Appealing a VA citation
What is the name of your state? Ticket in VA/Licensed in TX
I am in VA for a temporary job and received a "Failure to Obey Signal" in VA. Since I have a good driving record, I was expecting to be able to take a driver's course to mitigate the ticket, which would help with my insurance.
The VA court (I went today) said work the driver's course out with TX and gave me a citation. The TX DMV said, by code, they can only honor what VA tells them. The VA DMV said they will only pass along my citation, and that they have no way/process of collecting info from me such as taking a driver's course and passing it on.
Since both states allow drivers to take driver's courses to mitigate citations, it seems I should be able to receive the option, but I am caught in this catch 22. I was thinking of appealing the citation in VA (it would go to the circuit court, I was told) and would present a certified TX driver's record showing my safe driving record and explain that because of how each state handles information being passed around, I wasn't being given the opportunity to take a driver's course and mitigate my ticket.
Does anyone think this might work or what might happen? Could it end up worse? Is there something else I should do instead, or in addition to? Do circuit courts handle traffic cases different than the traffic courts? Any thoughts or similar attempts would help me know what to expect and to be prepared as best I can.
Also, I have no good excuse for the accident, except that I didn't see the light - the witnesses said I definitely went through a red. I could make some guesses, like sun glare, lack of sleep and/or two lights being very close together (I had been stopped at the 1st due to a red) with no one stopped at the 2nd light, so maybe I didn't expect the 2nd, but those are guesses and none seem worthy of using as a defense - am I correct?) I thought I was paying attention - no cell phone, no distractions, but... guess I wasn't doing a good enough job.
Thanks for any help - this is important to me, because unfortunately I caused an accident (no injuries) and my insurance will definitely be going up a lot.
What is the name of your state? Ticket in VA/Licensed in TX
I am in VA for a temporary job and received a "Failure to Obey Signal" in VA. Since I have a good driving record, I was expecting to be able to take a driver's course to mitigate the ticket, which would help with my insurance.
The VA court (I went today) said work the driver's course out with TX and gave me a citation. The TX DMV said, by code, they can only honor what VA tells them. The VA DMV said they will only pass along my citation, and that they have no way/process of collecting info from me such as taking a driver's course and passing it on.
Since both states allow drivers to take driver's courses to mitigate citations, it seems I should be able to receive the option, but I am caught in this catch 22. I was thinking of appealing the citation in VA (it would go to the circuit court, I was told) and would present a certified TX driver's record showing my safe driving record and explain that because of how each state handles information being passed around, I wasn't being given the opportunity to take a driver's course and mitigate my ticket.
Does anyone think this might work or what might happen? Could it end up worse? Is there something else I should do instead, or in addition to? Do circuit courts handle traffic cases different than the traffic courts? Any thoughts or similar attempts would help me know what to expect and to be prepared as best I can.
Also, I have no good excuse for the accident, except that I didn't see the light - the witnesses said I definitely went through a red. I could make some guesses, like sun glare, lack of sleep and/or two lights being very close together (I had been stopped at the 1st due to a red) with no one stopped at the 2nd light, so maybe I didn't expect the 2nd, but those are guesses and none seem worthy of using as a defense - am I correct?) I thought I was paying attention - no cell phone, no distractions, but... guess I wasn't doing a good enough job.
Thanks for any help - this is important to me, because unfortunately I caused an accident (no injuries) and my insurance will definitely be going up a lot.
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