I'm evaluating my options for a speeding ticket i received today. LEO claims i was doing 70 in a 50 via pacing me. wrote me up for NON-reckless. I never touched 60 to begin with. This all went down between the intersections of lee chapel & parkway (starting point) and old keene & parkway(ending point) which are 1.1 miles apart. I was exactly a 1/2 mile down the road before he pulled a U-turn. So i figure he has to be doing well over 100mph in order to cover the entire mile with me being a 1/2 mile ahead doing 55. So he has to speed well over 100mph to catch up and then has to slow down and pace me for a reasonable distance and then pull me over. i just dont see all that happening within the half mile that he had to pursue me between the point where i was when he turned around and the point where he was behind me and pulling me over.

so my options are

A. Do online traffic school before court date to reduce current points on my record and just pay the ticket.

B. Do online school, have vehicle calibrated, go to court and see if i can plea it down with the DA to either improper driving or failure to obey traffic sign. Ive only received one ticket (60/45) in the past five years in the state of Virginia, so my records not that bad.

C. Lawyer up.

If i was really doing 20 over why not just write me up for a reckless ticket? I really felt as if he knew he was embellishing my speed and figured writing a non reckless would result in me not getting a lawyer because if it were a reckless and i did get a lawyer the charge would not stand due to the circumstances that came from how he attained the speed of my vehicle. Also he seemed to focus a lot on his explanation of the prepayment process too. not sure if it was his normal routine or not but ive never had a LEO give that much instruction on the prepayment option.

Im going to get some consultations in the coming weeks from various attorneys in the area to see what my options are. So if anyone has any recommendations for a good lawyer or thoughts on the situation please chime in.

I have used Kassabian in Annandale more than once. Excellent attorneys.

Blessed are the murderous.

I am not screaming at you yet I need all caps to contrast my answers to your questions. See below.

Dan K Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm evaluating my options for a speeding ticket i
> received today. LEO claims i was doing 70 in a 50
> via pacing me. wrote me up for NON-reckless. I
> never touched 60 to begin with. This all went down
> between the intersections of lee chapel & parkway
> (starting point) and old keene & parkway(ending
> point) which are 1.1 miles apart. I was exactly a
> 1/2 mile down the road before he pulled a U-turn.
> So i figure he has to be doing well over 100mph in
> order to cover the entire mile with me being a 1/2
> mile ahead doing 55. So he has to speed well over
> 100mph to catch up and then has to slow down and
> pace me for a reasonable distance and then pull me
> over. i just dont see all that happening within
> the half mile that he had to pursue me between the
> point where i was when he turned around and the
> point where he was behind me and pulling me over.
>
>
> so my options are
>
> A. Do online traffic school before court date to
> reduce current points on my record and just pay
> the ticket. IT IS AN OPTION. IT MAY REDUCE THE FINE. THE JUDGE HAS ZERO PULL ON POINTS. THAT IS A DMV ISSUE. TAKING THE SCHOOL MAY REDUCE THE POINTS YOU MAY RECIEVE IF CONVICTED.
>
> B. Do online school, have vehicle calibrated, go
> to court and see if i can plea it down with the DA
> to either improper driving or failure to obey
> traffic sign. Ive only received one ticket (60/45)
> in the past five years in the state of Virginia,
> so my records not that bad. IF YOU DID NOT GET A RECKLESS SUMMONS, WHY PLEAD TO IMPROPER DRIVING? FTO SIGN IS A FOUR POINT OFFENSE. REDUCING THE SPEED MAY PUT IT IN A THREE POINT CATEGORY
>
> C. Lawyer up. AN OPTION YET GETTING A LAWYER WILL COST YOU MORE THAN PAYING THE FINE AND NOT GOING TO COURT. TRAFFIC SHCOOL WILL REDUCE THE POINTS.
>
> If i was really doing 20 over why not just write
> me up for a reckless ticket? I really felt as if
> he knew he was embellishing my speed and figured
> writing a non reckless would result in me not
> getting a lawyer because if it were a reckless and
> i did get a lawyer the charge would not stand due
> to the circumstances that came from how he
> attained the speed of my vehicle. Also he seemed
> to focus a lot on his explanation of the
> prepayment process too. not sure if it was his
> normal routine or not but ive never had a LEO give
> that much instruction on the prepayment option.
>
> Im going to get some consultations in the coming
> weeks from various attorneys in the area to see
> what my options are. So if anyone has any
> recommendations for a good lawyer or thoughts on
> the situation please chime in. BOTTOM LINE IT IS GOING TO FALL ON THE OFFICER MAKING A CASE FOR SPEEDING. YOUR PERCEPTIONS WILL BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT YET IT FALLS ON CREDIBILITY. CREDIBILITY MEANING WHO WAS IN THE BETTER POSITION TO OBSERVE THE CHAIN OF EVENTS AND FACTS MORE ACCURATELY. 20 OVER AS A SPEEDING TICKET IS REALLY GIVING YOU A BREAK. ITS NOT RECKLESS AND IF CONVICTED YOU WILL AMASS 6 POINTS ON YOUR LICENSE.

