Young client was stopped on Route 28 for driving 89mph in a 55mph zone.  They were stopped by a Virginia State Trooper and were surprised at their alleged speed.  The trooper wrote them a summons for reckless driving by speed for a court appearance in the Loudoun County General District Court.  The surprising speed later became clear because their vehicle was 23 years old and needed a lot of repairs.

Loudoun County is a very tough jurisdiction when it comes to speed cases.  We recommended our client take a defensive driving course and a reckless driving course.  Due to the age and condition of the vehicle we recommended they get their speedometer calibrated.  Sure enough their vehicle's speedometer was not consistent with the dynamometer reading.  Their speedometer was approximately 8mph off meaning they were going about 8mph faster than their speedometer reflected.  

In Court the trooper advised that our client was very polite and seemed remorseful and a bit confused during the stop.  We used the speedometer calibration to show that our client was going much faster than they thought.  They also had a clean driving record and had taken the recommended courses which made everyone happy. 

After reviewing the case the Prosecutor agreed to lower the charge to Failure to Obey a Highway Sign with a fine.  This is a substantial reduction as it avoids a misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving, drastically lowers the DMV points, and falls off the driving record after 3 years (versus 11 years for reckless driving).  We hare happy with the result in this case and it is a reminder to always considering a traffic lawyer that regularly appears in the Loudoun County General District Court when facing reckless driving charges.