Doe anyone have any recommendations for a lawyer in the Arlington area to help me fight a speeding ticket?

I'm here for 90 days on army temporary duty and got a performance award from the state Police.  I've never gotten a ticket before and was hoping I can make this go away.

Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know any lawyers that do that.  With that being said if you are going to fight it maybe show up to court dressed nicely and explain that you are here TDY for the Army and the judge will probably let you off easy.

My tdy ends before the court date.  If I can find the prosecutors office I may go there.

Google has a lot of lawyers, but I didn't know if anyone has (or is) a local guy I can support.

Eta.  I'm not asking for a handout or even a discount.

Just a speeding ticket or reckless driving?

Reckless is pretty easy to get if you are 20 MPH over the limit.

Just speeding.

I'd just pay the fine, unless you really weren't speeding and can prove it.  You are going to spend more on a lawyer than the fines are.

This.  Or, if your record it clear, take a copy to court.  Show the judge and ask for driving school.  You can now do the school online.

Sent you a PM with the guy I’ve used when my sons got tickets.

Ditto if anyone knows a lawyer familiar with Westmoreland county. Speed not reckless and tint.

Virginia is for lovers and ticket.citatations.

The judge nor the LEO are likely to talk to you prior to court.  Either pay it, or since it's your first time offense you might get some leniency, but you would have to present your case or hire an attorney.  Are you losing a few points over this?  If not, and you don't want to come back to VA for court just paying the fine is probably the easiest and least expense.

It really depends on how you got the ticket. If the state trooper didn't use a radar or cited you based on just you "appearing" to be going faster than anyone else, then the judge might dismiss it from what I seen. I've been to traffic court only once, and one lady got her ticket dropped because the officer said to the judge she only "looked" like she was going fast.

For myself, I was there for my mom. She got the bus camera but I was in the car with her and recall there was a median between us and the bus and even in the video they clearly shown. I brought in the Virginia code printed, and told the judge about the law but she said she wouldn't read what I brought and she asked the bus camera lawyer to read the law and he did and noticed the part about the median in it. The judge agreed with us and let us off. So I was happy. Up to that point, myself and that one lady were the only two who got our tickets dismissed. I was there for about 2 hours and nearly everyone had their tickets upheld by the judge. I kind of wonder if they got the ticket reverted for everyone who was in my camera feed because all those people got a ticket but they shouldn't have due to the median between us. The lawyer for the bus camera looked like he was going to say that back to his bosses, but I doubt it.

So you're in an uphill battle I think. The only way you can defeat this is if the cop doesn't show up, they didn't measure it with a radar, you had a medical emergency, and/or if you know of a law that you thought you weren't violating and can bring it.

I think you should own up to it. I know you said you got an award from the Army and State Troopers and this is putting a dent in it. But if you know you did wrong and own up to it, perhaps they will let you off with a warning. Best thing to do is just pay it, in my opinion and tell your bosses that you made a mistake and it won't happen again. That will be ideal. But if you do go there, perhaps explaining your situation would be helpful but I think in terms of if you lost and still have to pay, it'll be more damaging for you in the long run than just owning up to it.

For myself, I actually got a speeding ticket. At the time I had a security clearance with the government. I wanted to go fight it but I knew I was going fast but so was everyone else. I thought it would make a poor defense to say, "everyone else was driving fast." So I just paid it, told my bosses that yeah I got a speeding ticket, it was under the threshold of what I had to report but I wanted to report it anyways and say that I mailed the check as I was saying it. However, I don't work for the government anymore, so if I got a ticket, I'd probably at least show up to the court and just say something to see if the cop even shows up. If he doesn't, then whatever you way is good to go probably unless you say something very silly.

<<<<Retired northern VA Leo

Unless something changed recently, I don't believe the Arlington Commonwealth attorney will get involved with a traffic infraction case unless you have an attorney involved.

It will be between you and the trooper.

The summons was issued and signed. It can't be taken back or made "go away."(nolle prosequi).  You will be required to appear or risk being guilty in absence.

I'm guessing you got it on I395?  Likely had you on lidar if so.  Other than requesting they have the calibration record it's pretty much a done deal.  Asking the trooper to nolle pros it would be met with question by the judge for grounds, that's even if the trooper agrees.

I would recommend owning your action, pay it, move on, and do the right thing from now on.  The army isn't meeting it's recruiting goals these days anyhow, they're not going to shit-can you.  

if the ticket has the box checked where you can go online and pay it,

then do so,

not worth the effort otherwise,

wife got her first speeding ticket a few years ago,   decided to fight it and go to driving school, etc

after it was all said and done, she said if she ever got another she would just pay it and move on,


which is what I have always done,

The only way you can really get into trouble is if you have a security clearance and you got a ticket over some threshold. I think it's 300 bucks, but I could be wrong because it's been a while since I had one. That could easily be met in places like California where a simple speeding ticket might be 50 bucks but the charges and fees make it go into that range. I don't think that can happen in Virginia but if you got a reckless driving ticket, which again is very much possible given that some places have a 75-80mph speed limit and I think if you're going 10 miles over and hitting 90, that can get you a reckless ticket even though technically you're just driving 10 over.

When I spoke to my security rep back then, they said for a "low-level" clearance (which is really a "secret" clearance) they don't really mind you got a ticket only that you made an effort to correct it. Assuming it's just a speeding violation and not a reckless or something else. For TS or higher levels, I think they'll want to investigate more if you're constantly getting tickets but I think one or two here and there should be okay so long as they're not excessive or reckless.

I think for the OP it's just damning that he got an award with the State Troopers and Army and then on the same day getitng a speeding ticket. No real way to fight it though if you were actually going fast and they got you on radar.

The Radar Detector Forum usually recommends these two with offtherecord having slightly better reviews.

https://offtherecord.com/

https://www.theticketclinic.com/usa/

TYCOM

You are mostly right about the ticket. There are multiple accepted speed measuring methods. One is radar or lidar(laser) but, an officer can also pace the vehicle in front of them. It is not a matter of if it was not radar/lidar then it is not a good ticket.

I agree.......not unless you can prove that you were not speeding.............I went to court over a window tint citation.......The judge dismissed it.........but it cost me 18.00 dollars to park and I lost a days pay at work..........