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Reckless driving in VA

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hysonmb

Guest
What is the name of your state? VA

I just got a reckless driving ticket today for doing 91 in a 55. First off, I know that I was speeding, but, neither my wife or I noticed that I was anywhere near 90. The most that I saw that I was going was 80. Anyway, I was speeding up because my son in the backseat started coughing (hacking pretty hard) and fell asleep. This is not normal for him and being a 1 year old, he couldn't say that he was alright. I panicked and tried to get to a Dr office. Long story short, I got the ticket and I'm wigging out about the penalty. Can anyone tell me from experience what I'm looking at here? Jail time?
 


J

JETX

Senior Member
"This is not normal for him and being a 1 year old, he couldn't say that he was alright. I panicked and tried to get to a Dr office."
*** Oh, man. You have to come up with a better excuse than that!!! Of course any normal person who had concerns about a one year old coughing, would STOP the car and check..... or at least let the passenger get into the back seat to keep an eye on the child.

Man, you need a better 'alibi maker'!!

"Can anyone tell me from experience what I'm looking at here? Jail time?"
*** At the least, you are looking at a pretty hefty fine and possible loss of license. Unless there is more to this story (like you were carrying a gun in case you needed to shoot a bear on the way to the doctors office), you probably will not get jail time.
 
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hysonmb

Guest
JETX said:
[B"Of course any normal person who had concerns about a one year old coughing, would STOP the car and check..... or at least let the passenger get into the back seat to keep an eye on the child."

My wife was in the car with me and she made sure that he was not choking. The reason that we were concerned is because he is anemic. Stopping the car and looking at him would not have done any good.
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hysonmb

Guest
By the way, to travel from the left lane to the right lane on I-66 in VA at that time of day without speeding up a little is like asking for an accident to happen. I know that the "flow of traffic" normally won't hold up in court, but, traffic is fairly swift on that strech of road. One more question while I'm at it. If there is a small mistake on a ticket (he wrote the wrong year for my birthday) does that make it void?
 
H

HomeGuru

Senior Member
hysonmb said:
By the way, to travel from the left lane to the right lane on I-66 in VA at that time of day without speeding up a little is like asking for an accident to happen. I know that the "flow of traffic" normally won't hold up in court, but, traffic is fairly swift on that strech of road.

**A: The Judge says "where in the traffic code does it say that if you have a medical emergency, one can speed? And did you ever consider calling 911 and asking for an ambulance."
*******
One more question while I'm at it. If there is a small mistake on a ticket (he wrote the wrong year for my birthday) does that make it void?

**A: Judge " and what year then IS your birthday?"
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J

JETX

Senior Member
"The reason that we were concerned is because he is anemic. Stopping the car and looking at him would not have done any good."
*** Damn, this is getting funnier each post.
What does his being anemic have to do with his coughing??
And how was his anemia or coughing related at all to try to justify your doing 91 MPH??
And if you were really paniced as you claim, wouldn't you be taking the child to the HOSPITAl instead of a doctors office??

Come on, your original 'alibi' was bad enough. You're enhancements and attempts to explain are just making it worst.
 
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hysonmb

Guest
Being anemic is the reason that he was sleeping heavily, not why he was coughing. The officer noted that he was "sleeping peacfully". He was up and coughing and then sleeping, while the officer was in his car, he was coughing again and back to sleep. The coughing we're concerned about because he had never coughed so hard in his life. He seemed fine before we got on the road and shortly before I started speeding up, he woke up and started coughing and hacking harder than we have ever heard him before, my wife turned to check on him and I tried to hurry off of the next exit.

Point being, I know that I was wrong, I'm not trying to get out of the ticket with an excuse so honestly all of this "alibi" talk does not matter. I accept the fact that I was speeding and if you understand why or not, I really don't care. I didn't say that it justifies the speed. I never said that I should not have been ticketed, I only want to know what the penalty that I can expect will be.
 
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hysonmb

Guest
HomeGuru said:
**A: Judge " and what year then IS your birthday?" [/B]
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It's one year later than the one that he wrote. Again, I'm not looking for an excuse and I know that I have every right to that ticket, I only came here to see what I should prepare for when I go before the judge. And as to your question of 911, I knew that it would take longer for them to get there than for me to drive the 1/4 mile on my own. Why pull over and wait x minutes for them to show up and take him where I'm going?
 
