Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Reckless Driving
Posted by:
etwhitmw
()
Date: November 29, 2014 07:17PM
So I got a reckless driving ticket today. Was cruising on the highway at 70. Cruise control was set at 70. Got pulled over and was given a ticket saying I was going 80 in a 55 instead of 70. How screwed am I? I need advice cause I have never gotten a ticket.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
kWddM
()
Date: November 29, 2014 08:40PM
Where did you get the ticket? Who/what LE Agency pulled you over?
What kind of car do you have? Do you have original wheels and tires on the car?
Were you traveling in a 55 MPH zone? If you were really going 80 MPH you should have been passing a lot of traffic, however, I went up 270 this morning and was keeping up with traffic for a while and realized I was doing 75 MPH!
If you really think you had your cruise set to 70 and you were clocked at 80, you could get your speedometer checked and get an official receipt claiming the speedometer was X MPH too slow. You can check this easily with a GPS or GPS App on a smart phone, but you will need an official receipt from a shop that can give a calibrated indication of how far off the speedometer is. You should get the speedometer checked and documented every 10 MPH between 40 and 80 MPH. There may be a percentage increase as the speed goes up.
The problem is you may get asked how long you have owned the car in court, if you claim you have had for a while the Judge will wonder why you have never figured out you were always passing traffic.
Then you would be best also to show the problem has been corrected and verified that the speedometer is correct.
For example most German cars have a speedometer that reads 5-6 MPH too fast at 55-60 MPH, whereas most US cars are dead on.
But any modifications to the car with wheels and tires can cause problems with the speedometer calibration.
What kind of car do you have? Do you have original wheels and tires on the car?
Were you traveling in a 55 MPH zone? If you were really going 80 MPH you should have been passing a lot of traffic, however, I went up 270 this morning and was keeping up with traffic for a while and realized I was doing 75 MPH!
If you really think you had your cruise set to 70 and you were clocked at 80, you could get your speedometer checked and get an official receipt claiming the speedometer was X MPH too slow. You can check this easily with a GPS or GPS App on a smart phone, but you will need an official receipt from a shop that can give a calibrated indication of how far off the speedometer is. You should get the speedometer checked and documented every 10 MPH between 40 and 80 MPH. There may be a percentage increase as the speed goes up.
The problem is you may get asked how long you have owned the car in court, if you claim you have had for a while the Judge will wonder why you have never figured out you were always passing traffic.
Then you would be best also to show the problem has been corrected and verified that the speedometer is correct.
For example most German cars have a speedometer that reads 5-6 MPH too fast at 55-60 MPH, whereas most US cars are dead on.
But any modifications to the car with wheels and tires can cause problems with the speedometer calibration.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
Whiz Kid
()
Date: November 29, 2014 08:48PM
Although speedometer errors can be documented, they generally are 3-5 mph. So if you get the benefit of the doubt and the ticket is lowered to 75, you're still guilty of reckless driving (19 mph or higher over the speed limit)
Try driving the speed limit next time. You're about to find out how expensive a reckless driving ticket is.
Try driving the speed limit next time. You're about to find out how expensive a reckless driving ticket is.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
Smokey Yunick
()
Date: November 29, 2014 09:08PM
>But any modifications to the car with wheels and tires can cause problems with the speedometer calibration
As cars today have computers these mods can affect gas mileage, all kinds of things, transmission shift points.Tire size changes should not be done with out resetting the computer with tire sizes ect. Yes different tires can affect the speedometer as everything is electronic today, No speedometer cables or gears in the transmission.
Reckless is a bad ticket but its not as bad as a DWI unless theres more then one. You could get a big fine. Unless your record is bad you probably will not loose the license. But you will get minus points and your insurance will go up a good amount. Best to get a lawyer and get it down to below reckless and a high speeding ticket by argueing the calibration of the radar..and other things, These thing lawyers know about.
As cars today have computers these mods can affect gas mileage, all kinds of things, transmission shift points.Tire size changes should not be done with out resetting the computer with tire sizes ect. Yes different tires can affect the speedometer as everything is electronic today, No speedometer cables or gears in the transmission.
