VA Speeding Fines increasing...

[John]

Does the jail time bother you? Jail time you might say for speeding? Yep, jail time. I know several people that has spent 5 nights in a VA jail for speeding.

Yep, anything over 80mph in VA is punishable by "90 days in jail" and requires an attourney present for your case. Get a life Virginia and work on efficiency programs to make traffic run smoother and safer (California actually makes an attempt at this believe it or not). I find it hard to believe that Virginia is really having that much trouble finding a budget to fund road construction projects since they continue to have a surplus each year with their tax revenue...

[Mike]

i've been hit with LIDAR in loudoun. careful on 7, bitches

[WRXtranceformed]

Yep I've been hit by LIDAR with a localish trooper in Leesburg (Sheriff?). Most cops do use radar around here though, and they're pretty dumb about leaving it on constantly b/c detectors are illegal. This makes it a lot easier to detect obviously, and even the POP radar is pretty easy to detect with a good detector.. as long as it's hitting someone else.

[John]

You all would laugh at the speeding ticket I got two weeks ago where the cop admitted he didn't get with me with a detection device or by pacing - instead he "estimated" my speed over the bridge from behind... LOL

See you in court Officer Columbo...

[ViPER1313]

You all would laugh at the speeding ticket I got two weeks ago where the cop admitted he didn't get with me with a detection device or by pacing - instead he "estimated" my speed over the bridge from behind... LOL

See you in court Officer Columbo...

Laugh it up - I got charged with reckless driving because a cop "estimated" my speed from the side of the road. His estimation cost me $400 (between the ticket for "improper driving" and the lawyer) and 3 points on my license.

Other notable deuchebag in Harrisonburg: the cop that followed me from downtown to my house in P-Run (in my blindspot), pulled in beside me and questioned me 6-inches from my face if I had been drinking. Because he couldn't nail me for my driving. And I wasn't drunk.

....only in VA - I'll take MD cops any day of the week.

[HAULN-SS]

MD drivers are generally the worst drivers I've ever seen..maybe that cop thought so too.

Like 75% of the time if there's jackassery going on on the road in front of me, sure enough, there's MD plates on the car.

[Apoc]

You all would laugh at the speeding ticket I got two weeks ago where the cop admitted he didn't get with me with a detection device or by pacing - instead he "estimated" my speed over the bridge from behind... LOL

Failure to Obey Highway Sign anyone?

That ticket is always based on estimation because they don't actually clock you. They "know" you were speeding, just not by how much.

[Kaan]

John you need to set yourself up with about 5-10 good questions about his procedure and what he was doing. and unless he can PROVE you were speeding in court its going to get thrown out. dont be rude... to the judge or the officer (i know you know this)... because no matter what you are still considered innocent until proven guilty. and unfortunately for officer columbo he needs a measuring device.

btw, when the officer sees your name on the list that morning... he'll probably change his story to "i paced him." I've been there and delt with that. if he pops the "i paced him" after he told you he didnt... dont get pissed... just explain your story from the begining to the judge and when its time to question the officer make sure you get the distance followed and all that stuff. so bring a map or a mapquest print out that has all the streets and turns he could have been on.

i've had more cops just randomly make shit up while i'm hanging them in court... and i still make them look stupid. I was 7 and 1 last year in court and my one loss was on my reckless... i got "failure to obey a highway sign"

[John]

I pretty much have my story line down and I know I need to restrict my questioning to "yes and no" questions - those being the questions I know the answer to...

[Maengelito]

Yep, anything over 80mph in VA is punishable by "90 days in jail" and requires an attourney present for your case.

i dont think an attorney is "required" as i've had 2 reckless tickets and didnt have an attorney. the first one was in louisa and i met with an attorney a couple weeks in advance. then he would never return my phone calls or anything. i showed up to his office like an hour early the morning of court and couldnt find him anywhere. i went to court and explained that i tried to contact my attorney, he wasnt in his office, he never returned phone calls or anything. i had the case pushed back to a later date and continued to try to get in touch with him. after not being able to, i just went in to court and told the judge my predicament. he reduced it to 19 over.

the other time, i tried calling the clerk as i was gonna be out of town for work on the scheduled court date. the clerk told me that unless i have proof of an inaccurate speedometer or some other equipment failure, the judge was not gonna reduce the charge and i should just send a letter explaining my side of the court case. she specifically told me to not even bother showing up because nothing would get reduced. i was found guilty in absentia and only charged a fine and court costs for the reckless.

i had a really hard time accepting the fact that i shouldnt even show up, but the clerk told me several times to not even bother as the judge never reduces anything. whether or not it was the right move, i didnt have a lawyer, didnt even show up but didnt get jail time or anything even though it was reckless.

[John]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/18/1818.asp">http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/18/1818.asp</a><!-- m -->

$3550? Even worse than originally posted...

FYI, The following crimes now carry a less severe punishment than driving 80 MPH on a clear road with no traffic around:
Assault
Stalking
Sexual Battery
Contribute to abuse of child
Obstructing justice by threats or force
Shoplifting
Pass bad checks
Identity fraud
Cruelty to animals
Prostitution
Accessory after the fact to a felony crime
Vandalism/Intentional damage
Tresspass with intent to damage

I'm serious when I say this, I'd be outraged if I was still a citizen, and I'd be writing and calling my representatives immediately to have this overturned. There is some SERIOUS injustice going on in VA...

[WRXtranceformed]

Here are a few more:

Driving on a suspended or revoked permit - Civil
penalty $750.00 + the court cost & fines

Reckless Driving - Civil penalty $1,050.00 + the court
cost & fines

DUI - 1st offence - Civil penalty $2,250.00 + the
court cost & fines

Failure to give proper signal - Civil penalty
$1,050.00 + the court cost & fines

Leaving the scene of an accident - Civil penalty
$3,000.00 + the court cost & fines


Failure to give a proper signal = civic penalty and $1k+ add on??!? What the fuck!??!

[Apoc]

Good. Fuck all those people who don't user their blinkers! Bastards piss me off. Hell, If I could, I'd make DUI like $10k and time in jail for first offense.

[WRXtranceformed]

I use my blinkers all the time too, but c'mon... don't you sometimes not use them when you're in a turning lane or at a traffic light? That would be so gay to get a huge fine for something as benign as that.

[BLINGMW]

wow, my dad's going to be out thousands every day! :lol:

[ViPER1313]

turn signals??

who uses those??

[.RJ]

Whats the fine for DWA?

[HAULN-SS]

ha!

[Maengelito]

Whats the fine for DWA?

probably half of what it is for DWB

[Apoc]

I use my blinkers all the time too, but c'mon... don't you sometimes not use them when you're in a turning lane or at a traffic light? That would be so gay to get a huge fine for something as benign as that.

You don't generally get tickets for that sort of stuff. I'm not saying there aren't dick cops that would ticket you but that ticket is usually written because you've caused an accident from failure to signal.