MAR residents,

So on sunday on my way back down to Virginia Tech I got nabbed for 74 in a 55 right outside of Berryville VA. I am a MD resident and have no points on my record. The ticket was not reckless and the cop told me that it was a prepayable offense.

My court date is December 20th, and since I don't live close by I really don't want to go.

Any advice? Do points really transfer to MD from VA?

Is it more cost effective to just go to court and plead guilty?

any help is appreciated.

-Matt

I have gotten 3 tickets so far in VA, last one I got slapped with reckless driving...You think I would have learned. hahah.

From my experience by just showing up to court you might be able to get let off hook and just go to driving school for 8 hours. That is what happened to me with my first 2 tickets. Worth a shot. If anything pay the ticket and take a class if the points transfer so you can get points off your record.

Pay it. If you go to court, the court costs/processing fees will make it roughly the same amount or even more than the actual ticket. Even if they lower the ticket amount, they'll up the court costs to get the same amount.

Points should only stay on your VA license (won't transfer to MD unless you get another traffic offense in VA in next 2 years).

If it were reckless, you'd definitely need to go to court.

I learned all of this in 2002, so that info may not be up to date.

Pay it. If you go to court, the court costs/processing fees will make it roughly the same amount or even more than the actual ticket. Even if they lower the ticket amount, they'll up the court costs to get the same amount.

Points should only stay on your VA license (won't transfer to MD unless you get another traffic offense in VA in next 2 years).

If it were reckless, you'd definitely need to go to court.

I learned all of this in 2002, so that info may not be up to date.

This is wrong on so many levels...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_License_Compact

Yes you will get points.

It isn't the ticket or the court costs that concern you, it the insurance hike for the next 3 years.

Go to court if you can, consider getting a local lawyer if you can't. Bring or send a certified copy of your MD license record. Beg for the online traffic school.

I guess it all depends on what your tolerance for points on your license is. The last thing you want to do is just pay it...

:confused

The overview in the Wiki link was an exact summary of my situation. Under exceptions in the Wiki link, Maryland is one of the states. :help

I don't know; that was my experience in 2001 or 2002. I know for sure that my points did not transfer to my Maryland license.

I went to court since mine was "reckless" (75/55) to have it reduced, but my sister just paid her ticket for 78/65. No points ever transferred to my Maryland license nor hers for her "offense." If it's not reckless, I would just pay the ticket.

Clearly, insurance is going to go up no matter what.

Pay it. If you go to court, the court costs/processing fees will make it roughly the same amount or even more than the actual ticket. Even if they lower the ticket amount, they'll up the court costs to get the same amount.

Never heard of them raising the court costs spontaneously. They are set, AFAIK... at least in Fairfax County. $52 is usually the court costs, IIRC.

u should call and ask for a continuance so the court date is when your down there.

It is up to the judge to whether they transfer the points to MD or not, but most likely they will.

I know when i moved to MD from WA state they wipe you points clean. My dad go a ticket before he had to get his MD license and he had a legitimate reason to be speeding (something like if he didn't then there would have been an accident) but the judge said it doesn't matter because you points won't transfer.

http://www.ronaldsmithlaw.com/

Call and ask ... they do free consults ...

They talked to me over the phone about things and I chose them to bail me out of the big pile of crap I was in. (And they did a damn good job too.)

When I was a VA resident, I was ticketed in MD and the points transferred immediately. I expect the reverse would apply as well.

When I was ticketed in VA (I'm getting good at this), I went to court, listened to the attorneys present the preceeding cases to the judge and did likewise. I managed to have the reckless driving charge dismissed but paid a speeding fine. None of the attorneys I did any better than I did.

When I moved from VA to PA (actually, I moved to Africa, but that's another story), none of my VA points followed me. I went from teetering on the brink of a suspension to 0 points in the blink of an eye.

Points do not transfer, but the infraction will appear on your driving record, which could affect your insurance. I was charged with reckless last April and went to court. Ticket was reduced to speeding and I paid a fine. Prior to going to court, I had my car calibrated and I took an online VA driving course. Since this is not a reckless, you should probably just pay the fine unless you want to contest the speed you were driving at (may not be worth it since you were under 20 mph over the limit). For what it's worth, I am a MD attorney.

Points do not transfer, but the infraction will appear on your driving record, which could affect your insurance. I was charged with reckless last April and went to court. Ticket was reduced to speeding and I paid a fine. Prior to going to court, I had my car calibrated and I took an online VA driving course. Since this is not a reckless, you should probably just pay the fine unless you want to contest the speed you were driving at (may not be worth it since you were under 20 mph over the limit). For what it's worth, I am a MD attorney.

Yeah since it is not reckless I was strongly considering just paying it. I don't really know what I would say in court. I actually think I might have been going faster than 74 but that he said I was going that fast because I pulled over immediately and was very polite and cooperative.

I have a friend who got a reckless on I-81 in VA and is a Maryland resident. He went to court and they knocked it down from 87 to 80, which to my knowledge is still reckless. He never went to traffic school and received no points on his MD license.

If I were to go to court what would I even say, I mean if the cop is there I can't say I'm not guilty?

I would just pay it.