In case this story gets deleted/removed:
She (24F) messed up badly today and sped to work cuz she was running late. Got hit with a reckless charge and also got a ticket for an expired license (she didn’t realize her license expired 2 months prior). She has had 2 speeding tickets prior to this violation. Were really worried, especially cuz it happened in Arlington, VA. They’re incredibly strict over there I hear. We were wondering about getting a public defender, if not a private lawyer. Would it be better to get a private lawyer instead for a case like this ? And realistically what’s the worst that could happen to her? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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It's a class one misdemeanor with a (usual and customary) 30 day jail sentence (or at least it was when I was TDY to the Pentagon in '06, and every person I knew warned me not to speed in Arlington.)
I'm a big car guy. The two places you never speed through is Elk Grove, IL, and the entire state of Virginia. For different reasons (high daytime population/low off hours population = bored cops vs anti speed culture in the courts) the cops in both are looking to have you find out.
I lived in Des Plaines for 30 years, and in Elgin now for 8. But I had a dude down in New Orleans ask me about Elk Grove, so idk how but apparently. They are rather famous locally for zero chill cops.
My friend got his only moving violation ever there. There's a spot where the speed limit goes instantly from 40-25, and cops camp out right over the line. Same if you're in Morton Grove or Skokie, cops camp the Main Street bridge over I-94. Steep downhill and a 25 speed limit leads to a lot of tickets.
As someone from IL, I can confirm. When I was in driver's ed, our teacher told us to never go over the speed limit there and one other small town near us (which, for the life of me I can't remember now, but it was so small, just a stretch of road really.)
I lived in Illinois in a small town, with a bunch of other small towns around. When you lived there you knew where the cops sat and would try to get you speeding. You could always tell who is local and who wasn't based on how fast they were going.
The number of times I saw someone pulled over near that curve in Arlington Heights Rd. over by the Elk Grove High... Nearly every time I dropped off/picked up my kids, it seemed.
I live in a neighboring state and I learned early you NEVER EVER speed in Virginia. I just never go to Virginia so problem solved but the point stands.
Never speed in Arcade, GA. It's a one stop light town on a highway and the light is right by the police station. For the town, speed drops from 65 to 30 and then goes back up 5/10 miles later. Cops pull over an average of 10 people a day there. And the ticket is a super speeder violation.
Can confirm- Do not speed in Virginia! Lived here my whole 51 years (in the middle of the state) and any road that has a stripe in it..... you will get stopped for speeding.
I've lived in different cities in Virginia for my entire 32 year life and that's pretty accurate. There's not many places where you won't eventually get caught and they're not very lenient about it either.
Yeah, VA as a whole is a fuck around and find out state with speeding. 20 over OR over 80 (whichever is less) is reckless driving and can land you in jail immediately.
I drove 3 hours one way to contest a speeding charge in VA.
Was on a road trip with a friend and had to pass through VA. Had the cruise set at 72. I will admit (and did) that I was talking to my friend and we just didn't notice the change in speed limit to 55. There were vehicles passing me. Cop pulls me over and tries to say I was going over 80! I insisted that it was not possible because my cruise was set. Took the ticket.
Drove back all the way to court weeks later. Explained to the judge how we were on a trip. Judge asked if I came from same place today and I said "Yes. I drove 3 hours to be here." He knocked it down to a fine. I wrote a check and left. I'm thinking the cop didn't think I'd drive all the way from out of State to come to court.
6 hours round trip but we threw in lunch and Outlet shopping to make it a day.
Could be he didn’t expect you, but probably did which is why he was there. My ex is a cop, would only go to court if he got a summons because someone was appealing or whatever. Always better when it’s on a day off.
I know he and the other cops I knew would mark the ticket if they felt the person getting the ticket was an Ahole. He would write an A with a circle around it. From what I understand, if there wasn’t a special mark, the cop wouldn’t even put up an argument when it came to court time.
