Yeah, how did it all play out in court?

 

well, court date was two days ago, sorry didn't log on earlier but, lost my internet connection, computer on the fritz but anyway... i got to the court house at 9am, time for my hearing was 9:30am, never been to traffic court wasn't really sure what to expect... i'm there from 9am until 1pm before my name was called, i was scared sh1tless, there were like 20 other people that went before me for Reckless driving by speed and almost all of them received suspended licenses for 2 months, $200 fines, one person got put in cuffs right then, and well... yeah, needless to say I was just a tad bit worried...

they called me up, i stood by the stand, the judge asked how i plead, i said guilty, she then asked the cop if there were any "special" circumstances, ie... rude to the officer, any traffic affected, any past driving incidents, the officer said no... the judge then asked me if i had anything to say, i said yes, that the area of I95 that i was pulled over near was where both sides of I495 merged back into I95 and that I was used to the area of I95 down by Quantico where the speed limit was 65 and I assumed it was the same speed limit there... then the judge said, well at that speed I am going to give you a $75 fine and thats all, I wanted to laugh but I didn't, then the judge said that was it, so I thanked her, and went to walk away, she then said, try to slow down a bit, I said "thank you ma'am" and that was it, paid the fine, and I'm going to call the DMV next week to find out how many points I was awarded on my license...

the whole thing was relatively painless, but, I'm definetly going to pay more attention on that section of 95 from now on...

I appreciate the support through all of this... take it easy everyone!!!

 

Thats good to hear! Hope u didnt get too many points on ur licence tho!

 

I thought you were getting a lawyer. Was it his advice to plead guilty?

Did she reduce the charge to simple speeding or did you get the reckless conviction? The reckless conviction is not good. A 2nd reckless could send you to jail. I've read that some judges are giving jail time for a first conviction if going over 90 mph.

What was the scoop with guy being cuffed? Even if he was getting jail time for a traffic offense, they would usually give someone time to make whatever arrangements they needed to and order them to show up at the jail on a certain date.

The punishments for VA traffic violations have gone over the top. Possible jail time for just 20 over or 80+? Reckless for failing to use a turn signal? gimme a friggin break!

 

psyct -

I'm glad it turned out pretty much ok. I hope your points are low. Those thing fall back off over time, so you don't have to deal with it forever.

I heard this too when I went to driving school to keep a ticket off my record. A guy got 3days for 102mph. He had to do the time even though he paid a huge fine as well. That would absolutely suck.

 

I believe it is 4 points on my license but I have an out of state license from North Carolina, not sure how the reporting procedures go from VA to NC...

I was going to get a lawyer but it was $500 for him to appear with me. I was only charged with speeding, she dropped it down for me, I don't know why but it was almost like she had a soft spot for me... lol, I'm not complaining, I've already spoken to my insurance company about the ticket and they told me not to worry too much about the ticket because I'll be 25 in May and that my rates shouldn't go up very much at all, IF at all... As I have said before, I am not a crazy driver, and I do not drive recklessly, as difficult as it is behind the wheel of my S4... That being said, I'm not too worried about getting pulled over again, I'm going back to my old ways of setting cruise at around 8-9 mph above the speed limit, unless traffic is going faster than that, then I'm at that speed...

 

Haha you are sooo lucky! I live in Va also and I can vouch for everything you are saying especially about the cops and the slow a## drivers in the left lane. With that said I received a speeding ticket doing 70 in a 55 and received I think it was a $200 ticket and I was going the same speed as everyone else on the road. It also was my first ticket with a clean record. Although it nothing compared to my friend who served jail time, although he was doing 115 in a 55...opps. He spent 3 weeks in a jail cell which included all of his spring break.

 

I would love to see you try to beat a police helecoptor, this isn't Gone In 60 Seconds.

Here in NY I mostly just see marked state trooper/county/city cars pulling people over for speeding. At night however I've seen suvs and even mini vans as well.

 

believe me man, the driving in the left lane thing pisses me off to no end... seriously, i've never dealt with it before i moved to VA, usually people pass, then get back to the right, like i was taught in driver's education... even if i'm the only one on the damn road i don't drive in the left lane!!! seriously, i bet if staties would patrol for that instead of the people going over the speed limit by like 5-6 mph that a lot of the speeding would stop because there would be no need to find "gaps" know what i mean???

 

i believe that you dont have to outrun a helicopter if you get away from the patrol car first before they can radio for one, it takes on average 3 minutes for a helicopter to get in the air and after you. also, if in ny @ night they have minivans and suvs(which equals a no handling vehicle) then it would be an even more possible to get away. but always remember its the driver not the car. if you cant drive and you have the worlds fastest car you will either A. Wreck or B. Get Locked Up. Moral, dont run unless you dont mind jail time if you get caught(min 6 months)