How can this be legal? (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

I absolutely need my car. If this happened to me I would be livid and furious.
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Yes, Tom Selden admits, he was speeding.

Maybe he wasn’t doing the 84 mph that a Hopewell, Va., sheriff’s deputy said he was doing, but yeah, he said — he was over the 70-mph limit on Interstate 295 southeast of Richmond.

The December citation was the first blemish on Selden’s driving record in more than a decade — no tickets, no accidents, no points. He signed the summons, kept on driving the family down to Hilton Head, and later mailed in the $230 fine.

“I considered getting a lawyer, but it just sort of rubs me the wrong way that you can hire a lawyer and get a traffic ticket wiped off your record,” Selden said. “I really didn’t think it was going to be a problem.”

It was, in fact, going to be a problem.

In May, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles wrote to inform Selden his driver’s license was being revoked. That speeding ticket, which included a reckless driving citation, was sufficient to pull Selden from behind the wheel for at least six months.

In Virginia, traveling “in excess of 80 miles per hour regardless of the applicable maximum speed limit” is reckless driving. That offense results in six points on a 24-point scale.

In the District, reckless driving involves traveling “carelessly and heedlessly in willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others, or without due caution and circumspection and at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger any person or property.” The offense comes with 12 points on a 12-point scale — an automatic license revocation......................

D.C. drivers hurt by tough interpretation of Va. offenses - The Washington Post

 

[Cosmic201]

What exactly is the question?

The speed limit was 70 MPH, a speed I personally think is perfectly acceptable.
He was ticketed for going almost 15 MPH over that limit, he doesn't even really try to dispute that claim.

Frankly I have trouble feeling sorry for the dude. I hate, no I despise, people who, even when I'm going the speed limit or even a little over the speed limit in the middle or right hand lane, will ride my *** cause they want to go even faster. **** those people.


It seems like they already changed their ticketing process anyway and will only write those tickets if people are going 90 MPH in a 70 MPH zone.

 

[Charlie Brizzown]

Now when he's driving without a license for the next six months he'll be sure to obey the speed limit.

 

[Swampy Saint]

What exactly is the question?

The speed limit was 70 MPH, a speed I personally think is perfectly acceptable.
He was ticketed for going almost 15 MPH over that limit, he doesn't even really try to dispute that claim.

Frankly I have trouble feeling sorry for the dude. I hate, no I despise, people who, even when I'm going the speed limit or even a little over the speed limit in the middle or right hand lane, will ride my *** cause they want to go even faster. **** those people.


It seems like they already changed their ticketing process anyway and will only write those tickets if people are going 90 MPH in a 70 MPH zone.

You've never driven 85 MPH in your life?

I drive from Baton Rouge east bound every day. Try driving the speed limit. 90% of the drivers will be on your rear bumper.

I get your point, but if you can't see that guy's penalty is beyond severe......

 

[gwballin]

Modern cars with modern equipment on modern interstates (at least in most parts of the country) can travel in excess of 70 mph very safely but I digress...

What this case comes down to is two different jurisdictions using the same term to describe two different offenses. This man was accused of a lesser offense but because of the term used he is being punished for something he did not do. It does not surprise me that D.C. would be pulling something this.

 

[antipop]

Modern cars with modern equipment on modern interstates (at least in most parts of the country) can travel in excess of 70 mph very safely but I digress...

yes, but there are modern idiots behind the wheels of these fancy cars....

 

[Cosmic201]

You've never driven 85 MPH in your life?

I drive from Baton Rouge east bound every day. Try driving the speed limit. 90% of the drivers will be on your rear bumper.

I get your point, but if you can't see that guy's penalty is beyond severe......

Which is why D.C. is going hardcore strict on speeders doing over 80 MPH on interstates because speeding tickets alone are not stopping drivers from doing it and riding peoples rear bumper when they can't. When one deterrent isn't working, you up the punishment until it does.

And I can honestly say that 80 MPH is about the fastest I've ever felt the need to drive and I don't even like going that fast. Saving an extra minute or two on my ride has never seemed worth it to me.

 

[gwballin]

Which is why D.C. is going hardcore strict on speeders doing over 80 MPH on interstates because speeding tickets alone are not stopping drivers from doing it and riding peoples rear bumper when they can't. When one deterrent isn't working, you up the punishment until it does.

That is not what is happening in this case...

 

[GW93]

Sounds like both VA and DC have screwed up laws about speeding. My bro-in-law got a speeding ticket in VA, over 80 on the interstate. Not only is it reckless driving, it's a criminal misdemeanor.

 

[superchuck500]

Which is why D.C. is going hardcore strict on speeders doing over 80 MPH on interstates because speeding tickets alone are not stopping drivers from doing it and riding peoples rear bumper when they can't. When one deterrent isn't working, you up the punishment until it does.

And I can honestly say that 80 MPH is about the fastest I've ever felt the need to drive and I don't even like going that fast. Saving an extra minute or two on my ride has never seemed worth it to me.

That's not what it says. Virginia is the one that defines over 80 as reckless per se. But in VA, reckless is a lesser offense than in DC, which has a higher standard but also has harsher penalties when that standard is met.

The problem is the reciprocality. DC is considering the VA reckless offense to be the same as a DC reckless offense - and suspending the license. But they aren't the same offense.

(Its almost impossible to do 84 on the interstate in DC. There's very little interstate in DC anyway).

 

[PayOrPlay]

Which is why D.C. is going hardcore strict on speeders doing over 80 MPH on interstates because speeding tickets alone are not stopping drivers from doing it and riding peoples rear bumper when they can't. When one deterrent isn't working, you up the punishment until it does.

So would it also be OK to suspend a head coach and defensive captain for a year after they're caught violating a pay-for-performance rule, since most of the other teams are also violating the same rule and a stronger deterrent is needed?

 

[superchuck500]

Sounds like both VA and DC have screwed up laws about speeding. My bro-in-law got a speeding ticket in VA, over 80 on the interstate. Not only is it reckless driving, it's a criminal misdemeanor.

Virginia is where they tried to enact $3000 fines for speeding. The Court struck it down as unreasonable.

 

[Twyst]

Many of the interstates are posted at 80 around here

 

[antipop]

i don't always agree with the rules of the road but i follow them

i have had one moving violation in my years of driving and i deserved it...it was on Earhart and i was doing 70 in a 55....

like i tell my son, it's just easier to follow the rules....even if you don't like them

 

[superchuck500]

On the interstate, cruise control is your best friend IMO. In a 70 in Virginia, I set at 78. When I cross into NC, I bump it up to 80.