If you are an out of state driver who has been charged with reckless driving in Virginia, the following is important information you should know. To discuss your case in more detail or learn how this charge could affect your license in your home state, call today and schedule a free consultation with a reckless driving lawyer in Culpeper today.
Almost all of the states in the United States and the vast majority of them which are nearby Virginia are signatories to an interstate mutual reporting compact. This means that if an out of state driver suffers a misdemeanor or other traffic conviction in Virginia, Virginia has agreed to report that charge to the Department of Motor Vehicles in the state where that individual lives.
Therefore, a reckless driving conviction in Virginia may trigger driver’s license penalties in a different state where the defendant lives even though the crime did not occur in that state.
In a reckless driving case, an individual almost always needs to appear personally in court in Culpeper County. For individuals that are located a significant distance from the court or out of state, it is sometimes possible to have their appearance waived, but this can only be done in particular cases and through their counsel.
In Virginia, an individual can not simply pay the fine for reckless driving like other serious speeding charges which a person could prepay. Of course, in any scenario when a person is charged with a traffic infraction, they should speak to a lawyer before they prepay a ticket because there may be consequences that an experienced attorney will have in mind. These range from points on their license to an impact to insurance that they will not have contemplated. However, in Virginia, a person simply does not have the ability to prepay a reckless driving ticket.
The advantage of choosing local counsel in a Culpeper County reckless driving case, or someone who has a great deal of experience in that particular court, is that they’re going to know the police officers, the prosecutors, and be very familiar with the practices of the judge. They’re going to know what strategies work and what strategies don’t work; what evidence is important and what evidence is not important.
They will have developed a rapport with these important individuals over the years which will allow them to give their client the best chance to have the most favorable legal outcome possible in their case.
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