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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > Regional Forums > USA - Mid-Atlantic > FML(help?), first ticket in 335i. "Reckless Speeding 82/55 MPH Zone Radar"



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      09-20-2011, 06:17 PM   #1
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*Update* My driving record was clean for 5+ years. I have +3 points. My last ticket was in 09-06 for Reckless Driving as well.

So, I'm headed somewhere at around 6:45PM on Dulles Toll Road and I get pulled over for Reckless Speeding at 82MPH in a 55MPH. What should I do? Just pay the fine and eat the points? Postpone the court date and hope the cop doesn't show? Get a lawyer? Should I ask for a calibration of the radar and hope it'll put me under 80MPH?

Incident
I was just trying to get the car to adapt to my driving style since I just took it in for service and they reset it. I was weaving in and out of traffic and right before my exit I see the lights behind me. For those who know the area well, the cop stated he was under the Monroe Street bridge and I got pulled over on Exit 13 which I believe is the Whiele Avenue exit. He said he didn't even know how fast he was going to catch up with me.

The cop was pretty friendly, he wasn't a dickhead. He just stated I'll have to come to court for this ticket and I can postpone if I want to. I didn't admit to anything. He just asked why I was going that fast and I replied "To get to class on time."

P.S. - I don't think I have any points on my license because I recently switched insurance and they said my record has been clear for 5 years.

Last edited by Royal Flush; 09-21-2011 at 07:01 AM..
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      09-20-2011, 06:27 PM   #2
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In VA, it's a misdemeanor and it is recommended to get a lawyer. You will have to go to court, even if you just want to pay for it.

It's a BS money maker because all the lawyer does is talk to the prosecutor before the hearing and makes a deal to lower it to improper driving/lower speed infraction depending on the prosecutor, how much your lawyer wants to try, and your record.

My wife completed an online course, got her MD and VA driving records, and got her speedometer calibrated - all before the court date. She had one ticket on her record but it was in the same year she got the 85/55 speeding ticket, so we decided to shell out the cash for a lawyer. You're looking at 700-1k for lawyer services on this and another ~200 for court costs and fine.

Good luck!
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      09-20-2011, 06:32 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Perfectus View Post
In VA, it's a misdemeanor and it is recommended to get a lawyer. You will have to go to court, even if you just want to pay for it.

It's a BS money maker because all the lawyer does is talk to the prosecutor before the hearing and makes a deal to lower it to improper driving/lower speed infraction depending on the prosecutor, how much your lawyer wants to try, and your record.

My wife completed an online course, got her MD and VA driving records, and got her speedometer calibrated - all before the court date. She had one ticket on her record but it was in the same year she got the 85/55 speeding ticket, so we decided to shell out the cash for a lawyer. You're looking at 700-1k for lawyer services on this and another ~200 for court costs and fine.

Good luck!
What was the outcome? What'd it get reduced to?
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      09-20-2011, 06:42 PM   #4
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that might be a "must appear" ticket...you dont need to lawyer up most likely...since ur record has been clean for sometime, they will prob reduce the speed and fine and you will get 2 points. doubt they would drop it all the way to a pbj
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      09-20-2011, 06:43 PM   #5
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My buddy got a reckless on 66W. He didn't have the funds for a lawyer and just went to court. He talked his way down to doing a driving course. He was scared shitless but was out of work. His plan was to go to court and talk to the DA and if the DA wouldn't budge he would request a continuance to hire an attorney. The DA was reasonably accommodating and he got off with court costs and the driving school - where they told him that Arlington Co. alone wrote more than 11,000 reckless driving class A misdemeanor tickets last year and that there is a 100% get a ticket with every stop and a 100% reckless for anything 20 mph over. It's a racket. If you've got time and no money, work it. If you're busy, want to rest easy, and can blow $5-700 get a lawyer. You're still going to have to do the school either way.