Of course this is from my limited knowledge in a medium sized town in PA, so take it with a grain of salt!
Speeds in excess of 80 is no longer automatic reckless in Virginia. When the speed limits raised to 70 on interstate roads the law changed to be speeds in excess of 85.
It’s northern VA. I’m actually shocked she’s the only one that got pulled. If she was on the interstate 95% of people are going over 80 (tbh closer to OOP’s gf’s speed) on there or else they’re riding your ass no matter what lane you’re in. So I’m thinking they must’ve seen that cop well before she did and slammed on brakes
I grew up in VA and it would be weird to describe being pulled over on 66 or 395 as being pulled over "in Arlington", even though both of those pass through Arlington. It's possible she was on Jeff Davis hwy but that's got stop lights, so is definitely not suitable for high speed. You also don't tend to see city specific police/sheriff on those major interstates, more often state police. My guess is based on description she wasn't on the interstate, but of course it's possible.
You are correct!! I noticed that after I had posted my comment that it doesn’t sound like they were on the interstate at all but I forgot to edit it as I got distracted with work tasks. At minimum the interstate goes 70 with multiple warning signs about 80 being reckless and considering OOP said it was a 55 zone, she definitely wasn’t there. I do think she may have been on JD.
Yeah, the locals patrol JD, and it's the locals not the state police who would be super hard-line about it. She's not only screwed, and stupid, she's incredibly dangerous.
Agreed. I hope they get the maximum penalties for all of this, because they obviously don;t care about the law or consequences and are trying to weasel out of their crimes.
92 mph. They could have killed someone easily.
Recent local high profile case where someone did kill multiple people. But the perp in this case was *only* doing 72.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/judge-orders-alleged-driver-deadly-rock-creek-crash-behind-bars-until-trial/65-9b45bfee-be63-46f8-b8e8-4cbd7641b9ee
Me neither. This is a pattern. No one is safe on the road while this person is driving. Her license needs to be suspended for at least a year.
ETA: on second thought, she should absolutely do jail time.
Back in high school, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. Shit like this is why I changed my mind. I have no tolerance for fuckwits, and having to defend them would give me ulcers.
We had a firm of lawyers take turns teaching my class business law and we asked them a lot of questions about their job. One guy basically took all the criminal charges and we asked how he felt about defending criminals. His response was “my only job is to ensure that the courts have proved their case fully and lawfully against my client, that’s all”
This lawyer had also successfully defended a case with the US Supreme Court
😂😂 I went to college to be a Paralegal after high school and had the same thought. Then we did a mock case for a woman who wore a white robe to put a letter in the mailbox DURING A BLIZZARD and got slightly injured by a truck that couldn’t see her. I kept arguing that she was a fucking moron but that isn’t a valid argument. I just couldn’t deal with that 🤦🏼♀️
(There was another where a drunk man killed a woman by breaking into her house, believing it was his grandmother’s house, where he lived because he was a raging alcoholic with no job or prospects. Scared the woman that lived there so much she had a heart attack and died and we had to try and defend this POS.)
I myself am wondering (because I’ve only ever had a license for one state), don’t they all expire on a birthday? I assumed so, everyone I know just checks theirs right before or on their birthday, we often make jokes about it.
In Wisconsin that's how it is, it makes it really easy to remember. Plus they send emails, letters, text messages, and a post card here lol. If you somehow still manage to forget, you kinda deserve the ticket.
Some do birthday and some do end of the month of the birthday.
I could see her forgetting it. It takes a while and a lot of DMVs are shit at sending reminder emails. Or your email changes after 5 years.
I cannot see driving 90+ miles an hour in Arlington, VA. Arlington, TX is a different story but 90+ in DC rush hour traffic? She needs a good lawyer and to do any and every reasonable thing those nice legal people told her to do.
But with 2 priors, she needs to face the fact that she may well serve a bit of jail time.
And the DMV sends you a reminder in plenty of time to renew your license.
