because there were no other cars. i lost sense of my speed because i could not match my speed to the other cars.
got off with a 150$ fine plus court costs $58.
i wanted to tell the judge if you want i can show you what reckless driving really is.
back in Egypt, reckless was racing against police cars with the top down and going over 70 mph.

 

Kmarei, where do you live? My personal best top speed was reached on I-66 heading to skyline drive. Of course, it was far west of Fairfax county and all the traffic around here.

 

i live in reston.

i was on way back from arlington on i-66 when i got pulled over.
and the nerve of the cop...
in court, he made a point of saying "i saw this crossfire convertible with the top down..."
when i got to speak i said, the fact that my top was down or that it was a convertible had nothing to do with my speed and should not be relevant.
the judge agreed.

 

Good rate for the attorney, is he/she a friend of yours? ...I usually charge at least twice that, even for a simple traffic case.