J

JETX

Senior Member
"I only want to know what the penalty that I can expect will be."
*** And I already answered that in my FIRST response!!!
 
J

JETX

Senior Member
"It's one year later than the one that he wrote."
*** And THAT will not get it dismissed either!!

"Again, I'm not looking for an excuse"
*** Then why do you keep trying to offer them. If you weren't trying to weasel out, you wouldn't have told the whopper about speeding your child to the doctor, or about him being anemic, or about the wrong year on your license. You may claim you're not looking for an excuse, but clearly you are!!

"and I know that I have every right to that ticket"
*** Yep.

"I only came here to see what I should prepare for when I go before the judge."
*** And your story changes again!! In your last post, you said you were only trying to "know what the penalty that I can expect will be." So, which is it???

Let me answer BOTH of them for you:
1) How to prepare?
Depends on whether you are going to plead guilty or not. Since you say that you deserved the ticket, lets say you are going to plead guilty. The result..... pay the fine. If you are going to plead not guilty, then be prepared to present a SOLID defense to your driving. Not anything you have offered here.

2) What might happen?
No one can answer that.... there are simply too many variables. The court could be strict or lenient. They could even accept a plea for a lesser charge. We also have NO idea what, if any, your prior driving record is. Suffice to say, you will at least get a substantial fine and could get probation or even a few days in jail. It all depends on what the FULL story is and how it 'plays in court'. You could also face license suspension. And finally, you will very likely get a large hit on your insurance.
 
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hysonmb

Guest
JETX said:
"It's one year later than the one that he wrote."
*** And THAT will not get it dismissed either!!

****That's fine, just a question, I didn't expect it to.

"Again, I'm not looking for an excuse"
***Then why do you keep trying to offer them. If you weren't trying to weasel out, you wouldn't have told the whopper about speeding your child to the doctor, or about him being anemic, or about the wrong year on your license. You may claim you're not looking for an excuse, but clearly you are!!

****As I said in my last post, I don't care if you think I'm telling to truth or not. I came in here looking for an answer, not a trial.


"and I know that I have every right to that ticket"
*** Yep.

"I only came here to see what I should prepare for when I go before the judge."
*** And your story changes again!! In your last post, you said you were only trying to "know what the penalty that I can expect will be." So, which is it???

****Maybe I should have gone back to cut and paste rather than saying the same thing in different words. The judge is going to assess a penalty, I know this. "I would like to know what to prepare for" and "I would like to know what to expect" mean the same thing. My story is no different and I really would hate to have you to defend me in a court because I'd be looking at 10 - 20 for sneezing in public.

Let me answer BOTH of them for you:
***1) How to prepare?
Depends on whether you are going to plead guilty or not. Since you say that you deserved the ticket, lets say you are going to plead guilty. The result..... pay the fine. If you are going to plead not guilty, then be prepared to present a SOLID defense to your driving. Not anything you have offered here.

****This is where your reading skills come into question, I didn't say "how to prepare" I said "what to prepare for"

2) What might happen?
No one can answer that.... there are simply too many variables. The court could be strict or lenient. They could even accept a plea for a lesser charge. We also have NO idea what, if any, your prior driving record is. Suffice to say, you will at least get a substantial fine and could get probation or even a few days in jail. It all depends on what the FULL story is and how it 'plays in court'. You could also face license suspension. And finally, you will very likely get a large hit on your insurance.
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**** My prior record is clean. The last time I was pulled over and the officer thought that I was lying, he escorted me to the site that I was on the way to and APOLOGIZED to me when he realized what was going on. I have no reason to lie my way out of a ticket, I'll take what I have done, but to tell me that I'm lying upsets me to no end. You don't know me, you only know what you think is true and this is how innocent people end up getting locked up. I have said it and will say it again, I was speeding, I know this. Why would I lie if I acknowledge the wrongdoing?
 
L

lwpat

Senior Member
In VA doing 20mph over the limit will almost automatically earn you a reckless citation which is 6 points and a large increase in your insurance premiums.

An attorney would be adviseable and will probably save you money in the long run. Then you can carry on this thread with him or her. Wouldn't want to be accused of being sexist.
 
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