How to Fight a Reckless Driving Ticket in Fairfax
What Constitutes Reckless Driving?
According to the law, this involves two things:
- Manner – operating vehicles in a way that could possibly cause bodily harm to individuals, or property.
- Speed – exceeding the posted speed limits by over 20 MPH or going over 80 MPH regardless of the speed limit.
These definitions are applicable to the state of Virginia. There are several other reasons an officer can cite you for reckless driving, including but not limited to: not using proper signals; ignoring a school bus stop; running a red light; driving too closely; speeding – or driving with wanton disregard.
Reasons to Fight
When most people get a traffic ticket, their first instinct would be to pay the fines rather than endure a day in court. While reckless driving, and a ticket without an arrest, may all seem like a simple traffic infraction, it’s may not be and the consequences may be more significant than initially appears.
Turning a blind eye to a reckless driving ticket isn’t recommended.
The fines may be significant, but the biggest issue is potentially substantial increases in insurance. . Jail time and a suspended license is also a possibility if there are extenuating circumstances. Nevertheless, if this is your first offense, and you have a fairly clean driving record, there is some possibility of having the charges either dismissed or reduced. One option is an improper driving charge, which is a civil infraction – rather than a crime.
Other Reason to Fight
In addition to the penalties outlined above, there may be added costs if you plead guilty or become convicted:
- Higher Insurance – auto insurance is mandatory. Imagine how financially stressful it would be to have these charges exponentially increased due to a reckless driving offense.
Now that you know why you should fight these charges, just how do you fight?
WAYS TO DISPUTE THE TICKET
Typically in Fairfax, simply saying the officer is mistaken is not a successful strategy. It is essential to getting the best result to remember that the truth doesn’t always prevail, rather the judge determines what is the truth. To that extent, your strategy must be formulated to what the judge will accept if it is to be successful.
The major way to attack a reckless driving by speed is to keep the officer from even being able to say what your speed was. Under the rules of evidence, an officer will have to demonstrate that the equipment he used to determine your speed was working properly. This is done using a calibration sheet. There are a lengthy set of rules and regulations that must be followed to ensure the accuracy of these calibrations. 99% of the time people without lawyers ignore this part of the trial. Usually because they don’t understand the significance of the calibration sheet. If you get a chance to look at the calibrations and don’t object, you have probably already lost your case. Gaining an understanding of how the equipment works and trying to make sure the officer has dotted all their “i’s” and crossed all their “t’s” is likely the only successful strategy.
You will also want to make sure the officer is accurate about the speed limit and more importantly that they can establish that the speed limit was set in accordance to the law. For example, it is a little known rule that if the speed limit is adjusted by a city or town, the speed limit must be posted at the beginning and end of the road. While this requirement is often complied with, very few officers are aware of it and even fewer prosecutors. They must present this evidence as part of the case against you and a failure to do so can result in a reduction or dismissal of your reckless driving ticket.
Many times these sort of defenses are ignored by drivers simply because they are unaware of the requirements. These drivers would rather focus on the almost always ineffective strategy of disputing an officer’s results. Again, if you want to fight a reckless driving ticket you need to know the law; common sense and logic will almost never save you.
