Handling a Speeding Ticket in Leesburg
Speeding ticket fines have increased steadily over the years. That’s just the beginning. When considering court costs, and especially higher auto insurance rates, the true cost of a speeding ticket is about three times the listed fine. Furthermore, speeding dramatically increased during the pandemic. Many local law enforcement agencies are determined to reverse that trend. So, speeding enforcement is very aggressive in most parts of Northern Virginia.
Since the fine and the likelihood of another speeding ticket are both so high, paying the fine and walking away is no longer an option. A Leesburg speeding ticket lawyer evaluates your case, identifies all possible defenses, and then stands up for you in court. This simple and straightforward approach usually produces results that exceed your expectations.
Challenging the Evidence
Many police officers write lots of speeding tickets because they mistakenly believe these citations are easy to prove in court. In fact, the opposite is true. Depending on the enforcement method, a speeding ticket could be almost impossible to prove in court.
- Laser Gun: LIDAR enforcement is the most accurate method. Police officers aim laser beams at license plates, and those laser beams calculate the vehicle’s speed. Laser guns are very advanced, and also require heavy maintenance. Poorly-maintained laser guns are presumptively inaccurate. Furthermore, officers who use poorly-maintained guns and issue tickets appear incompetent and dangerous.
- Radar Enforcement: RADAR guns aim a cone of sound waves at vehicles. The bounce-back speed determines vehicle speed. Under ideal conditions, RADAR guns are very accurate. But the officer must have a clear line of sight to the vehicle. Furthermore, environmental conditions, such as rain and fog, affect RADAR gun accuracy. Finally, the officer’s viewing angle must be lower than 11 degree, a factor that often affects “speed trap” RADAR gun accuracy.
- Pacing: The most common speeding enforcement method is also the least accurate method. Pacing is a fancy way to say guessing. Officers use their own speed to estimate another vehicle’s speed. Pacing is extremely inaccurate if the officer was standing still at the time. Furthermore, some vehicles look fast, like sports cars, or sound fast, like muscle cars.
Because of these issues, police officers usually have probable cause to pull over speeding motorists. But prosecutors cannot make the jump to the next level, which is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Eroding the evidence is an especially effective strategy in super speeder or reckless driving cases. If the evidence is weak, a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer can almost always reduce the charges to ordinary speeding, an offense that has a much lower fine and much less severe collateral consequences.
Taking Traffic School
Once upon a time, officials didn’t strictly enforce rules like age and residency requirements, so almost anyone could take traffic school for ticket dismissal. Those days are gone. Now, strict enforcement of the qualifications might remove the traffic school option.
Legally, the defendant must be at least 18. This requirement comes up a lot, as teen drivers make up a disproportionate number of speeding ticket defendants. The law is a bit unclear as to whether the driver must be 18 at the time officers issued the citation or 18 at the time the judge orders traffic school. Authorities usually take the time-of-ticket position to block the traffic school option.
Furthermore, traffic school is only open to Virginia residents. The residency requirement is often an issue in Northern Virginia, because so many drivers are from D.C. or Maryland.
Connect With a Dedicated Loudoun County Lawyer
There’s a big difference between an arrest and a conviction in criminal law. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Leesburg, contact Simms Showers, LLP, Attorneys at Law. Convenient payment plans are available.
Source:
nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/speeding-ticket-virginia
