My apologies to the ENTIRE Fchat community. You all don't have to be stuck in the middle of our sidebar. CW
Sure. That's ordinarily the case. But why the first driver but not the second? If both are doing 80mph, they're both doing something wrong. I understand that perfect enforcement is impossible. It's capricious simply because a patrolling LEO can only pull over one car at a time. So the leader of the pack is "sacrificed" while the pack carries on unabated. To some extent this is clearly just (yes, driver was speeding), but it is also unjust (he wasn't the only one), and it's reality (can't pull everyone over). And, this is for a speed limit that may not have budged much since 1972, if at all. I've driven old iron, as I'm sure many have. They simply don't perform like modern vehicles, and I think a lot of folks feel that limits need to be adjusted periodically to accommodate for this. If it's a matter of paying a small fine and moving on, I doubt there'd be so much rancor about it. Most people would probably admit they were speeding (even if they felt the limit was humorously low) and pay the fee, considering it a "toll". No biggie. However, it's often accompanied by points on your DL, hassles, perhaps, from the DMV and the legal system, increased insurance premiums and, in the case of VA, the possibility of a criminal conviction, which really does seem to go over some boundary of appropriateness. Or, worse, perhaps, as noted. The pain just doesn't ever seem to stop. Speeders shouldn't be treated like hard-core, habitual criminals. And, if they are, that means that the vast majority of our society are hard-core, habitual criminals. Either that, or that the current limits and the system that enforces them may be inappropriate. CW
In this case, the Commonwealth of Virginia has said that 20 mph over the speed limit, or any speed over 80 mph will be considered "Reckless Driving". This is not a judgement call by the officer, and one of the reasons that judges in the Commonwealth generally dislike the law. They know that you might be exceeding the speed limit to a large degree, but still be driving relatively safely. On the other hand you could be going 5 mph over in a school zone with tons of kids crossing the street and be truly reckless. As such, in most cases, with a relatively clean record, the judge will lower the ticket to 79mph or 19+ to eliminate the reckless charge, but still give you the full original fine as a deterrent from speed.
I was just refering to Zack's lengthy post...man there's a lot in there!! LOL! Oh, I chat with LEO once in awhile...having the appropriate current logos on the windows counts for something. I recently drove over 1,000 miles in a weekend, and by carefully observing the Limits thru three States had zero incidents, although a radar set up right in Downtown Jackson MS scared me to death. I almost HIT him, that wouold have been bad!
Your GF is an attorney AND a stripper at the Spearmint? That's like winning the Powerball. She must work A LOT. There was a "but" in there. As in but if you're driving along safely, moving with the flow of traffic, etc., that's no reason to end up with a criminal record. RMX
I hear you on that, I have become a "pokey driver" if only by comparison, as folks zoom thru Houston like they are late for a date!!! Texas has started with the "points" accumulation and it's clearly going to get VERY expensive to rack up many violations. I go with Deferred Adjudication, with a Bond and probationary period, and update my '100 Club' stickers!! LOL!
Correct. And, interestingly, given the fact that some roads in the DC-metro area are Federally-patrolled, if you are cited for reckless driving on one of them, reckless is a separate, additional ticket. And, even if the reckless portion is dropped by the Federal court, IF the citation for the speeding is more than 20 mph (or over 80mph, regardless of by how many mph you're over the limit), when the DMV is notified, they will AUTOMATICALLY assess you the points for reckless driving (IIRC). And, you'll have a reckless driving conviction on your record. Again, this is the case EVEN IF the reckless charge is dropped by the Federal court. There's a discrepancy there that shouldn't be. CW
While a federal Park Police Officer might be ticketing you on Federal Property on one of the Parkways, you will usually go to a state/county court. I have been pulled over on GW Parkway and had court in the Alexandria Courthouse in front of the County Judge, fellow club member, but got treated the same as the rest of the defendents that day. Been pulled over on the Claira Barton Parkway by Glen Echo where the speed limit drops, in Montgomery County, and went to the Hyattesville Court House on Rhode Island Ave with a PG County Judge. Even in Maryland the Park Police Officer and the Judge realized what a 20+ ticket meant in VA and lowered the charge from 66 in a 45, to 50 in a 45. Now if I got pulled over in rural Iowa, I might have been screwed.
GW Parkway cases are heard in the Alexandria Federal Courthouse by a Federal Magistrate. At least, that's where the ones I've attended have been. CW
uh gee uh, this must be some sort of a test.....lets see the cool Ferrari is going 20 over and the uncool Honda is going 30 over. I got it, judging from some of the outstanding "logic" I have read here, the answer must be the Ferrari for not so obvious reasons..... I hope/pray that the OP has his day in court and receives the same penalty as anyone else with a similar driving history. Best of luck...
My head hurts!!!!!!! All this becuase some jackass Ferrari owner won't pay his freeking speeding ticket.
yes, i"m well aware that it costs quite a bit. But then again so do late model F cars. And no, my information doesn't come from the back of a magazine, it comes from the source I'm talking about getting D status from Switzerland and/or Brazil not some random African nation with a GDP the size of some of the posters here. It costs roughly starting at 500K$ US and goes well into the mid 7 figures.
Is it necessary to resort to insults ? Psychologically speaking, those who resort to insults are usually insecure in their opinion and afraid of being wrong. People who are confident in their opinions and logic never need to insult or condescend. Just sayin...
sorry Zack, I'm with Glassman on this one. 15 pages can be condensed down to exactly what Glassman posted......