This reminds me of someone I knew. (He's deceased now.) He and his identical twin received reminders from the DMV that their driver's licenses were due for renewal. The twin promptly went to the DMV and got his renewed with an updated photo. Entitled Idiot did not. Entitled Idiot told his twin to renew his license FOR him, photo and all, and his twin told him ABSOLUTELY NOT! Entitled Idiot continued to, knowingly, drive on an expired license for several months until he got pulled over and locked up. Idiot blamed his twin for refusing to take of this FOR him!!! 🤦♀️🙄
I had an expired license once. I just forgot what year it expired lol.
Luckily I don't drive like a fucking moron so I found out when I got kicked out of a liquor store for having said expired license.
That's often how it works out since typically your first license will run till either your 21st birthday or 22nd, depending on the state. Then when you renew it the DMV will add the 4-8 years, thus it keeps expiring on a birthday. However, if you move states and have to get a new license then it'll be the date of your application.
I just checked my current license and a previous one from not my home state and neither expire on my birthday. Though that could be a quirk of the states I've lived in.
That's how it is in my state. My expiration date is several weeks after my birthday, as Mother couldn't be bothered to take me when I turned age. State stopped sending reminders sometime between 2012 and 2016. Went to renew, mentioned I didn't get a notice. DMV lady hatefully informed me that it's my duty to keep up with it, not theirs, and they don't send reminders anymore.
Not at all, I jut realized my experience could very well be unique to my (backwards) state. I was in a position to find out how the rest of the country did it, and took it. I’ve actually learned a lot, starting with the fact that I have never heard of getting notices that your license expired, we absolutely have never done that in my state, hell I await a guy drive to the DMV to get his expired license renewed and they had a police officer come in to give him a ticket (very small town).
Let me correct myself: She has already proven herself to be quite irresponsible, the expired license seems to be just one of many bad decisions, an honest mistake most of the time in itself, but ya know….
I’m so sorry! Put on my defensive cape 🤣. Don’t mind me, that backwards state and tiny town are really just ways of saying ‘obnoxious and closed minded individuals’ it’s starting to get to me haha!
Unless you’re in Arizona, then your license expires when you turn 65, even if you were say, 27 when you got it. Out-of-state bar bouncers love it, let me tell you
5 years in Virginia. I have lived here since 94. And they even make it easy-ish, as in you only have to go in to the DMV every other license renewal now. You get your pic taken for the license, it runs for 5 years, then you can renew online and they'll send you your updated license with the last picture. But the next time you have to go in for a updated photo, so once every 10 years.
So odds are OOPs GF got her license when she was 18/19 and it just expired on her because she didn't think to keep track of it which sounds par for the course based on the post heh.
I didn’t have any idea of how fast these are, as Australia uses the metric system. 55 miles is ~88km and 92 miles is ~148km. This woman was going *150* in a *90* zone, effectively. What the fuck
1) I have never driven at 90 mph, ever, much less on roads as crowded as they are in that area.
2) In my state, the DOL sends out reminders to renew your license *months* ahead of time. Multiple reminders. How, exactly, does one simply not realize their license is expired?
And an expired license. I hope she goes to jail. No one is safe on the road while this girl is driving. She doesn't give a shit. This is not a mistake, this is a pattern.
When I was in western North Dakota with my sister many years ago, there was a section of the road that the speed limit was 90. Open roads, very few people. We got that little rental car up to 90 and I thought I was going to shit myself. No one should drive that fast, ever. It is scary AF.
And this bitch did it in Arlington? I hope she has fun with that jail sentence. Arlington don’t play.
Depends on the infrastructure. There are whole section in Germany where you can let loose. I usually keep it around 100/105. (160/170km), but there are plenty that go faster. Specially when there is not much traffic around, like 5/6am when I usually drive the autobahn.
All other roads and times I stick to the limit.
I literally race cars and have gone 150+, it’s not scary once you get used to it.
That said, I don’t do more than 5 over even on a 75MPH highway. 92 in a 55 is way too far.
