Legal Question in Traffic Law in Virginia

Without knowing more of the relevant facts leading up to the issuance of

this ticket, it would be difficult to judge whether it's worth contesting (in my opinion).

An attorney willing to take this case would likely charge a minimum

of three hours of his or her professional time which could easily translate

into $600 +.

If you have 0 points (you should quickly request a copy of your driving record from Alabama) it is very likely that the prosecutor will agree to let you plead guilty to driving 44 or 45 MPH, so that you will be in a lower category. This is the likely result whether you have a lawyer or not.

(Go very early and try to get the prosecutor's attention. Show him your dirving record (since it is out of state) if you can. And ask him if you plead guilty to going 44 MPH would he accept that. If your case is called befor eyou ahve had the chance to talk to him, tel lthe judge you were trying to talk to the prosecutor but couldn't find him earlier. The judge will probably pass over your case and call it later.)

If the charges were more serious, I would strongly encourage you to fight them. But speeding only 15 MPH over at $132 is pretty mild as these things go, and it is the kind of ticket that is hard to beat outright.

Meanwhile, you say that you are in pre-deployment training. Therefore, I gather that you will be out of the country for a year. You won't be getting any more tickets in the USA if you are not in the USA. In fact, you MIGHT (maybe) be able to work something out with your insurance to save some money while you are overseas by being off your car's insurance during that time.. (But be careful: If you are on the registration, and your insurance is inactive, they might cancel your registration. If you share the car on paper with a wife, this might nto be do-able. If the car is sitting while you are gone, you might be able to lower the limits while you are gone.)

So I doubt that this is worth putting up a big fght about.

However, if you need a hand, I would help you out pro bono to benefit the troops.

I am witthin walking distance of the Fairfax courthouse.

COMPARE this with more serious charges which I would strongly encourage you to fight.

In Virginia, they don't tell you, but it is a CRIME -- a misdemeanor -- to drive 20 MPH over the speed limit or over 80 MPH whatever the posted speed.

People get caught with this as a nasty surprise.

Please let people know where you are training, that they can be trapped in a surprise of "reckless driving" by speed.

With a more serious charge like reckless driving, there are more opportunites to defeat the charges and also more reason to fight hem.

Seriously let me know if I can help out pro bono. But I am not sure it will add much to such simple charges. Important to you, I know. But fairly routine.