Stafford Reckless Driving Defense
If you’ve been charged with reckless driving in Stafford County, Virginia, you’ve come to the right place. I focus on traffic defense in the Stafford and Fredericksburg area. Let’s look at your case together.
The charge
There are many varieties of reckless driving, so we need to know exactly which one you’re accused of. Look carefully at the ticket you received. Look at the left side where it tells you to appear in the Stafford County General District Court on a specified date. Under that section, it will list your charge.
You might be charged under the most common statute (46.2-862) for reckless driving by speed. This statute says that any speed over 85 mph or 20 mph or more over the speed limit is reckless driving.
You could also be charged under the general rule (46.2-852) which basically says that it’s reckless to drive in a way that endangers people or property.
And there are several other variations of reckless driving. But determining your exact charge is the first step in putting together a solid defense.
The Stafford court
Stafford is generally known to be a fairly tough jurisdiction for traffic and criminal cases. Adult traffic cases in Stafford are normally heard in the General District Court. It’s located at 1300 Courthouse Rd, Stafford, VA.
The main judge in the Stafford court is Judge Strickland. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we also usually have Judge Reibach.
The Stafford Commonwealth’s Attorney (Eric Olsen) doesn’t normally get involved in reckless driving cases unless the facts are particularly egregious. The general line for them to be involved in a reckless by speed case is 100 miles per hour, although they certainly can step into any case.
Defenses
Reckless driving defenses can differ a little depending upon the court. Some judges might not be as receptive as judges to certain arguments.
In Stafford, the judges normally give credit for a calibration report (assuming that it’s actually helpful to our case).
Also, we might be able to make some type of argument about the officer’s radar calibration.
There are certainly other arguments to make and defenses to use in Stafford reckless cases. I don’t leave any stone unturned when fighting for my clients.
But even if the judge finds the evidence sufficient to convict, we can sometimes still get the charge reduced or even dismissed.
The driver improvement program provides a key tool to help make that happen. Both Stafford judges consider sending defendants to traffic school in appropriate cases. They both have their own guidelines of when to order traffic school, which makes navigating Stafford traffic court challenging at times.
If you have a Stafford reckless driving ticket, I’d love to speak with you about what we can do together. Feel free to give me a call.
Photo by M.V. Jantzen
