Teen VA speeding ticket: how to handle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For your insurances sake you better get that fixed.

So have him take the driver improvement course and go to court? I don't know how to "fix" it as best as I can. This happened in Fairfax County.
DS has an otherwise clean record. Who knows what actually happened, but I don't think the officer was doing DS any favors (as a pp suggested) as this stretch of road is all 35mph and oddly goes to 25 for a bit. It's a known speed trap location but a new road to DS (who took a wrong turn in a fork in the road . . . ). The officer also didn't offer to show the speed on radar (is that required or a myth?) and DS called me right after the ticket was issued and said the officer said he was going 40 mph but when DS got home and I read the ticket, it said 44 (DS said no one ever said 44). All of this is not good for anything, but just background to why I think the officer wasn't doing any favors.

Get a lawyer to fix the ticket to an unmoving violation that doesn't involve points. The fine will go up, however it will save his record. Then send him to traffic school and install a car chip in the vehicle that you check nightly. I can guarantee you if he was in college they would have nailed him with reckless driving to teach him a lesson.

[Anonymous]

DS will complete the driver improvement course tomorrow. Do I really need a lawyer to work the ticket? Can I meet with the DA or prosecutor before the court session? Is this even done in the juvenile court?

[Anonymous]

I have a different suggestion. He got a ticket because he was speeding. Which is a violation of the law. Make him go to court. If you can get a plea deal fine, but make him sit in the court room for the session. Here what is happening to other people. It could make him a more careful driver. (I am not saying is is not careful....but there is always room for improvement).

Use it as a lesson in driving. Speed limits seem like they are for revenue enhancement, but often there are other reasons, like enhanced pedestrian traffic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a different suggestion. He got a ticket because he was speeding. Which is a violation of the law. Make him go to court. If you can get a plea deal fine, but make him sit in the court room for the session. Here what is happening to other people. It could make him a more careful driver. (I am not saying is is not careful....but there is always room for improvement).

Use it as a lesson in driving. Speed limits seem like they are for revenue enhancement, but often there are other reasons, like enhanced pedestrian traffic.

Fine but I dont think this is any different from the majority of the suggestions which seem to be: take the course and go to court. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Anonymous]

I think the difference is that the language of "getting a lawyer to work the ticket" sounds like trying to get out of the natural consequences of the crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the difference is that the language of "getting a lawyer to work the ticket" sounds like trying to get out of the natural consequences of the crime.

Or it's exercising a constitutional right.

[Anonymous]

7:02 here: Of course it is in ones constitutional right to defend against a ticket. But, we are talking about a ticket. Use it as a learning experience. And the reason to go to court is not to beat the ticket, but to hear what happens in traffic court.

My suggestion has nothing to do with techniques from less expenses, either in ticket or insurance, but rather to make him a safer driver.

When I was a teen (and not all are like me, of course), I drove fast. It was going to court after my second ticket (first, mom was in the car, and she admitted she would have gotten it too) and I heard what was going on....everyone guilty, the severity of the sentences (usually DUI), etc. For me, I realized the potential impact, and slowed down. That was 30 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:7:02 here: Of course it is in ones constitutional right to defend against a ticket. But, we are talking about a ticket. Use it as a learning experience. And the reason to go to court is not to beat the ticket, but to hear what happens in traffic court.

My suggestion has nothing to do with techniques from less expenses, either in ticket or insurance, but rather to make him a safer driver.

When I was a teen (and not all are like me, of course), I drove fast. It was going to court after my second ticket (first, mom was in the car, and she admitted she would have gotten it too) and I heard what was going on....everyone guilty, the severity of the sentences (usually DUI), etc. For me, I realized the potential impact, and slowed down. That was 30 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

Things are very different these days. Insurance can be dropped instantly on a 17 year with that speed ratio, not to mention he is male so it is already going to mean higher rates. Going to court could be a good experience for him, but at the cost of the points on his license or a judge with a point to prove. A lawyer would settle this before the court date with no points and no damage to his record.

[Anonymous]

I don't know....when my Ins Co dropped me at 18, that made me a much better driver. It was very inconvenient for getting around, but I knew that if I drove recklessly, and got caught, I would not be driving.