Crashed car - help

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: spidey07
It's real fucking simple. I drove through a nasty storm just a few hours ago coming home from work. We were all driving about 40 MPH or less on the interstate. Driving too fast for conditions and failure to maintain control of your vehicle are driver error.

Many many years ago I was on my way home from college in a driving rainstorm at like 1 AM on a sunday. I could see MAYBE 100 feet in front of me, and was going about 30. I was passed by a vette and 2 SUV's going about 90 that were each about 30 feet from the next. I immediately speed up to catch them, and stayed about 30 feet behind the last SUV, figuring I would use the car in front of me as a gauge to figure out where I was on the road. At that speed and in the rain, my wipers were more for decoration than anything else, but I had some serious tires on my vehicle, so I wasn't worried about hydroplaning. I was worried about running into someone I couldn't see. But I wanted to be home before next Wednesday.

Along the way home, we picked up another SUV behind me. We passed a boatload of traffic; I don't remember taking my foot off the gas for at least 3 hours. We were seriously a 90 MPH freight train that couldn't see sh!t. I had trouble just seeing the tail lights in front of me thought he rain.

Looking back at it, I can't believe we didn't run into someone who was driving in the left lane. I'm not exactly sure where I was going with that story. Um, don't be stupid like me I guess, or maybe understand what the limits of your vehicle are, and don't exceed them. Yeah, I like that one better.

Originally posted by: runzwithsizorz
The cop is participating in an attempt to ruin the Ops' life

I think the cop has better things to do than 'try to run the OP's life'. The cop wrote a fricking ticket, not raped the OP's daughter and then kidnapped the OP's dog.

 

[seemingly random]

Wat????

The cop got the op's dog pregnant? Sigh. Now we're going to have spidey whining about the cop not wearing proper protection.

 

[Throwmeabone]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Virginia is scary about their traffic laws! After reading some of the sites like this and this, I'd be afraid, very afraid.

The way I read it
VA law section 46.2-853 is reckless driving
reckless driving is a misdemeanor criminal offense
it's 6 points
it stays on your driving record for 11 years
it has remedial fees of $1050
Ouch!

I'd be doing whatever it took to achieve this result:
"Is there any way a reckless driving charge in Virginia may be lowered to a lesser charge or can it be beaten outright?Certain courts may permit a person charged with reckless driving charge in Virginia to attend what is commonly known as traffic school and upon completion of the course, have the VA reckless driving charged lowered to a lesser charge and in some cases even completely dismissed (Although this is pretty rare.) "

See if you listened to the idiots who are telling you to plead guilty, that's how bad you would have gotten screwed over. GET A LAWYER. The fact that you have no other violations should help your case too btw.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: runzwithsizorz
Try and keep a stiff upper lip there Op, There's many a judge, at least in my area, that are dropping these reckless charges down to a lesser. Remember, they have to prove that you knowingly, and with intent, risked life, limb, and property to make the charge stick. I suggest you write down EVERY detail you can remember now while it"s still fresh on your mind,( traffic, lighting,visibility,distractions,road condition/potholes, etc). EXACTLY, WHAT did you say to the cop, they are trained to get you to admit guilt, and your words will be on the police report, which your attorney can download way in advance of the trial. Did the cop actually witness the accident? The supreme court of Va. says a cop cannot assume, or surmise speeding was a factor unless you admitted to him you were, if you did, YOU ARE TOAST.

Umm, driving above the speed limit in conditions like that or even AT THE SPEED LIMIT are enough.

It's real simple, if you hydroplane you were driving too fast for conditions and failed to maintain control of your vehicle. Otherwise you would not have lost control.

It's real fucking simple. I drove through a nasty storm just a few hours ago coming home from work. We were all driving about 40 MPH or less on the interstate. Driving too fast for conditions and failure to maintain control of your vehicle are driver error.

You got no argument from me, nor do I believe one from the Op. But this thread is about,"help",(see topic) which in my opinion is facts, info, possible outcomes, ramifications, the law, the costs, and a possible defense. As an example, One defendant was able to *successfully* argue that it was an engineering default by the DOT that led to excessive water, and thus the hydroplaning.
I'm not here to flame, shame, chide, or chastise, I'm sure the Op has beat me to it.

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: Throwmeabone

Originally posted by: allisolm
Virginia is scary about their traffic laws! After reading some of the sites like this and this, I'd be afraid, very afraid.

The way I read it
VA law section 46.2-853 is reckless driving
reckless driving is a misdemeanor criminal offense
it's 6 points
it stays on your driving record for 11 years
it has remedial fees of $1050
Ouch!

I'd be doing whatever it took to achieve this result:
"Is there any way a reckless driving charge in Virginia may be lowered to a lesser charge or can it be beaten outright?Certain courts may permit a person charged with reckless driving charge in Virginia to attend what is commonly known as traffic school and upon completion of the course, have the VA reckless driving charged lowered to a lesser charge and in some cases even completely dismissed (Although this is pretty rare.) "

See if you listened to the idiots who are telling you to plead guilty, that's how bad you would have gotten screwed over. GET A LAWYER. The fact that you have no other violations should help your case too btw.

How would a lawyer help? $1000ish fine if fully guilty, but lawyers sure aren't cheap.

 

[SirStev0]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Plead guilty and ask for traffic school.

Stop giving bad advice. The system is made for you to lose twice. You will first be fined by the state than fined again by you insurance company with increased rates.

Deny Deny Deny.

You will not win any awards for being noble. I'm sure if our old friend olds was in this situation his tone might be a little different.


Talk with the officer before hand. As long as you weren't an absolute dipshit, they will usually at least be nice to you in court. Some times all you need to get the charges lowered is for the cop to say you were respectful and compliant.

Go to court, talk to the judge. The cop gets to talk first so make sure you did the first part. Explain that the road was flooded, as you said, and you had no way to tell, which you obviously didn't. Maybe he will cut you a break.

Just because an Internet Elitist thinks you need to learn a lesson from an accident doesn't mean you should put yourself out to the mercy of the law. Justice is a vengeful bitch.


EDIT: Interesting that this is YAVHFSTLT (Virginia has fucking stupid traffic laws). I am really sorry OP, but Virginia is a shitty shitty state. I wish you best of luck; I really do. I had my own little indiscretion in VA and was lucky enough to have the charges lowered. In my quest to protect my criminal record I found lots of interesting information about the VA system, for instance that the politician behind many of these laws happens to own a chain of Virginia based law firms that specialize in, you guessed it, traffic laws. Wonder who is raking in more, him or the state?

 

[BoomerD]

Fckn spammers

 

[Muadib]

Fckn spammers

Sadly I must agree.

 

[yottabit]

Would’ve never happened had they inflated to sidewall

 

[BoomerD]

Would’ve never happened had they inflated to sidewall