In the end the choice is yours. Attending driving school PRIOR to your court date is adviseable. Obtaining a lawyer is your option. Your finances and how bad you want to fight the power will dictate your course of action. Judges really do not want to hear a bunch of whinning and complaining. If you constest the charge, go in there with a plan set with facts, resonableness, and tact. These Fairfax judges have heard it all before.

Dan K Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> so my options are

You forgot D, which is to just pay the ticket, accept the points, and shut up. Unless you're in the habit of getting speeding tickets (which sounds totally plausible), the points are essentially meaningless.

> I never touched 60 to begin with.

LOL, sure you didn't.

Some years ago I had a good experience after hiring Sudeep Bose. I watched some poor schmo with essentially identical charges get a much harsher sentence. Mr. Bose managed every aspect of the interaction with the powers-that-be, up to and including negotiating before the Commonwealth Attorney ever saw me, so as to avoid any preconceived notions or prejudices.

He also takes PayPal which was rather convenient. I can't complain about the job he did for me. I think he still has a site at http://www.vatrafficlaw.com

So basically what youre saying is its going to be a he said she said in court. Do the traffic school, pay the ticket and be happy you didnt get a reckless

I look at it like this there are what about 1000 cops on the department in ffx so about 200 on the streets at any one point in time is a high guess. So for you to get stopped is like a 200 in 1 billion chance, so your guilty.

Now I wouldnt take the drivers improvement class until you find out how many points you currently have. If you are +5 which is the best you can get then wait til a week/month after you pay the ticket to take the drives class cause you then get +5 added to your record. But if you are in the minus which I am guessing that you are then take the class first so your record doesnt look that bad.

Just because the officer stopped you for 20+ doesnt mean he has to write you reckless. he was prob being nice using a little thing called discretion, and gave you a break based off your driving record. If you hire an attourney, Im sure it will cost you alot more than just paying the ticket, and sending your driving school certificate to dmv, and getting 5 good points back on your license. that is if you have never done a driving school. 20+ is a 6 pt violation, so you can gain 5 back by doind an approved school. Your call if you want to spend all that money on attourney. He might be able to plead you into a highway sign, or reduce it by 1 mph to make it a 4 point violation, but I highly doubt any ASA is going to change it to improper, that is used for plea deals on reckless driving charges, not speeding. If you dont hire an attourney, dont bother trying to talk to the ASA, they dont deal with defendants w/o attourneys. My only suggestion, dont be distracted while driving and slow down. An officer only needs to pull behind you and look at his spedometer. there is no set distance for a pace, it can be 1 mile or 50 yards.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-7-Dual-Lens-dash-board-camera-car-dvr-Camera-with-GPS-and-3D-G-Sensor-/260918552382?pt=Car_Audio_Video&hash=item3cbff5273e&vxp=mtr#ht_6596wt_1108 best investment you can make if you drive in fairfax county