Reckless Driving : Caroline County - VA

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on I-95 while coming back to Richmond,VA from New Jersey. The cop clocked me going 86mph over 65mph speed limit, and apparently everything over 80mph is considered reckless driving, which as the cop stated. And summoned to appear in Caroline County. Please let me know what might be my fine for the same. And how can I reduce it.

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Other than "This is off-topic", all I have to say is good luck.

I was once tagged for reckless in Caroline County as well. When I went to court, there were also a bunch of other people there for the same. IIRC, the judge did not reduce many of the charges. My fine was $250 for 90.

If you have a clean record, you might be able to get it reduced because you're not as culpable as someone whose record is not spotless. If this is a first offense, take a "driver improvement" class. That'll look favorable. If you're a VA resident, you'll get 5 plus points on your record if you take a driver improvement class.

ETA: Ask the trooper for their RADAR calibration. The RADAR gun has to be calibrated within the preceding 6 months prior to your offense. If it was not calibrated within the 6 months preceding your offense, the case can be dropped. However, don't count on this, as most LEO do have their calibrations.

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+1 - ask for calibration. If your ever caught in this situation, 1) don't be an ass to the officers. 2) very politely and kindly and respectfully ask to "see" the type of instrument used to record you - make sure it is on. I am not a lawyer, but in California when asked you are afforded the opportunity to see the gun, make sure it is in fact "on" and shows your speed - at least it was that way in 93. Point is if you have the chance to photograph the evidence, and it happens to not be on, well.....if your going to show up in court to fight the facts, you may as well collect as many of them as you possibly can while you have the chance.

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If you hire a lawyer and do a bunch of discovery (ask for proof of calibration, proof of officer training, etc, etc), you might get a plea.

Good luck.

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For goin (allegedly) 89, i was given 2 days in jail and 611 dollars in fines, adn i didnt do anythign (like be a smartass) for the judge to be that way on me, he just said anyone goin that fast doesnt leave his courthouse etc. It was in a 55, but 65 might not be that much easier on you.

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bohdi wrote:

+1 - ask for calibration. If your ever caught in this situation, 1) don't be an ass to the officers. 2) very politely and kindly and respectfully ask to "see" the type of instrument used to record you - make sure it is on. I am not a lawyer, but in California when asked you are afforded the opportunity to see the gun, make sure it is in fact "on" and shows your speed - at least it was that way in 93. Point is if you have the chance to photograph the evidence, and it happens to not be on, well.....if your going to show up in court to fight the facts, you may as well collect as many of them as you possibly can while you have the chance.

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Every officer that was in court with me recently gave their calibrations before anyone asked them. They had them and they had them ready.

Get a lawyer, i wish i had, woulda maybe kept me out of jail.

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ama-gi wrote:

If you hire a lawyer and do a bunch of discovery (ask for proof of calibration, proof of officer training, etc, etc), you might get a plea.

Good luck.

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I was told by an attorney that discovery motions are not, typically, granted in traffic cases unless the defendant appeals the conviction.

I asked about this because I had heard somewhere that in order to operate RADAR, the LE jurisdiction/office must hold a valid FCC permit. So, my angle was to file a discovery motion for this. If the permit had not been issued or was expired, then the case could be dropped.

I don't know if this is a valid angle to take in VA and did not do any research to see if there were any existing case law supporting this.

Personally, in my experience, hiring an attorney for most traffic cases has been a waste of time and money.

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I recently asked a Virginia State Policeman what was the largest number of speeders he ever pulled over at once: 23.

You might think you're safe while speeding in a pack with 20 other cars!

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90 mph is the break-point for fine vs. jail in Fairfax County.

1 day in jail for each mph over 89 is pretty much standard.

Almost without exception, you will be the fastest car on the road if you are over 85.

STFD.

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I doubt he caught you on RADAR, but if by some chance some PD is still using radar, in addition to asking to see the calibration records for the gun, you could also ask to see the calibration records for the tuning fork used to calibrate the RADAR gun.


happy carrying,



jason

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KodiakISGOOD wrote:

I doubt he caught you on RADAR, but if by some chance some PD is still using radar, in addition to asking to see the calibration records for the gun, you could also ask to see the calibration records for the tuning fork used to calibrate the RADAR gun.

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You might be surprised. PD still use RADAR quite a bit.

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If you're a VA resident then your going to get hit with the VA "civil remedial fees" (aka Albo fees, or abuser fees). Which is going to run you close to $1,000.

So, get a lawyer. It's the only way to go. And if you live in Northern VA, don't use David Albo!!!

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Even if you are "paced" by the officer, their car's speedometer still must be calibrated. In General District Court typically you do not get to file motions. If you go in and try to defend yourself you have a fool for a client.

