mstw

I googled law firms in the town where the court house is located and hired an attorney yesterday. $650 fixed fee, apparently knew the officer very well, been practicing for over 3 decades in that town and sounded quite confident.

I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed on this one. Thanks again all, wish me luck!


Mike W.

CrazyCracker82

awesome keep us updated. good luck buddy

3312DC

My buddy got a wreckless on the access road going to dulles (connects the beltway to the airport)
Hes paying a lawyer 1000 bucks.... guess ill have to slow down in that state

s2krazy01

paid $750 for mine. all she did was negotiate it to an improper. I'm no lawyer, but I think she could've done more, considering the officer didn't appear for the first court date and he wrote me a general reckless when it should've been reckless by speed.

Peter, does flying through an empty intersection qualify as general reckless? I assume he made it general because he had no evidence to prove my speed.

4theheckof_it

Anything can be considered General Reckless. It all depends on how the officer interprets what he saw in court to justify the charges.

JLUDE

Only advise I can give you is DON"T SPEED on I-81 in VA. The cops out there are in BFE and have not a thing better to do than to set up radar on I-81. Believe me, I went to Virginia Tech and travel I-81 every month or so and finally just set my cruise on 70 for the whole trip! 3-4 speed traps in 100 miles is normal.

mstw

the lawyer who represented me in court on the 16th managed to dodge the speeding and reckless charges, and got it down to just defective equipment charge with $250 fine plus $56 court cost. as its a none moving violation, there will be no points/records.

Total amount spent including lawyer's $650 fee = $956

This may seem expensive (actually it is) but consider I have a S2000 and a sports bike, I think from a long term perspective this will probably save me a few bucks with the insurance company... already paying about 105/month for both.


anyhow, what i learned from this ticket:
never smile and greet the cop, he knows you are cursing up a storm in your head, so try not to insult your dignity and the cop's intelligence by arguing or try to sweet talk a way out. be straight forward about it, be polite and cooperative, keep your answers short to get the cop back in his car, and yourself back on the road.

PopTarts

[QUOTE=mstw,Jan 18 2007, 07:15 PM] anyhow, what i learned from this ticket:
never smile and greet the cop, he knows you are cursing up a storm in your head, so try not to insult your dignity and the cop's intelligence by arguing or try to sweet talk a way out.

ricosuave

if you do plan on making a court appearance in person, i'd suggest getting the court date changed. if not, i'd echo getting a lawyer.

next time you're traveling through VA, get one of these.
it's immune to radar detector-dectectors.

pedroelbee

I'd recommend going to court; it'll probably help your sentence, too. If the judge sees you there he'll think you're responsible and may let you off with something less. I got a reckless for going 87 in a 65 too, on a rural highway in the middle of nowhere VA. Clean driving record, never had a ticket. Had a bastard judge who's wife must've cheated on him that day or something, took my license away for 3 months and gave me a $250 fine. I'd take it seriously. Oh, your insurance doesn't like seeing reckless either...