VA State Troopers

…..So I'm driving down the toll road this morning and get myself a ticket from VA's finest.

On the ticket is says the charge is

"RECK LESS DRIVING 77-55"

Can someone from VA please explain what that charge is please as MD residents are not aware of such a traffic violation.

Thanks! :roll:

Originally posted by mankie:
…..So I'm driving down the toll road this morning and get myself a ticket from VA's finest.

On the ticket is says the charge is

"RECK LESS DRIVING 77-55"

Can someone from VA please explain what that charge is please as MD residents are not aware of such a traffic violation.

Thanks! :roll:

Looks like you got yourself a speeding ticket!! You were doing 77 mph in a 55 mph ZONE!! Over 20 mph infraction is considered reckless if I'm correct. I think you got the "reckless" charge because it was over 20 mph over the limit. Otherwise you would have got just a speeding ticket. That may be more points! Slow down!

Okay thanks….the charge in MD is

"RECKLESS DRVING"

If I was going even faster would the charge have been

"RECK MORE DRIVING"

?

at what point does it go from "reckless driving" to "driving with intent to kill"? 30 mph over? my friend got a ticket for that once, and i can't remember how fast she was going.

"Driving with intent to kill" I can't imagine there would ever be such a charge…How could a prosecuter ever prove that you were out with the intention of killing someone…unless of course you went up on the kerb and went after someone..like the old dude in Santa Monica, but even then his intent was not to kill.

No… that old guy just plowed through an entire block of 100's of people…. but he didn't intend to kill. What did he think was going to happen? Oh, I forgot, at the age of 80, thinking stops…. sorry about that ticket by the way. Not to rub it in, but that is one of the reasons I long ago decided to stick to the speed limit… I hate going slow but then I thought, "what am I really in a hurry for?"… and now that most states are using offenses like this to pay bills like welfare and healthcare, the fines will only get steeper.

I don't usually speed that much, I normally stay around 65 but was running a bit late for work and the toll road was quiet…got nabbed this time,no biggie. I have 0 points on my license so if I get a lawyer to represent me I'll get it reduced down a bit to just a speeding ticket….and life goes on!

I think if you're doing double the speed limit in a flashing school zone that's the worst speeding ticket you can get.

Originally posted by mankie:
"Driving with intent to kill" I can't imagine there would ever be such a charge..

yea.. maybe the officer referred to it as that, but all i know is that my friend was going pretty damn fast.

i'm not a speeder, but sometimes 25 just feels way too slow. the highest over the limit i go is about 10… however on the highways when the limit is 55 and everyone else is going 80, well, you kind of have to keep up with everyone else.

I know in Virginia anything over 80 miles an hour is an automatic Reckless Driving. I was nabbed two years ago going 82 in a 65, the officer was cool though, since i hadnt got a ticket in 13 years he brought it down to 80 so i would only get a speeding ticket and not a Reckless driving ticket. Sad part is i had been driving for two hours and was 30 seconds away from my exit.

Wait til you come back over to Manchester Mankie. There are new hi-tech speed cameras all around the M60!

hey this raises an interesting question. If you flash those traffic cameras the bird do you think they'll mail you a ticket for insulting an officer? :D

I was nearly hauled off to jail for 95+ on the 101 up near San Francisco when I was 19. The officer let me guy so long as I agreed to appear in court 2 months later (which was an 8 hour drive from my home in So Cal). So for two months I prepared this research about how the speed limits wer lowered in the 70s to save gas and were never raised afterwards (i.e., not for safety issues so it can't be "Reckless Endagerment" which was the charge - an automatic suspension of your license. I ended up driving up Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to get back to court so I couldn't get another ticket - it took alomost 10 hours but was the most beautiful drive I have ever experienced.

Anyhow, this asian guy in front of me had a similar ticket, pulls out a similar study and starts arguing with the judge - he immediately suspended the guys license and made him spend a night in jail. I go up there and apologized profusely for disrespecting the laws of Santa Rosa county and for wasting the tax payers time with my foolishness and was willing to accept whatever punishment the judge handed down. He asked me a few more questions, reduced the ticket to reckless driving (2 points) but made me pay the fine for reckless endangerment ($375 back in 1993) and told me to drive back to So Cal slowly and safely. I did. It was 10 years before I got another ticket - last month driving back from NY in MD. 72 in a 55 - $75, which pales in comparison

Did you at least wait to go home the next day so you could buy the Asian dude a beer for saving your butt?

you're pretty lucky, smack. you let the dude in front of you be the guinea pig. and yeah maybe it sucked to drive so far to court, but like you said, at least it was a beautiful drive.

Originally posted by Guiny:
Did you at least wait to go home the next day so you could buy the Asian dude a beer for saving your butt?

I got out of Santa Rosa as quickly as the law allowed. I wasn't sure when he was getting out of jail anyways.

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by Guiny:
Did you at least wait to go home the next day so you could buy the Asian dude a beer for saving your butt?

I got out of Santa Rosa as quickly as the law allowed. I wasn't sure when he was getting out of jail anyways.

I appeared in court in Santa Rosa myself!! 1990.
I plead not guilty to a charge of public urination and an open container in vehicle!! I was found guilty and paid fines totalling 275.00.
I was living in San Fran at the time and spending weekends in Sonoma.

You need to learn how to kiss ass Mankie. I've gotten pulled over 3-4 times going better than 20 mph over the limit but never gotten a reckless charge.

If you're worried about the points (how many more points is reckless vs. speeding 20+ over the limit?) get a lawyer and take your car to have its speedometer checked and, presumably, found faulty. That way you can say you didn't think you were going a hair above 74.

Shit, I love getting rental cars and having a UK license……

I got caught doing 95 in a 70. I got a $100 fine and that was it. I was annoyed about it at the time, looking back I guess it wasnt so bad.

I love it when they chase after you with the blue lights flashing and then tell you that you are really naughty.

Originally posted by ggw:


You need to learn how to kiss ass Mankie. I've gotten pulled over 3-4 times going better than 20 mph over the limit but never gotten a reckless charge.

I totally kisses his arse…by the time he had walked to my car I had the license, reg and insurance all ready, told him I was late for work and apologized for speeding.

He looked to be about 14 years old, and when I drove off there was another trooper with him showing him how he should have parked his car in relation to mine etc. So I assume he was a rookie. I have a mate who's a pro at tickets (from experience) he said to get the speedo calibrated, write to VA to have the record of the last time the radar gun was calibrated and also when the Trooper was last certified in the use of one. He probably was only training on the radar so I could get it thrown out….I just want it droped to a speeding ticket.