Kelly,

Being a former State Trooper...I can tell you this much... you don't want a reckless hanging around on your driving record, as I or any other law officer would tell you, that basically gives you a great "ticket me" flag for a good period of time. With today's technology only getting better and more info being added to NCIC everyday, don't be surprised if a conviction of that magnitude isn't around for years and years.

Fight it.

Laww

 

sorry to hear that man. I'm with everyone else on this though, at least go to court or have the lawyer represent you in absentia.

 

sorry to hear about your misfortune kelly... if it makes u feel any better the reckless i had in june, i went to court for in august. i had a previous clean record +5 and took my chances in the 'town' of herndon courtroom on elden street. no lawyer nothing, judge saw i was prepared with a copy of my driving record which is what i used for credibility. 'Since driving in the commonwealth from the age of 16 I've had ___ tickets blah blah blah'. i plead guilty as well, judge gave me benefit of the doubt, paid about $125 including court fees...

either way GOOD LUCK!!

 

Damn Kelly that SUCKS. I just got picked off today in Fairfax on my way to work. 63 in a 35, which he said that anything 20 over the limit is "reckless speeding" So he gave me a ticket for that, and for not having a VA license yet (I just moved here from Ohio, he said you have 60 days or something)

So now I need to get a lawyer. I think I might get out on some technicalities if possible. He said he used lidar (laser) and that he had someone else pulled over, he heard my car, so he grabbed his gun quick to clock me and see what I was doing, when when I was in traffi waiting for the light, he came up next to me and pulled me over. So I read that with laser, you have to be very steady, and can't use it through glass, so that might allow me some leniency. The other thing I read doing some searches is that people have been able to have their cases thrown out for lack of evidence in fairfax, va, if the cop can not produce the original certificate proving his gun was calibrated before his shift, or something to that effect.

That said, my court date is in December, anyone know a good lawyer in the Fairfax/Herndon area?

 

Reckless stays on your record for 6 years. I'd prefer driving 4hrs in one day than suffer +5 points on my record for the next 6 years. I've gotten a ticket down in that area, they don't even use radar, they just "guess" your speed. I got pulled over for 84mph on a 65, all I did was go to court in a small town (without lawyer) made a deal with the officer prior to court that if i showed up and plead guilty, he would drop the charges down to 80mph (thus a regular speeding instead of reckless). Perhaps that approach might help.

 

Update for the curious: My court date was the 14th. I paid for a lawyer local to the court (Christiansburg, VA) to represent me. The charge was dropped to plain ol' speeding, 80 in a 65, total court fees, $131. Not too bad. All said and done though, this was a $500 ticket, plus whatever it's going to do to my insurance.....

 

i'm glad it wasn't reckless, sorry he couldn't do more.

 

It's all good Steve. Thanks for recommending him to me.

 

Kelly,
It's better to pay $500 and not get points than just pay the ticket off the bat. You'd be looking at a lot worse. I doubt your insurance will go up too much, if at all. Your clean driving record helped too I'm sure.