So. . .got pulled over for speeding in VA

[Anonymous]

I was going 83mph so because it was over 80 and considered "reckless driving" I now have to appear in court. At a court house about 3.5-4 hours from here. Ugh. Has anyone gone through this? What's the best course of action? Apparently this is considered a criminal offense and will go on my record, and possibly getting me jail time?? It's been a week and I've gotten at least four letters from area (middle of nowhere VA) law firms who specialize in traffic violations. WTF? Is this some sort of racket? How did they even get my info. This whole situation seems unreal and kind of shady

[Anonymous]

Get a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

OP again. It was on the interstate where the speed limit was 70. I routinely see people driving that fast, if not faster on 95. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Those violations are on the Internet. I saw my teen son's infraction when he was in college when looking up my own illegal u-turn. It's public record.

[Anonymous]

So are law firms trolling the internet looking for victims - er, potential clients?

[Anonymous]

And why is my name and address public record??

[Anonymous]

Get a lawyer. You can lose your license or even get jail time for a reckless. I own a sports car and all the people in this area know to avoid a lead foot in VA -- 15-over is a reckless charge, unlike MD where it's 30 over.

I got a reckless about 15 years ago and lost my license for a month when I showed up in court, representing myself.

[Anonymous]

You need a lawyer. There is a washington Natioanl who is serving jail time for something similar. If it's in rural VA, it's even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need a lawyer. There is a washington Natioanl who is serving jail time for something similar. If it's in rural VA, it's even worse.

That was Jayson Werth and he did his jail time on weekends (over now). Maybe you can work out something similar, OP.

[Anonymous]

OP, this happened to both my husband and my uncle, both on 29 in Madison County. Both got local lawyers who had the charges reduced from reckless to speeding. Very few other consequences other than money spent. I know my uncle didn't appear because he lives in California, I actually forget if my husband went down there because this was more than 10 years ago.

Also, do a search here on reckless Virginia because this has come up a number of times and there is a lot of good advice here and perhaps some actual local attorney recommendations.

Yes, it's a racket. But the consequences can be very serious if you don't play their stupid game. Your name and address are public record because you committed an offense. My perfectly normal 46 in a 35 speeding ticket on Wisconsin Avenue in Chevy Chase is listed in the judiciary case search in Maryland. It's public information. And yes, attorneys do use it to find clients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a lawyer. You can lose your license or even get jail time for a reckless. I own a sports car and all the people in this area know to avoid a lead foot in VA -- 15-over is a reckless charge, unlike MD where it's 30 over.

I got a reckless about 15 years ago and lost my license for a month when I showed up in court, representing myself.

But I was going 13 over.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. I wasn't a fan of VA before, now I hate it even more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a lawyer. You can lose your license or even get jail time for a reckless. I own a sports car and all the people in this area know to avoid a lead foot in VA -- 15-over is a reckless charge, unlike MD where it's 30 over.

I got a reckless about 15 years ago and lost my license for a month when I showed up in court, representing myself.

But I was going 13 over.

There's no point in trying to make sense of the system now, it is what it is unfortunately. Look in the Virginia forums on city-data.com, people talk about the reckless driving violation all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a lawyer. You can lose your license or even get jail time for a reckless. I own a sports car and all the people in this area know to avoid a lead foot in VA -- 15-over is a reckless charge, unlike MD where it's 30 over.

I got a reckless about 15 years ago and lost my license for a month when I showed up in court, representing myself.

But I was going 13 over.

Anything over 80 is reckless driving in the commonwealth!

[Anonymous]

Over 80 is automatic reckless. Doesn't matter that it's "only 13 over." OP you sound in denial. This is serious in Virginia. Get a lawyer.