Virginia Traffic Lawyer
Traffic offenses, in general, are called infractions and are violations of public order. They are not criminal charges, so they are not deemed criminal in nature and are not a felony or a misdemeanor. That is how the code defines them. An infraction is anything that is not a felony or a misdemeanor and that is a violation of the public ordinance. They vary in degrees, according to something that is a lower level to something that is more serious with more aggravating factors. A Virginia traffic lawyer can defend you whether you have received a simple infraction or a misdemeanor charge. If you have been charged with a traffic offense, get in touch with a skilled lawyer today.
What Constitutes a Traffic Infraction?
Traffic infractions are not criminal charges. They are not criminal in nature and they are not a felony or a misdemeanor. Traffic infractions are anything other than that. They are defined as violations of public order. Public order is a common understanding or a common standard as to place individuals in terms of how the act. Failing to stop at a stop sign is seen to be more severe than speeding for one or nine miles above the speeding limit. There are different degrees and for each degree of traffic offenses, there are difference demerit points assessed. There could be three, four, or six points. All of this goes into how to categorize those offenses and how to rank them.
Failing to stop at a stop sign is seen to be more severe than speeding for one or nine miles above the speeding limit. There are different degrees and for each degree of traffic offenses, there are difference demerit points assessed. There could be three, four, or six points. All of this goes into how to categorize those offenses and how to rank them.
Everyone is asked to not drive erratically on a highway. That is a general thing. The statute defines how people should drive on highways. Anything that does not correlate or go along with how that order is placed is considered an infraction and breaking or transgressing over that public order and should be addressed with the help of a Virginia traffic attorney.
Appealing a Traffic Infraction
Traffic misdemeanor cases are heard in Virginia general district courts. The lower level court is a system where they originate and where the trial takes place. They get appealed to circuit court if there is any appeal to be taken. The person notates their appeal in general district court. There is a form to be used for notice of the person’s appeal and it goes to the circuit court and Virginia levels of courts for traffic cases and lower level misdemeanors and felonies.
Preliminary hearings for felonies take place in general district court. Each county has one and that is where they are heard. If there is any appeal to be taken, it goes to circuit court, but they originate and trials take place in the general district court. The appeal would happen after the person is convicted. It is after the trial date. A person has 10 days to take an appeal. It is a limited window, but any appeals have to be taken within 10 days of that unnoted in the clerk’s file. Because the window of time to file an appeal is so short, it is important to retain the services of a Virginia traffic lawyer immediately.
Traffic Misdemeanors
Traffic misdemeanors are things like reckless driving or aggressive driving where there are things that are traffic in nature. They involve cars, drivers, and highways. However, they carry the criminal penalty with it. a traffic violation becomes a misdemeanor when it causes injury to a person, causes damage to property or creates a real threat of injury to a person or threat of destruction of property
Factors that can elevate a simple infraction to a misdemeanor include, the driving behavior of the person. Driving recklessly means that the person is being hazardous to others, does not care for their safety, and involves an element of harm, harassment, or destruction of another person. Those are some of the factors that they call aggravating factors. They drive the penalty up versus mitigating factors that drag them down. There are things that elevate the level of penalty that the person could be facing.
Traffic misdemeanors are usually a Class One misdemeanor or a Class Two misdemeanor. There is a possibility of jail time of up to 12 months and $2,500 fine for Class One misdemeanors. For Class Two, jail time is up to six months and a fine of up to $1,000. A Virginia traffic lawyer can help individuals mitigate the penalties that they face.
Speed-Related Misdemeanors
As a Virginia traffic lawyer can explain, another way that a person can get a reckless driving misdemeanor is by speeding 20 miles over the speed limit. It could also result if a person drives on the highway and does not have proper control of the car or has false brakes. Another level of reckless driving is driving in a way that may lead to an accident.
Getting in a car accident is not an indication of reckless driving. There is a case in point about that. However, if the person is driving in a way that results in an accident and the person’s driving pattern was in any way reckless, the person can get reckless driving that way. Aggressive driving is the same. If the person’s driving behavior intends to harass somebody by cutting them off or by another means, a person can get a traffic misdemeanor that way too.