Whatever you do, get a Beltronics STI-driver radar detector - completely undetectable.
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      09-20-2011, 06:58 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boom View Post
My buddy got a reckless on 66W. He didn't have the funds for a lawyer and just went to court. He talked his way down to doing a driving course. He was scared shitless but was out of work. His plan was to go to court and talk to the DA and if the DA wouldn't budge he would request a continuance to hire an attorney. The DA was reasonably accommodating and he got off with court costs and the driving school - where they told him that Arlington Co. alone wrote more than 11,000 reckless driving class A misdemeanor tickets last year and that there is a 100% get a ticket with every stop and a 100% reckless for anything 20 mph over. It's a racket. If you've got time and no money, work it. If you're busy, want to rest easy, and can blow $5-700 get a lawyer. You're still going to have to do the school either way.

Whatever you do, get a Beltronics STI-driver radar detector - completely undetectable.
Did he heave a clean record? What speed was he caught doing? Do you think I should do the driving classes prior to the court date?
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      09-20-2011, 06:59 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by EngineCo52 View Post
that might be a "must appear" ticket...you dont need to lawyer up most likely...since ur record has been clean for sometime, they will prob reduce the speed and fine and you will get 2 points. doubt they would drop it all the way to a pbj
I'm somewhat worried about being able to get it reduced. Even though my record has been clean for 5+ years, I just checked and I have +3 points, last ticket was in 09-06 for Reckless Driving.
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      09-20-2011, 07:01 PM   #8
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I thought positive points are good and negative points are bad.
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      09-20-2011, 07:20 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Royal Flush View Post
I'm somewhat worried about being able to get it reduced. Even though my record has been clean for 5+ years, I just checked and I have +3 points, last ticket was in 09-06 for Reckless Driving.
yeah since u have a history of recless driving on ur record...might be better to seek legal advice, dont have to lawyer up, just call one for advice see what they say

you might be able to get that expunged from ur record since its been so long
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      09-20-2011, 07:40 PM   #10
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Does anyone have any recommendations for cheap traffic court lawyers to represent me on this case?
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      09-20-2011, 08:11 PM   #11
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With a prior, you HAVE to hire a lawyer. No question.
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      09-20-2011, 09:13 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by alex2364 View Post
I thought positive points are good and negative points are bad.
I'll have to double-check with the DMV with this. I do remember taking driving improvement classes for my prior recklesses. If these "+3" points count as positive demerits, I can only believe that will work in my favor.
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      09-20-2011, 09:51 PM   #13
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My wife got a ticket from a State Trooper for reckless driving on I-66 Eastbound at Monument Drive (Fairfax County) for 82 in a 55 while passing a bus. We hired a lawyer (McGlone Law Firm) who charged us $800 (normal fee is $1000 but we got a discount since my wife had a clean record) and before court she took a defensive driving course in Tyson’s and got the speedometer on the car calibrated (showed 3 MPH in our favor). Our lawyer was able to make a deal with the prosecutor at the court date to reduce the charge to improper driving which only cost a few hundred for the fine and court costs (~$200) but kept the reckless off her record.

I would recommend hiring an attorney, shortly after the incident we began receiving ads from different lawyers in the mail (over 30), but we ended up going with McGlone since he was recommended by the driving course instructor. If this is your second reckless driving ticket you might have to be concerned with a license suspension. The judge at my wife’s court date had no problem taking people’s licenses. His decision was based on prior offenses, points on the record, and the explanation of the offense from the Officer who issued the ticket.

As far as points in VA go, what I learned sitting in court was that everyone starts with +5 on their record. You lose points depending on the infraction and there is no limit to how many negative points you can accrue, but you can’t earn any more than +5.
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      09-20-2011, 11:37 PM   #14
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I got a reckless for 88/55 on 495 last October. I bought a lawyer for $400 and ended up paying a $300 fine including court fee. Good luck.
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      09-20-2011, 11:52 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by CD2007 View Post
My wife got a ticket from a State Trooper for reckless driving on I-66 Eastbound at Monument Drive (Fairfax County) for 82 in a 55 while passing a bus. We hired a lawyer (McGlone Law Firm) who charged us $800 (normal fee is $1000 but we got a discount since my wife had a clean record) and before court she took a defensive driving course in Tyson’s and got the speedometer on the car calibrated (showed 3 MPH in our favor). Our lawyer was able to make a deal with the prosecutor at the court date to reduce the charge to improper driving which only cost a few hundred for the fine and court costs (~$200) but kept the reckless off her record.

