In Manassas, speed traps are designed to catch people speeding and reduce the overall speed of drivers in that area. They generally tend to be around places where speeding is common, around residential or suburban areas, or in places where there is an increased number of accidents.
Because Virginia prosecutes speeding harshly, it is important to first ensure that your ticket is not reckless driving, which is an even more serious charge. If you have been issued a ticket for reckless driving, then the first step to take is contact an experienced Manassas reckless driving attorney. They will be able to help you with the court process and provide the appropriate advice for next steps.
Speed traps generally are areas of the road that law enforcement monitors heavily for speed-related violations, such as reckless driving. They tend to be placed strategically, usually with the officer not immediately visible, and in the areas where speeding tends to be more prevalent.
There are different types of locations where speed traps tend to be more common. Some of these include:
The bottoms of hills are a prime location for speed traps, because people tend to increase their speed while driving down them. In areas with speed limit changes to a lower speed, people do not often slow down immediately, or might not have seen the sign. Speed traps will also be set up in locations where speeding or reckless driving is a problem, such as intersections, in an effort to reduce the amount of speeding drivers.
When a speed limit sign is posted, the change becomes mandatory at the point of the sign. Because drivers can see the sign in advance, it gives them time to adjust their speed so that by the time they’re passing the sign, they need to have already adjusted to the new speed.
Sometimes, if there is a significant reduction, there are going to be signs in advance warning drivers that there’s about to be a reduction in the speed. It is best practice to reduce speed before reaching the sign.
Often, police claim that the reason that speed traps are put in particular areas is due to safety reasons. The speed traps are placed there as a reaction to an area where there were multiple accidents caused by speeding. Some speed traps however aren’t obviously placed in positions like that, so it’s very easy to argue that they are to extract revenue, especially if there are places where the speed limit seems a little bit lower than necessary. In such instances, it will be very valuable to speak with an experienced Manassas reckless driving attorney about the speed trap and discuss fighting the charge.
In Manassas speed traps are legal. Virginia is one of the states that’s most harsh on speeders and reckless drivers, and law enforcement generally sees that as a positive thing, as do judges.
Because Manassas is so strict about their enforcement of these tough laws, we’re in the top ten states with the lowest highway death rate per 100 million miles traveled. Therefore, being caught in a speed trap is not ever going to help in your defense in court. Judges are going to see having someone caught in a speed trap as a positive because, in theory, an unsafe driver is being removed from the road.
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