STEP ONE: FIND OUT WHAT YOU ARE CHARGED WITH What Law Section you are Charged with Determines the Potential Punishment If you have a high speed reckless driving or speeding ticket in Virginia then you may be facing serious consequences. The first thing you need to check is to see if you are charged with[...] The post How to Get a High Speed Reckless Driving Speeding Case Reduced or Dismissed appeared first on Leavitt & Martin.

If you have a high speed reckless driving or speeding ticket in Virginia then you may be facing serious consequences. The first thing you need to check is to see if you are charged with reckless driving by speed, or speeding. You can check this by looking for the LAW SECTION on your ticket. The law section will tell you what you are charged with.

In Virginia, reckless driving by speed is charged under law section 46.2-862. Speeding is commonly charged under law section 46.2-870. There is more than one speeding section, but there is only one reckless driving by speed law section. You can look up and read your law section online here:

RECKLESS DRIVING BY SPEED LAW SECTION 46.2-862

It is a big difference. Reckless driving by speed is a class 1 criminal misdemeanor and it leaves you with a permanent criminal record if you are convicted. The potential range of punishment in Virginia for a class 1 misdemeanor is:

Class 1 Misdemeanor Range of Punishment

Speeding is a traffic infraction and not a misdemeanor. Therefore, it does not leave you with a criminal record if you are convicted, unlike reckless driving by speed. A Virginia judge cannot suspend your license for speeding, however your DMV can in some cases.

Speeding is punished as follows:

In Virginia, reckless driving by speed is defined as driving EITHER 20 or more mph over the limit regardless of the speed zone OR ANYTHING OVER 80 MPH. The officer has discretion as to whether or not the charge is written as reckless driving but if you are driving over 80 mph or 20 or more mph over the limit they ALMOST ALWAYS write it for reckless driving.

So check the law section on your ticket as that determines what you are charged with and what potential consequences you face. Reckless driving is a STRICT LIABILITY crime, which means that you do not have to KNOW you are violating it. As long as you were actually driving over 80 or 20 or more over the limit then you are technically guilty of the crime.

Here is a case we did where the client was driving 108 MPH. Not only did our client avoid jail and a license suspension, but his charge was actually reduced:

Call today to speak with reckless driving and speeding ticket lawyers who are in traffic court pretty much every single day and who can advise you on what to expect in your case. 

A high quality traffic defense lawyer will be familiar with the jurisdiction where you got your ticket. Every jurisdiction in Virginia is different. Sometimes the prosecutor gets involved and sometimes they don’t. If they do get involved, sometimes it is helpful and sometimes it is not. Here is another case we did recently where the judge reduced a 96 mph in a 55 in Brunswick, VA traffic court:

Where you got the ticket will usually determine what, if anything, can be done with your case. I represented 3 high speed charges within one year, all of them were OVER 120 MPH and NONE of my clients spent even a day in jail.

You can reach a point where avoiding jail time is a huge win in and of itself. Honestly, any case 40 or more over the speed limit, or over 100 mph it is a very good result to avoid jail time.

The prosecutor gets involved and asks for jail time at 120 mph. I was able to convince the prosecutor to try my client in her absence. So my client did not have to come to court, and there was no jail time.

The prosecutor got involved on this case as well. I was again able to convince the prosecutor to agree to a result that carried NO JAIL TIME. At 127 mph that is HIGHLY unusual. In Virginia, once you reach 100 mph most jurisdictions give jail time. And I have seen the judge in Dinwiddie give 10 days in jail at 92 mph. So this was a fantastic result.

In addition, the driving record was terrible. My client had FIVE tickets for moving violations (4 were speeding/reckless driving) within the last three years. However, I was able to position the case to avoid jail.

This case was the most challenging because the judge gives jail 100 percent of the time once you get to 100 mph, and the prosecutors ask for more jail than the judge normally gives. However, in this case I scoured the officer’s calibration report and I LOCATED A LEGAL DEFENSE THAT EVEN THE PROSECUTOR MISSED.

HERE IS THE VIRGINIA LAW THAT GOVERNS THE ADMISSIBILITY OF RADAR, LASER, ETC.

As you can see from this law, calibrations of radar, laser or other speed measuring devices are only valid for SIX MONTHS. When I reviewed the officer’s calibration, IT WAS NOT WITHIN 6 MONTHS.

This defense was not obvious. The prosecutor mistakenly believed it was within 6 months. Most attorneys would have missed this. However, this legal defense let my client avoid probably 5-15 days in jail.

These are three highly unusual results. See Washington Nationals former player Jason Werth who went to jail for driving 105 mph.

NATIONALS’ PLAYER GOES TO JAIL FOR 105 MPH

It is important at these speeds to try to exploit every possible avenue to avoid jail. Call today for a free consultation about your reckless driving charge.

The post How to Get a High Speed Reckless Driving Speeding Case Reduced or Dismissed appeared first on Leavitt & Martin.