I would recommend hiring an attorney, shortly after the incident we began receiving ads from different lawyers in the mail (over 30), but we ended up going with McGlone since he was recommended by the driving course instructor. If this is your second reckless driving ticket you might have to be concerned with a license suspension. The judge at my wife’s court date had no problem taking people’s licenses. His decision was based on prior offenses, points on the record, and the explanation of the offense from the Officer who issued the ticket.

As far as points in VA go, what I learned sitting in court was that everyone starts with +5 on their record. You lose points depending on the infraction and there is no limit to how many negative points you can accrue, but you can’t earn any more than +5.
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I got a reckless for 88/55 on 495 last October. I bought a lawyer for $400 and ended up paying a $300 fine including court fee. Good luck.
Noted. I already hired an attorney. I'm hoping it'll get reduced with simple fines.
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      09-22-2011, 01:08 AM   #16
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i've gotten 2 in the past 5 months, i had to get a lawyer for my first, but then again, that was a way different scenario. either way, it's best to consult with a lawyer. you're looking at fines and the points most likely.
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      09-22-2011, 07:06 AM   #17
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Get a lawyer, do NOT pay the fine and eat the points. The points *may* be 6, which is a show.

Also, find a shop that can do speedo calibration tests. Get them to show that your speedo is not calibrated properly. Not hard for them to do.

If you have aftermarket (larger diameter) wheels/tires, your speedo will probably not be reading right anyway.

Good luck....
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      09-22-2011, 09:23 AM   #18
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both reckless tickets i've had were reduced to seeding
i've had 1 speeding and 2 reckless
i had 0 points till my last reckless
now i have -3, will take the online course to get it up to 0 again

when i went to court the last time for 52/25
the first thing the judge asks me is how many points i had
i said 0
he said how do you feel if i took it down to speeding and you pay the fines
i said that would be great
the people who had +5 had their speeding/reckless changed to failure to obey a highway sign
with no points
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      09-22-2011, 09:33 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by bigdaddycane View Post
Get a lawyer, do NOT pay the fine and eat the points. The points *may* be 6, which is a show.

Also, find a shop that can do speedo calibration tests. Get them to show that your speedo is not calibrated properly. Not hard for them to do.

If you have aftermarket (larger diameter) wheels/tires, your speedo will probably not be reading right anyway.

Good luck....
My lawyer is going to provide the shop to have the calibration tests done. I'm pretty much stock right now, so I don't know how much it'll be off.

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Originally Posted by kmarei View Post
both reckless tickets i've had were reduced to seeding
i've had 1 speeding and 2 reckless
i had 0 points till my last reckless
now i have -3, will take the online course to get it up to 0 again

when i went to court the last time for 52/25
the first thing the judge asks me is how many points i had
i said 0
he said how do you feel if i took it down to speeding and you pay the fines
i said that would be great
the people who had +5 had their speeding/reckless changed to failure to obey a highway sign
with no points
That sounds pretty promising on my part. I have +3 points on my driving record. Did your insurance take a crucial hike after you went from 0 to -3?
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      09-22-2011, 10:10 AM   #20
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This thread makes me feel slightly better being a new VA resident. Does anybody know about out of state tickets and whether an OOS ticket is retroactively applied as a reckless misdemeanor ticket in VA?

EG, I get pulled for 81 in a 65 in MD, will this be applied as a reckless driving ticket when (if?) it transfers back to VA?
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      09-22-2011, 10:16 AM   #21
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This thread makes me feel slightly better being a new VA resident. Does anybody know about out of state tickets and whether an OOS ticket is retroactively applied as a reckless misdemeanor ticket in VA?

EG, I get pulled for 81 in a 65 in MD, will this be applied as a reckless driving ticket when (if?) it transfers back to VA?
I don't have an answer for you, but I do see you're in Richmond, VA. Most of these situations and comments pertain to NoVA, specifically Fairfax County, which is a lot more notorious in regards to traffic tickets.
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      09-22-2011, 10:25 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by Royal Flush View Post
I don't have an answer for you, but I do see you're in Richmond, VA. Most of these situations and comments pertain to NoVA, specifically Fairfax County, which is a lot more notorious in regards to traffic tickets.
Yeah I've heard horror stories about Fairfax...is there really a difference between localities? I had just assumed the whole state was as bad as Fairfax
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