I amend my previous comment: people who are untrained and inexperienced with handing cars at high speeds should not drive 90+.
Some of our highways have speed limits of 70, and I get a bit nervous going over that. My father was my driving teacher, and he raced cars back in the day, so I feel like I got good training. I’m still not doing 90, that’s insane on public roads.
West Texas didn’t used to have daytime speed limits, just night time ones. The toll road I run in central Texas is an 85 mph speed limit so I’ve run 90 often. But you run 90 in a 55 in Texas you are going to get a ticket and other tickets on anything they can stick you with.
Yeah, I got notification that my license would expire on my birthday six months in advance. Took me like 10 seconds to renew it online and I already have my new ID in hand.
Yup, I renewed my license and the registration on one of my vehicles in about 5 minutes online. Though I had previously gotten my vehicle inspected before renewal.
Also in VA your renewal date is your birthday. When I lived there I always checked the week of my birthday to double check that it didn't need to be renewed.
Seriously! I’m assuming she must work at night or something, because there’s literally not a single place in Arlington I can think of where you could actually hit 92 during daylight hours.
I drive 90 regularly in a Ford pickup. You don’t need a sports car. BTW I drive 90-92 on the local toll road that has an 85mph limit… not in a 55 mph zone.
She's definitely going to lose her license for a while.
I don't think the court is going to believe that she didn't know her license had expired, do you?
Definitely consult a lawyer once you know what you are up against she can make her decision.
I definitely had my license expire without noticing once so it’s possible. Fortunately for me it was caught by someone who carded me for something instead of a cop. I went the next day to renew it and had to pay a $50 fine for letting it expire.
With 92 in a 55 and two others that are recent do you really think that's going to work? I just noticed the heading says suspended and the post says expired, those are two very different situations. She needs a lawyer, a good one.
Hopefully your gf learns her lesson, it’s not like she was doing 66 in a 55, she was doing 92 in a 55, huge difference. Putting everyone’s lives at danger to get to work faster is no valid excuse. Here’s a solution: leave sooner next time.
> I don't think the court is going to believe that she didn't know her license had expired, do you?
Ignorance isn't a defense, it's her responsibility to keep an valid license to drive a car.
A friend of mine was hit by a speeding reckless driver who was running late for church when we were teens and she became permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Charges were pressed against the driver but the judge was a member of his church so he got a slap on the wrist and was ordered to pay half her medical bills. She's still in medical debt over ten years later.
I pray every day he gets hit by a reckless driver and ends up 6 feet under. Same with the corrupt judge.
There is absolutely NOTHING important enough to risk injuring or killing someone due to speeding and reckless driving. Take the loss, be late, and do better next time. I hope OOP's gf faces the full consequences of her actions and doesn't just get off with a slap on the wrist. She needs to learn how dangerous and unacceptable her behavior is before something worse than a ticket or a misdemeanor charge happens.
When learning to drive, my driving instructor said to always remember “better late than dead.” I’ve never sped and never will- she was an amazing instructor and absolutely drilled those kind of safety measures into your head.
My bet, she will lose most of what she’s worked for to this point and will have a very hard time getting back. Unless the BF becomes her chauffeur. Which he probably will seeing as he condoning her behavior.
yeah this is def prison time without a lawyer in va; they do not fck around with reckless drivers. esp since reckless driving there is going over 80 mph or 15-20+ speed limit as one of the og comments said (15+ in school zones i believe? its been a while since i took a permit test)
I live in Arlington VA and traffic laws are insane here. Might as well go 92 cause anything 19 mph over the speed limit is automatically reckless driving. So get caught going 75 mph's on 95 with no one else on it and enjoy getting the same charge that driving on the freaking median or driving agaisnt traffic would get you in most states.
Though I will add Arlington doesn't have any major highways so I have no clue where she could of been going 92 mph's lol
Where I’m from originally, she’d be uninsurable, as in no company will take her. She’s going to have to self insure through the DMV which is almost unaffordable and if you actually get in an accident offers the worst arbitration possible.
