<p>I’ve posted this before, but just as a warning for those new to the forum- my dear son was convicted and sentenced to a night in jail in Virginia for a big speeding ticket. This was WITH the best lawyer in town. There was a significant fine, too. DO NOT speed in Virginia. They take their traffic laws VERY seriously (and my son knew this going in…) A couple years prior, going even faster in CT, he got completely off (with probation)- also with a lawyer.</p>
<p>I happened to be attending a meeting at our State Bar Ass’n Fri. I’d hoped the the att’y who does traffic court stuff would be there, but unfortunately she wasn’t. I did get the name of one of the atty’s in the County Solicitors office, so left a message to see who we needed to speak to. Right now, all we know is that since the date of the ticket is wrong, the court date is also probably wrong, and will need to be rescheduled. However, DS is going to be going out of town, so we need to figure this out. If the ticket is void b/c of the error, that’d be great!! DS didnt ask that when he called. All he was told was that the info about the ticket wouldn’t be in their system for 10-12 business days! Thanks, everyone. Stay tuned.</p>
<p>For the court date, contact the clerk of the court, not the prosecutor. The clerk is generally the one who does the scheduling. Check with him/her whether the date is correct, and ask how to get the date continued if it is correct by S won’t be in town.</p>
<p>Momofwild(speeding)child~thanks for the VA warning, I’ll relay it to D.
PS- do you think the latest will slow him down?</p>
<p>Thanks, Chedva. My s spoke to “some clerk” (his words-- and he didn’t get a name - grrr) who said they couldn’t do anything til the ticket posted in the system in 12 days or so. That will be cutting it really close, so I am trying to find out which clerk to contact (or to find out which of the traffic court judges is handling it so can speak to the correct clerk) to figure out what is going on.</p>
<p>Yes, I have known several kids who have had to spend nights in jail in Virginia - particularly in one county - on the way to Virginia Tech and JMU - so they catch lots of college kids. I’s from Virginia and they have always been tough but it has been crazy lately. 20 miles over the speed limit or over 80mph is reckless driving in Virginia, meaning fines up to $2500 and up to a year in jail. It is a criminal violation, so you are handcuffed and carted off to jail.</p>
<p>WildChild didn’t get carted off, but did have to come back for the hearing and served the one night sentence (which was light) at that time. It IS reckless driving and stays on your record. (he seems to have slowed down- it was late at night, listening to a book on tape on his way back to Phila…)</p>
<p>I posted it once before about my daughter’s experience. I threatened to take her car away after she got her speeding ticket, prior to that she had one accident and another ticket for not wearing her seat belt properly. I told her that I couldn’t afford to have our insurance go up. Without my knowledge, she called a lawyer (a friend’s father) for help. He showed up at the court with her, negotiated to have no point, in exchange to pay a higher fine. She was 15-20 over speed limit of 65 and paid $185. </p>
<p>I think it is worth it to go to court even if you were guilty and without a lawyer. They would often negotiate with you to settle (no point, higher fine). The only advantage in having a lawyer is that you could go first. My daughter’s lawyer didn’t do much, but he was able to get us in and out pretty fast. This all happened in NJ.</p>
<p>Too late to edit, but I really don’t say “I’s from Virginia.” Not on the forum anyway.</p>
<p>Too late to edit, but I really don’t say “I’s from Virginia.”</p>
<p>You need to be prepared before you go to court to have defensive driving already completed and documentation of community service hours. The court usually will require this to reduce the fine and possibly remove/reduce the points. If you have this ahead of time, it will save you a second trip to court to prove you have completed these requirements.</p>
<p>This was suggested to us by a lawyer friend when we were in a similar situation and it worked like a charm.</p>
<p>^^ I disagree with that. Unless someone recommends that for this state (like the prosecutor’s office) I would NOT do defensive driving in advance. If, for some reason, that plan is not available in this situation, it will be a wasted effort and there are limits on how many times you can do DD. Make sure it will be an option for this offense.</p>
<p>DS got a photo radar ticket 2 months ago, very expensive. Interestingly, because the car is registered in parents’ name, and parents didn’t get the ticket, it is dismissed. HOWEVER, DS was required by us to pay us the amount of the ticket anyway, which required many extra chores and forking over some music lesson (he gives) money. he was happy to do this, to not have insurance raised and not have a record. We were happy as well, as he was a typical careless driving teen. got a lesson without anyone getting hurt. </p>
<p>To answer the original question, we’d have him go to court and pay whatever the reduced ticket was, and be grateful to have a driving lesson with no physical harm doen to anyone.</p>
<p>^^^ That is interesting. In our state, a photo ticket would arrive in the mail to the owner of the vehicle. It usually shows the vehicle tag from the rear (our stte doesnt have front license tags) and the traffic light they are running. So, you can’t really see who the driver is. It would be up to the owner of the vehicle to somehow prove they weren’t driving. It’s been a big problem for one particular high end auto dealership that offers loaner cars, that happens to be near one of those cameras at an intersection that is known to get lots of folks runing the light. The dealership gets lots of tickets in the mail- they then have to check their records to see who had the loaner that day. </p>
<p>Back to our situation. The judges in some counties will lower the number of miles over the limit that was on the ticket to avoid points and info being sent to the insurance company, but there is no guarantee that any particular judge will do it. So, not sure if doimg the defensive driver course in advance is a good idea or not.</p>
<p>
Ask the court clerk. In my experience in practicing law, the court clerk can be your greatest ally or your worst enemy. It never hurts to make friends with the clerk (or any other “gatekeeper” like secretaries). If your s goes down to the court, hat in hand so to speak, and asks these questions of the clerk, you may have a better result when he ultimately shows up for court.</p>
<p>Our photo radar was from the front–was definitely son, (and he had told us in advance he thought he was busted)–though the rearview mirror blocked him somewhat. DH had to send in a photocopy of his license to show he wasn’t the person photographed, and sign a proof of innocence affidavit. Pretty rinky-dink, we thought. But at 55 in a 30 (!!!) speed trap changing to 45, we were happy to have DS caught!</p>