Speeding Offenses in Norfolk

In Virginia, there are two categories of speeding offenses. These are traffic infractions and then criminal charges. The difference between the two is that traffic infractions for speeding affect only someone’s driving record while criminal charges affect someone’s criminal record which is forever and can have a detrimental effect on someone’s future opportunities.

Within each type the penalties increase as the speed increases with the charge going from simple speeding to reckless driving once the speeds reach over 80 miles/hour or over 20 miles/hour over the posted speed limit. To learn more about the differences between these two types of charges call today and schedule a free consultation with a Norfolk speeding ticket lawyer.

Check Your Ticket Before Your Court Date

Speeding tickets in Virginia are fairly simple. The officer will give you the ticket on the spot after he pulls you over for speeding. There may or may not be much interaction at that point and then you can either pay the ticket online, which is the same thing as pleading guilty, or you can go to court and try to fight the charge or argue for a more lenient outcome.

What you should definitely look for in a speeding ticket is confirmation that absolutely it is just a speeding ticket and not a reckless driving ticket. This is because for reckless driving you will be required to show up in court and prepaying will not be an option.

People often don’t realize this about speeding tickets in Norfolk, that it is possible for a charge that appears to be a regular speeding ticket to actually be a criminal charge.Virginia has reckless driving by speed which is a charge that not all other states have. It is issued in the very same way that a speeding ticket is issued, that is by the police officer when they pull somebody over for driving too fast. The similarities make it very easy for someone to believe that they have gotten a speeding ticket when in fact they are charged with a criminal offense.

The last thing you want to do is assume that you have a speeding ticket and then find out after your court date that you are charged with Failure to Appear on top of the misdemeanor reckless driving charge.

Is Reckless Driving A Speeding Ticket In Norfolk?

Reckless driving is its own separate charge apart from speeding in Norfolk. General speeding is a traffic infraction while reckless driving is a criminal misdemeanor. However it is possible to charge somebody with reckless driving due to excessive speed.

Speeding Ticket Enforcement In Norfolk

In Virginia, some of the most common ways that I have seen speeding tickets issued include circumstances where the speed limit changes suddenly and people don’t notice right away. This happens often times when people are getting off of the highway where they have been used to driving 70 miles/hour and then suddenly the speed limit drops to 25 miles/hour or 35 miles/hour and they don’t adjust their speed accordingly.

Another situation is when there is a lot of traffic especially during the rush hour, which can cause drivers to speed, thinking that it is not really a problem since everyone on the road is speeding as well. This is not a valid defense in court and routinely fails.

Another way that I have seen speeding tickets issued is when officers set up speed traps to catch drivers speeding.