Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:44 must be right on the line of being a regular ticket and reckless driving. Either DS was really speeding and the officer cut him a break. Or he wasn't going that fast but close and the officer wanted to teach him a lesson while helping fill the county coffers.

In Virginia clocked at 20 miles over speed limit, he could have been jailed for reckless driving . Also, in VA, if you fight the ticket , a judge can triple the ticket and chances are good that for a teen driver, this might happen just to drive the lesson home.

Just because the speed changes isn't an excuse as a.driver must be in control and aware at all times of speed, road condi. I would ground him for a month and make him pay a good portion of auto ins., as it will have a substantial increase .

Do you know of examples where a judge has tripled a speeding ticket? I haven't read anything like that for speeding.

Anonymous wrote:OP, often your responsibility as a parent will be inconvenience . All his school uniform would mean to me is that he is privileged and he and his parents think laws do not apply to them.

Or that it's 10am on a school day and that's where he's going after court. Also, when the teens get their license in VA and any other court appearences, they have to dress up in "proper court attire."

OP, often your responsibility as a parent will be inconvenience . All his school uniform would mean to me is that he is privileged and he and his parents think laws do not apply to them.

Anonymous wrote:44 must be right on the line of being a regular ticket and reckless driving. Either DS was really speeding and the officer cut him a break. Or he wasn't going that fast but close and the officer wanted to teach him a lesson while helping fill the county coffers.

In Virginia clocked at 20 miles over speed limit, he could have been jailed for reckless driving . Also, in VA, if you fight the ticket , a judge can triple the ticket and chances are good that for a teen driver, this might happen just to drive the lesson home.

Just because the speed changes isn't an excuse as a.driver must be in control and aware at all times of speed, road condi. I would ground him for a month and make him pay a good portion of auto ins., as it will have a substantial increase .

We had a friend with a 20 mph over reckless charge. He hired a lawyer who worked out a deal the morning before the court session. I'm assuming this was with a prosecutor? Anyone know how/whether this works for juveniles w/o an attorney?

12:01 here PS if you wind up sitting in court for a couple hours before your case comes up, you'll see how the judge responds to similar cases and have a pretty good idea how he/she will respond to yours.

OP you've gotten good advice. I agree it's better to show up in court..in my experience in VA they often lower fines/fees and sometimes lower it to a lesser charge if you plead guilty, accept blame and/or offer to take a safe driving course etc. Whereas the judge normally does not respond well or give you a break if you make excuses, blame the officer, argue about the speed, etc.

14:58 -- thanks for sharing your story. DS and DH are taking the driver improvement clinic on Monday, I'll go with DS to court in October, he'll be wearing his school uniform and I'll be sure that he's polite and honest and speaks up. That's about all we can do (well besides restrict DS's driving and have him pay any fines). It's an early good lesson to learn (and could have been much worse).

We have been in the same boat....but worse! Our child passed a school bus with the lights flashing.
There were 2 cars pulled over, both kids who went to the same high school.
Long story short, we showed up for the court date.
The other child who got the ticket was there with her Dad and an attorney. She went first. She came out sobbing. She tried to say it was dark and raining and there were other flashing lights from a police car in front of the school bus. She had her license taken away for a period of time and was told to take the safe driving course. Points were applied to her license.
Now it's my daughters turn. Inside the courtroom is the police officer and the school bus driver! We did not get a lawyer and she had already taken the safe drivers class. She was dressed in a blouse and skirt....not tight! She apologized and admitted she had done something wrong.
This is done in juvenile court.
My daughter got the points on her license taken away as long as she had no other violations in 6 mos. The court fees were waived. At the end of the day, we spent $2 for parking and our nothing was reported so our insurance premiums were not impacted.

Anonymous wrote:Go to court. He has a shot at getting it reduced, or getting a Probation Before Judgment, which isn't a "conviction" per se as long as he keeps his record clean for the duration of the probation. That alone can help keep points off his record. Just tell him to go, dressed nicely, be humble and apologetic, and see what happens.

I'm thinking this is the way to go as well.

Anonymous wrote:I would find out from insurance company what the change would be to your insurance, and make your son pay the difference. If he can't, he can't drive.

Sounds tough but it's a logical consequence and will make a bigger impression on him than getting things "fixed."

That would be more a punishment for me b/c I'd have to drive him to school and pick him up everyday. We've limited his driving to school, work, tutor.

Go to court. He has a shot at getting it reduced, or getting a Probation Before Judgment, which isn't a "conviction" per se as long as he keeps his record clean for the duration of the probation. That alone can help keep points off his record. Just tell him to go, dressed nicely, be humble and apologetic, and see what happens.

I would find out from insurance company what the change would be to your insurance, and make your son pay the difference. If he can't, he can't drive.

Sounds tough but it's a logical consequence and will make a bigger impression on him than getting things "fixed."

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how FFX works but usually if you go to the court date there is a chance to see the prosecutor (and often citing officer) where you can work something out if the officer is willing.

For ex., here see if they'll agree to 34/25 to get you into a lower category (IIRC) for points &c. DMV does the points, not the court. It won't work in this case but there are some violations where you can substitute a plea to a county code violation (not state DMV code) that will avoid the points.

Thanks!

Part of his punishment should be researching all the answers to these questions. It will be excellent prep for being a grown up. Once he shows you his research, you can go back and check it and make sure he understood everything correctly.