Building a Defense for Culpeper Traffic Charges

Defense strategies that a Culpeper traffic lawyer may use when defending a traffic charge depend on the facts of the case and the individual who is being charged. If it is a charge that has to do with speeding or some other type of speed-related offense, looking at the radar, calibration of the radar, or pacing method that the officer used are ways that an attorney can find flaws in the prosecution’s case.

Likewise, if it is a situation where somebody is charged with an offense involving driving behavior, cross-examining the eyewitnesses’ testimony about the driving behavior is going to be extremely helpful in building a defense for Culpeper traffic charges.

License Suspension

If a person’s license is suspended due to a criminal conviction, their attorney can try to appeal that conviction. If a person’s license is suspended due to an accumulation of points with the Virginia DMV, they are going to have to take care of it through the DMV. There is not usually a lot that an attorney can do to a defense in challenging the underlying convictions related to the points. If a person is suspended by a judge, an attorney might be able to help the person get a restricted license, which would allow them to drive on a limited basis even though their license is suspended.

Point System

Drivers in Virginia receive either positive or negative points, depending on certain circumstances. In Culpeper, the points on a person’s license will start at zero points, which means they are in a good position to drive, unless they are carrying bad points from other states. A person can also take an eight-hour intensive course with the Virginia DMV, which will allow them to get five good points which they can do every two years. The most points a person can have on their Virginia license, though, is plus five.

Additionally, every year, a person is also able to get plus one automatically if they do not have any new traffic infractions. For somebody who does not have, or never had, any traffic infractions and who has lived in Virginia for longer than five years, they are going to have what is called the perfect plus five. If somebody gets a traffic infraction, depending on what infraction they receive and the severity of the infraction, they will get negative points associated with their license. Once a person in Culpeper reaches a certain number of negative points, the Virginia DMV will suspend their license or put them on probation. There will then be separate tasks that a person has to complete in order to get their license reinstated.

Contacting an Attorney

If a person has points on their record, they should contact an attorney, even if it is only a minor traffic infraction. An attorney can give them advice on whether or not there is any way to contest the points and can give them some suggestions about how they can go through that process. In some cases, a lawyer could get the prosecutor to drop the charge or to reduce the charge to something that carries no points.

A person facing a routine traffic stop should consider contacting a lawyer if they cannot afford to have more points on their license, if they feel as though they were unfairly or unjustly stopped, or if they cannot make it to court when they need to be there.