Client was stopped for speeding at 80/55 on Route 28 driving to play golf.  They had recently had a baby and it was their first time having some time to themselves and were not paying attention to their speed.  The officer was sympathetic and did not write the ticket for reckless driving but for speeding instead.  However, the client had a clean driving record and wanted to do everything they could to help avoid DMV points and minimize insurance rate increases.  We noted to the client that, at this speed, there is no guarantee to get a no-point offense from the Judge but that we were willing to try and so were they.

To give our client the best chance at a favorable outcome we recommended they take both the defensive driving course and reckless driving course.  While the reckless driving course is typically designed to be taken for court in reckless driving cases it is still helpful to have in elevated speed cases.  Our client also obtained a copy of their Maryland driving record and picture of their license to practice medicine as background information for the Judge.

At the court the officer was open to a no-point offense as our client was polite and cooperative on the side of the road.  We went before the Judge and explained the circumstances outlining the stop and everything they had done to prepare for court.  After argument the Judge agreed to lower the speeding charge to drivers to obey signs under Fairfax County Code 82-2-3 which is significant because this does not get transmitted to the driving record like speeding offenses are because it is a local ordinance.  Consequently, this was a successful outcome.  Our position as a traffic attorney is that if someone is willing to put the time and effort into their traffic case they should receive a benefit as is what happened here.