Reckless is a bad ticket but its not as bad as a DWI unless theres more then one. You could get a big fine. Unless your record is bad you probably will not loose the license. But you will get minus points and your insurance will go up a good amount. Best to get a lawyer and get it down to below reckless and a high speeding ticket by argueing the calibration of the radar..and other things, These thing lawyers know about.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
dNvdf
()
Date: November 29, 2014 10:21PM
Before you argue about the police equipment, need to figure your own equipment out.
You may find out that although you "thought" you were going 70 MPH, you may have been going 80 MPH!
Then you need to figure out if the LEO clocked you with Laser, Radar, Pacing, Aerial. Once you know how the LEO clocked you, then you can try and discrete the method, calibration, licensing, training, etc.
The problem is you will likely start to loose the "Common Sense" theory. If your speedometer was slow by over 5 MPH, you should have had an idea at some point you were likely traveling faster than the bulk of the traffic on the highway.
Again, you can figure out how close you speedometer is by using a stand along GPS or a GPS Speedometer App for your smart phone to start with. I am now in the habit of benchmarking any car I drive to know if the speedometer is close or not.
You may find out that although you "thought" you were going 70 MPH, you may have been going 80 MPH!
Then you need to figure out if the LEO clocked you with Laser, Radar, Pacing, Aerial. Once you know how the LEO clocked you, then you can try and discrete the method, calibration, licensing, training, etc.
The problem is you will likely start to loose the "Common Sense" theory. If your speedometer was slow by over 5 MPH, you should have had an idea at some point you were likely traveling faster than the bulk of the traffic on the highway.
Again, you can figure out how close you speedometer is by using a stand along GPS or a GPS Speedometer App for your smart phone to start with. I am now in the habit of benchmarking any car I drive to know if the speedometer is close or not.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
etwhitmw
()
Date: November 30, 2014 07:00AM
It's my wife's 2005 Nissan Sentra 4d.
I usually drive my Chevy Colorado but she needed it to haul something from NC. I was driving route 64 EO Twin bridges?
I've asked friends about the issue but they figure I should just plead guilty. It's a first offense and they figure the punishment shouldn't go pass fines and court fees.
I usually drive my Chevy Colorado but she needed it to haul something from NC. I was driving route 64 EO Twin bridges?
I've asked friends about the issue but they figure I should just plead guilty. It's a first offense and they figure the punishment shouldn't go pass fines and court fees.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
Louie Chevrolet
()
Date: November 30, 2014 07:14AM
I am surprised a 05 Sentra could even go 80!
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
etwhitmw
()
Date: November 30, 2014 07:50AM
So am I, it's rickety as he'll too. Bounces at the slightest bumps. Good AC though.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
x7xdh
()
Date: November 30, 2014 03:09PM
Get your GPS or smartphone with the GPS Speedo App and find out if the speedometer is correct or off.
You want to try and get this down below reckless driving if possible.
I think most Japanese cars have pretty accurate speedometers. but you never know until you check it.
Good luck, your wallet and insurance company will not be so happy.
You want to try and get this down below reckless driving if possible.
I think most Japanese cars have pretty accurate speedometers. but you never know until you check it.
Good luck, your wallet and insurance company will not be so happy.
Re: Reckless Driving
Posted by:
Greybeard
()
Date: November 30, 2014 08:18PM
x7xdh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think most Japanese cars have pretty accurate
> speedometers. but you never know until you check
> it.
Recent Toyotas read ~3MPH high in my experience. But x7xdh's advice is sound, though I'm not 100% sure that your equipment being wrong will work as an excuse. Worth a try, tho...
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think most Japanese cars have pretty accurate
> speedometers. but you never know until you check
> it.
Recent Toyotas read ~3MPH high in my experience. But x7xdh's advice is sound, though I'm not 100% sure that your equipment being wrong will work as an excuse. Worth a try, tho...