Reckless driving for spinning tires at stop light & no inspection sticker

[Spboddie]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

I got pulled over for spinning my tires at a red light. I was ticketed for this (reckless driving) and also given a ticket for not being inspected. Court date set two months from now.

I live in Georgia, and do not want to (but will if necessary) drive to my court date. I am willing to pay any fines. Should I hire representation to appear for me, go myself with no representation, or call and have my sentence reduced somehow?

Thanks

 

[FlyingRon]

You should definitely hire an attorney. He can see if the Commonwealth will waive your appearance. Understand, they can only do this if they agree to waive jail time. However, you don't want to be convicted of reckless (it's a misdemeanor). You will want your attorney to plead it down to improper driving.

 

[adjusterjack]

Not only is it a misdemeanor but a reckless driving conviction could give your insurance company the right to cancel your policy mid term, which will put you in a high risk class for insurance that will cost you two or three times what you pay now.

Might be worth paying a lawyer who knows how to get the reckless reduced or eliminated, rather than pay a lot more to insurance companies for the next 5 years.

 

[FlyingRon]

For a data point, my wife paid about $450 to an attorney to deal with her reckless up in Christiansburg, VA a few years back.

 

[Spboddie]

For a data point, my wife paid about $450 to an attorney to deal with her reckless up in Christiansburg, VA a few years back.

I just hired a local attorney for 400$. If he can get my misdemenor reduced, which he thinks he can (spotless record, spinning tires not a huge deal), he expects around a 100$ fine and 80$ ish dollars for court fees. The big thing is I do not want to drive 6 hours to court and miss work, so I'll let y'all know what happens.