I was travelling down to wonderful VA to my new duty station across the Cheasapeake bridge/tunnel and I got pulled over for doing 83 in a 55 (same speed as you Quantumtheory08). Anyway, 20 MPH over the speed limit is considered freakin' reckless driving!!! Now, I know I wasn't going THAT fast over the speed limit. In fact, there was a Ford Explorer I was trying to get out of the way for that was clearly going faster than me. I was the one driving the faster looking car. I'm a law abiding citizen for the most part, have NO prior moving violations and am 30 years old. What are my chances of getting out of this? Someone please help with some links. How much am I lookin' to pay?

If that were to happen in Wisconsin and you went to court, they would either a.) Lower the ticket to a faulty speedometer ticket (they do this with all people that show to court for the most part, except for excessive speeds) or b.) lower it to 19mph above the limit which is not an automatic suspension.

Ike

Get a lawyer, ususally cost a few hundred dollars. I have a lawyer that gets it dismissed every time keeping it off your record.

Originally posted by colin204
Get a lawyer, ususally cost a few hundred dollars. I have a lawyer that gets it dismissed every time keeping it off your record.

every time? how often do you get tickets?

Originally posted by colin204
Get a lawyer, ususally cost a few hundred dollars. I have a lawyer that gets it dismissed every time keeping it off your record.

I agree. I had 9 points on my license when I got a 150 Mph speeding ticket and passing on double yellow line, which I had to do to get away from the cop. I could not get away from the police barricade, though. They had a task force to crack down on speeding motorcyclist on the rural backroads of Ocala. The lawyer postponed my court date untill my other points droped off and convinced the judge to send to me to driving school. I did not use one of three driving school option, because it became a court order. I didn't even had to pay for the tickets. I was very lucky I did not go to jail. This hapenned about two years ago and a month ago a received my "Safe Driver" drivers license. That just proves the system doesn't work. My wife and I work a "speeding tax" into our budget every year. Now I do "most" of my speeding on the track or on the dirt, but on the RX8 I'm seeing a lot of triple digits lately.

Damn, Ducman, I hope I never encounter you on the road! Some people simply shouldn't be allowed to drive. You're gonna kill someone one of these days.

Sorry about the delay in responding---I have limited internet until I get back to New York. Thanks for the responses. I knew I was going to have to get a lawyer, but I don't really know what the overall damage is going to be. I certainly can't live with a suspended license. With my current employment (military), a reckless driving conviction would probably bite me in the a$$ if it went through. I have a Alabama drivers license, I don't know if that helps me with points at all. I'm hoping the lawyer is reasonably priced, but getting out of that reckless driving charge is what I really need---no points would be the best.

1.)
I have experience in this, I am suppose to have 23 speeding tickets but I got myself out of all of them. Call the police department the COP is stationed in and ask when his day off is. Schedule the court appointment during his day off. The officer will most likely not appear. The judge has nothing to do but make you the winner of the case by default. If you do it more than once, go find another city court.

2.)
Pay the ticket, "BUT" pay $10.00 more than what the ticket says. $10 is the minimum otherwise they will wave anything less. They will return a check to you for $10 dollars. DO NOT cash this check, your ticket will remain in limbo for as long as you dont cash the check. NO record on your DMV either and no outstanding, since you already paid the ticket.

I hope this helps I have a few more but these always get me out.

Interesting info Newb, what else you got? ;)

since when was it so easy to just call the station where the cop resides, and ask when his day off is..

Give me a break...

Squidward=Even though you dont have a ticket go find someone you know who does have one now, and try calling the station. Just let them know you don't want to miss him when you visit the station for an appointment.

I have done this 5 times already most of the time i just pay coz the judge in the city I usually go to knows me =( However I just dont want to waste a whole 2 days scheduling and waiting for my turn in court.

Not sure what the law is in your state, but here if you have 3 years clean they'll let you off 1 speeding ticket due to your good driving record. Not sure how the 'reckless driving' will play into this though.

Also, here the cops have an appointed attorney that can legally represent them all, so waiting for his day off wouldn't help. I believe if you contested the hearing and went to trial he would have to show, but that means at least 2 days off of work.

....so pay more and it goes into limbo.

....I wonder if that will work in CA.

Originally posted by CruelNewb
2.)
Pay the ticket, "BUT" pay $10.00 more than what the ticket says. $10 is the minimum otherwise they will wave anything less. They will return a check to you for $10 dollars. DO NOT cash this check, your ticket will remain in limbo for as long as you dont cash the check. NO record on your DMV either and no outstanding, since you already paid the ticket.

This gem has been floating around for a few years on various internet car forums, but I've always seen plenty of posts after someone offers this from people who say it's utter nonsense, and that no processing systems hold recording the ticket based on a refund check being cashed or not.

I sure as hell wouldn't be counting on this to prevent a ticket from showing up on my record. Maybe CruelNewb lives in the one state out of 50 where this might work... ! It sure wouldn't work in Canada.

Regards,
Gordon

I know there are alot of skeptics, I too was one. But it seem to work here in L.A.

Definitely do not plead guilty. Plead "not guilty" and go to Court to fight the ticket. Many times the cops dont show and the ticket will be dismissed after 2 no shows by the cops. If they show, ask for an adjournment and hope they don't show next time. Or pay for an attorney and hope for the best.

Good luck!