My significant other was driving my beater a little quicker then she should have. Officer wrote a wreckless ticket w/o radar reading.

I am pretty sure my speedo is off, not sure if its off in her favor though. Does anyone know a person/shop that has a hook up or can make something help? The car is an old OBDI with an engine swap... her not knowing the vechicle... it could work right?

Feel free to PM me

Thanks

 

change the speedo gear to a different one, then just go anywhere. then swap speedo gear back and problem solved.

 

PM Sent.

 

Ok, basically you just need to find a shop in your area that will measure your vehicles actual speed, verses the speed indicated on your speedo.

ALL vehicles come with the speedo a little off from the factory. Typically they will show about 3mph FASTER than what you are actually traveling (when the speedo reads 85mph, you're actually going 82-83mph).

Once you have the vehicle officially tested you can take the print out in to court with you. Depending on how many infractions your s/o has on their record they should be able to get off easy. *If* the court date is still a little while out than have them sign up for a weekend Driver Improvement class (it's like $50.00 through AAA, just look in the yellow pages for local schools) before the court date.

This will do two things: A) The Certificate of Completion will make the judge MUCH more lenient, and B) It will give you five (good) points towards your license if you go on your own. (there is a good chance the Judge will tell you to attend this class anyway, so taking the initiative will save you from that, PLUS you keep the points)

Add that to the printout from the calibration shop and you can have the reckless driving charge lowered, then changed to mechanical error (I forget the technical term for this, but it's a lesser charge than speeding).


It's been years since I did this, however I *have* used it to get off the hook down near Norfolk before.


Also, if your s/o was polite to the Officer than that can also help in the courtroom...


So yeah... have the car tested, prove that the speedo is off (it won't specify over or under, just that it's off), do the Driver Improvement class, dress well/be polite (DON'T ARGUE!) and you'll be fine.

 

VA laws are a little diff then MD but a wreckless driving charge usually is more then just speeding. UNLESS the speed is alot higher then the posted limit ( tripple digits or near) In either case the judge would ask a few simple questions: How long have you been driving? How was traffic? and you couldnt tell you were exceeding the speed limit by that much!

You can try it but I have seen people lose that way because a reasonable person can tell roughly how fast they are going. Best thing to do is show a clean driving record take the driver improvement and apologize and hope the judge is cool that day

 

15 over the limit is reckless in VA, which is pretty damn easy to do

 

Ouch, gonna remember that next time I'm hopping the border

 

Chris, need to know...what section Reckless did the officer put on the ticket?

Did he have a radar on her? And put Reckless on the ticket, some sections state reckless is 20 over the limit and or 80+

Also what county?

 

I thought it was 20 over or 80 MPH, whichever is less.

 

It counts both as reckless either going 20+ over the posted limit or 80+ (which normally is for highways that have 65 as the speed limit) under the same section...

0-9 = speeding
10-14 = speeding
15-19 = speeding
20+ = reckless

I dont have the DMV point sheet on me tho...check their website...

 

Correct.

Reckless driving (by speed) is when you are either A) travelling 20mph over the posted speed limit, or over 80mph (regardless of posted speed limit).

 

I thought they recently changed this with the new VA laws.... stating that 15mph over was a potential reckless ticket.

Good luck with the ticket sir! yeah i would take a class, maybe even hire a decent lawyer, there is a guy named James Kersey that i used here in Northern VA/Fairfax County Area.. got me off and several friends... i think he knows people that knows people kinduf deal... costed me 300 but got the ticket dropped and didnt even pay or show up for court... weird..

anyways! good luck sir!

 

Update?

 

Big thanks to Pele on this. 0 points, just a fine

 

So what county was this in? and what did she say to DA or Judge to have it dismissed with only a fine?