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The cop will say that he paced you, present his speedometer calibrations and whatnot and then youll talk. I dunno about 85 in a 65 but 89 in a 55 got me 2 days in jail and 600 dollars in fines.

If i had a lwayer things might have been different. If you have a pretty clean record then do a drivers improvement course, itll only help you, and get a lawyer, judges pretty much will not listen to you (he didnt listen to me at all) all the people i saw go up for RD (and there were like 20 for the SAME cop) and the judge only listened to the lawyers..

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Here is a good place to start researching:

http://www.motorists.org/fightticket/

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To keep this on topic the speed detection device is a type of "gun" that is brandished at a motorist on a daily basis.

Pace, Radar, or Laser..... most if not all departments have checks in place to be sure the stuff is up to date. Any department that has been doing it a while will have everything in order. Good luck trying to find some discrepancy there.

The officer is not required to show you anything while on the scene to prove you were speeding either. In the past the Laser reading had to be shown but this has since changed.

You can file all the discovery orders you like and ask about training... this is like a swimmer trying to keep his head above water with cement shoes on. You are only delaying the inevitable.

If you were speeding... you will be convicted!! You can hire a lawyer, lose, and just end up paying more money in attorney fees.

The best a lawyer is going to do for you is have the charge reduced to "Improper Driving" and this means the same damn thing as recklessand also carries 6 points. It is nothing but a feel good charge your lawyer will probably get for you successfully.

The best you can do is apologize to the the Judge and show him your "hopefully" clean record. Those that take responsibility for their actions are more likely to be given a reduced punishment.

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if you were speeding... you will be convicted!! You can hire a lawyer, lose, and just end up paying more money in attorney fees.

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:?

Please. I used the Bose law firm with good success, so have many of my much less well mannered rider buddies. The salient issue you need to be concerned about is WHAT you said during the encounter. If you somehow tangibly admitted that you broke the law, you're getting convicted. If youkept your mouth shut when you needed to, you most certainly can win, orget a plea bargain to a lesser offense. You will have to prepare though. You can do this yourself if you have the willingness to dothe leg work, but if you aren't motivated, then hire a lawyer. I have prevailed using a lawyer, and not using a lawyer, and I've been partially successful not using a lawyer. It takes work to win w/o a lawyer in traffic court.

Remember, you will be on the hook for the civil remedial fees, plus the fine ( up to 2500 smackers as I recall ), possibly jail time if they want to make an example out of you which is not uncommon for speed over 90mph. Not to mention your insurance will go up for at least 3 years.

You can either surrender or fight.

23 at once. Clearly these nuts didn't have a clue. The short straw is the guy designated not to stop right away. He's the guy who gets the rest of the group off the hook. :dude:

"Horsepower forgives a multitude of traffic infractions"

I've always felt that pointing a radar gun was brandishing.

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LEO 229 wrote:

The best a lawyer is going to do for you is have the charge reduced to "Improper Driving" and this means the same damn thing as recklessand also carries 6 points.

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Is 'improper driving' a misdemeanor? Because I'm pretty sure reckless driving is. That might be worth it all on its own.

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I have the exact same story. I got a 86/65 reckless driving in Caroline county on I95 going towards McLean from Richmond. This is my first speed related ticket. I had previously gota 1) registration and2) inspection related ticket in mid 2006 in Richmond.

Should I hire a lawyer? plead guilty/not guilty? How much will be the fine in my case? Should I go to traffic school before the Court date?

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jayesh14 wrote:

I have the exact same story. I got a 86/65 reckless driving in Caroline county on I95 going towards McLean from Richmond. This is my first speed related ticket. I had previously gota 1) registration and2) inspection related ticket in mid 2006 in Richmond.

Should I hire a lawyer? plead guilty/not guilty? How much will be the fine in my case? Should I go to traffic school before the Court date?

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This thread is a little off topic.... but for information value I will respond...

Only you can decide if you want a lawyer. If it were me... I would get one. A lawyer can help negotiate having the charge lowered where you would have no grounds to do so on your own.

With the Civil fees out now you are looking at a few thousand dollars.

Traffic school depends on your current point balance.

You are going to get popped for -4 points if straight speeding and -6 for reckless.

The traffic school will give you 5 good points and the most you can have is +5.

If you have +5 and take the class BEFORE court you will gain NOTHING and then lose the 4 or 6 points.

If you have between 0 and 4 good pointsyou do not get the full 5 pointssense the most you can have is +5.

If you are 0 or below.. take the class before court to make your record look better in court.

If you are +1 or more... wait till after the points have been deducted and THEN take the class so you can get the full 5 points.

Good luck and try not to go so fast next time....