Speeding ticket!

[Legallyme88]

Hello,
I have not even been in the state of VA for a year yet and I just got my first speeding ticket today! I have only ever had one other speeding ticket and that was 3 years ago. I was going 60 in a 45. I really really want to try to fight it. Anyone have any suggestions? Or know how the process works here in VA?

Thanks

[Roverhound]

If you were actually going 60 in a 45 what is there to fight?
Most of the time if you go to court, you were respectful to the cop and plead for leniency, the judge will reduce the fine and points.
Good luck.

[Legallyme88]

Yeah I dont plan on fighting what happened, I should have explained better. I was speeding, but I was wondering more the protocol of pleading guilty but having mitigating circumstances such as work pressure to be there ASAP or the certain curve of a road causing the car to increase speed on the way out of the turn? I do not plan on lying in any way just wanted a chance to fight for what actually happened.

[zombiekiller57]

I have heard that most jurisdictions will allow you to take a online driving class and either dismissed the ticket upon completion of the online course or reduced points depending on your record. I can attest first hand to a dismissal after completion in my jurisdiction

But you need to appear before the judge and plead when your case is called.

[SDChop]

Depends on the jurisdiction. In Va the judge cannot do anything about the points, only fines and charges on traffic tickets. They will take into account your driving record. In my opinion its hard to argue about curves and speed at 15 over the limit, judge will tell you cars have two pedals and one is for slowing down. Plea guilty, explain your situation, bring up the fact you have a good record you would just like leniency from the court. or you can pre pay, not go to court and be done with it. good luck

[Jakeiscrazy]

No judge will buy it. Just be glad it wasn't 20 over because that's considered reckless and VA does not play with people they consider reckless.

[Diomed]

See if the prosecutor will cut a deal. I'd be more concerned about the effect it'll have on my insurance rates, since one typically ends up paying far more than the face value of the ticket in increased premiums, so look for something to keep it from going on your record. Pay the full fine/court costs, go to driving school, donate to his re-election campaign (just kidding ... or am I?), whatever possible to keep it off your record.

[BW1911]

Some jurisdictions will do a do-over if you ask for leniency and your driving record is not already blemished with tickets. Keep your nose clean for 6 months, come back to court and prove you didn't have any further tickets, and they erase the first ticket from your record. That last two weeks of my 6 month "probation" was tough... I was as nervous as a teenager about not getting another ticket...

[Chingon]

Yeah I dont plan on fighting what happened, I should have explained better. I was speeding, but I was wondering more the protocol of pleading guilty but having mitigating circumstances such as work pressure to be there ASAP or the certain curve of a road causing the car to increase speed on the way out of the turn? I do not plan on lying in any way just wanted a chance to fight for what actually happened.

Don't let work pressure be an arguement. In this area the judge will tell you to leave earlier because traffic is so bad. No such thing as an ess curve speeding up your vehicle if you slowed down before the curve.

Now if you are an EMT/ Volunteer Fire Fighter responding to an emergency and can prove you were summoned there then that might be an agruement. Please keep in mind that most officers ticket anything over ten miles over the posted limit. If you read your ticket it should say something like "10-19 miles over the posted limit" so you are already getting a break.

Otherwise spend a couple of humdred bucks making sure your speedometer is calibrated correctly and present that information to the court and that it was fixed. Pay the fine, its cheaper.

[Rich]

You are almost always better off going to court and asking for leniency. The judge will usually work with you to help protect your driving record. But one word of advice...dont talk too much and dont give excuses

[kelu]

Get a GPS with speed warnings.

[tursiops]

Otherwise spend a couple of humdred bucks making sure your speedometer is calibrated correctly and present that information to the court and that it was fixed. Pay the fine, its cheaper.

This.

I paid a lawyer to go to court for me, show the speedometer calibration certificate (and that it was reading low!), and got my "reckless" reduced to just speeding. Saved money on that, but not enough to have paid for the lawyer and the speedometer cal. But I saved getting all those points....so it was worth it to me.

[Kreutz]

I got pulled over last week (first time ever in VA or NY) like three houses down from my house for traveling my usual speed on this street (45ish on a 25-the speed everyone goes, including cop cars and school buses).

I got a simple speeding ticket, so I guess there was some leniency there off the bat, since it was a school zone and all.

I plan on showing up to try and get something lesser without driving school (utter BS), the fine is the same no matter what if I pay by mail or show up and get found guilty.

Notably the court fees are almost 50% of the tickets total, at the very least I wanna show up and see what I'm paying for. Maybe they need the $ more than I do?

[Kreutz]

No judge will buy it. Just be glad it wasn't 20 over because that's considered reckless and VA does not play with people they consider reckless.

What is "reckless" driving? An empty straight road is magically more dangerous because I am driving 20mph over the arbitrary speed limit instead of 19mph?


if speed was really dangerous the autobahn would be a scene of unending carnage and death, yet its not.

Its all a scam to separate you from your dough. Speed limits (and many stop signs, but thats another story) are just revenue generators.

[ratherfish]

"Its all a scam to separate you from your dough. Speed limits (and many stop signs, but thats another story) are just revenue generators."

PLEASE talk that to the Judge!!

We like yankees paying for our balanced budgets!

[wpoppert]

No judge will buy it. Just be glad it wasn't 20 over because that's considered reckless and VA does not play with people they consider reckless.

What is "reckless" driving? An empty straight road is magically more dangerous because I am driving 20mph over the arbitrary speed limit instead of 19mph?


if speed was really dangerous the autobahn would be a scene of unending carnage and death, yet its not.

Its all a scam to separate you from your dough. Speed limits (and many stop signs, but thats another story) are just revenue generators.

+1 -- a source of great aggravation. I got a ticket a couple of years ago (while driving my son to the range) for doing 69 in a 55 and decided to go the driving school route. It cost substantially more than if I had just paid the ticket, but the judge reduced the charge to "faulty equipment". I had a clean record prior to that. A couple of ladies who also had previously clean records got their tickets dismissed entirely, but I am not as pretty as they were.

[Kory]

This brings up somthing I was wondering about the cops round here love to pull you over for speeding then write a ticket for somthing else. Example get caught speeding get ticket for not having you registration in the car insted. When you go to court with registration the judge dismisses the ticket but you have to the pay court fee. Does the state get the fine and the local get the court fee? It realy seems like a racket

[Legallyme88]

Thanks for all the advice. Yeah I am getting a copy of my certified driving record to take with me to court. I already switched the date of my court date. The officer likes to place all of his court dates on the same day of the week, so I rescheduled for a different day of the week. If he does not show I apparently get off scott free. But yeah I am just going to be as honest as possible and plead for leniency. But yeah I completely agree about the tickets just being a way to get more money out of taxpayers. The biggest thing that annoyed me about the ticket was that while I was having a ticket written, another officer at the stop pulled another car over, went and talked to them and then let them go. It is not fair. O well we will see what happens. Thanks again everyone.

[Jfost11]

Traffic tickets? Let's just say I'm far more experienced with them than I'd like to be. Believe me, I could go on and on about this subject(and the subject of dishonest cops) but, I won't. I'll keep this short. Just being honest and hoping for leniency(or the officer not showing up) like you said is most likely your best bet. Own up to it and accept the fact that you'll have to pay it. It'll probably be a breath of fresh air for the judge.

[fuze]

the certain curve of a road causing the car to increase speed on the way out of the turn?