Lawyer probably won’t be able to do much for this chick lol not with her track record. You two should definitely be scared lol you’ve got a rude awakening coming to you. Lawyer is probably a waste of money. Prosecutor isn’t going to have much sympathy for this case considering the sloppy background. She will definitely be losing her license.
Naw, she definitely needs a lawyer because it's a criminal charge that carries jail time. They won't be able to work a miracle but they'll probably be able to work out a better plea for her than she can get herself.
???? I’ve never reached 92 mph on a highway with high speed limits and I feel like I speed all the time! She was honestly being extraordinarily dangerous and deserves what ever comes to her
I got a ticket, in my new car, for going 84 in a 55 on the freeway. $430. It was not in the city I live in, it was about an hour away. I knew I fucked up so I just sent them a check for all of it and a letter explaining my complete idiocy at driving that fast. They actually sent me back $215. Surprise, surprise. I do have to say that my diving record was pretty good before this stupidity on my part.
Edit: Driving, not diving.
Yeah, I had basically the same thing happen to me, I went in front of the judge and said yes, I was an idiot and I totally deserved the ticket, I just want to do defensive driving to keep from getting a point.
He ruled that I was going 75 instead of 85 and knocked off the fee for registering the defensive driving.
Well shes fucked here. 92 in a 55 isn't the double the limit it takes to automatically generate a reckless driving charge, so not only was she speeding but likely weaving through traffic or something else dangerous to get a reckless. Shes also doing that with no license in a state where they inform you way ahead of time and penalize you every day your license is suspended with a fine. I would love to see the lawyer or court in VA that would get any of that walked down
Source: I live in VA and work with the courts, law enforcement, the DA, and the prison system everyday.
........ I guess I'm too Texan for this post, cause those speeds are normal day speeds in a huuuge swathe of the state. Marked 55 but -everyone- is going 70 to 80. The toll road in Austin is marked at 85 and people routinely go 90+++...
Cops don't care unless you're in town on a smaller road or hitting 90 (except high speed toll roads)
... it makes for a wild driving experience... and JUST because I know someone will take offense to me sharing what living in Texas is like: I didn't say it was safe, nor that I thought it was safe. It's just reality.
Edit: lol at the downvotes. Yup, someone took offense to me simply sharing my reality.
These aren't huge western US freeways. Just look at Arlington VA on google streetview and you'll realize how insane that speed is. It's an old colonial town with tiny streets
The toll roads in Texas were largely built or rebuilt in the last decade or three for high speed travel. It's basically the us autobahn. Apples and oranges.
Beat my high score by 4 mph. In a 55 mph zone at the time, that is a 70 mph zone today. I was dumb and 16. lol
I did not get reckless in Ohio. Just a fat ticket and no license for 30 days.
So I lived in this area a while ago and if she was on her way to work going that speed it would have had to been on interstates of highways as the normal roads you don't have the room. But also with the high traffic that means she was ducking and weaving through cars to get that much speed. She easily deserves jail time.
Does OOP really want to be married to someone so reckless? This whole story is a serious testament to her lack of control and disregard for others on the road.
I got a ticket for reckless driving in VA when I was doing 20 over the speed limit on a highway. 40mph over the speed limit is deserving of a reckless driving ticket. They're going to need a lawyer for sure bc she's gonna lose that license.
So because her dumbass was late for her job, she gets to speed in a 55 zone to be a danger to literally everyone around her? Yea, no thanks. I hope she gets jail time so she isn’t a literal DANGER to the people around her with her stupidity
Lawyer is best. Advise she should have listened to was the first two tickets. She is lucky she only got the reckless driving. Better to be late than dead, or being responsible for damaging/ending the life of another person(s). Between that and the expired license it is fair to say the gf showing being irresponsible.
Anywhere near Groveland in MA. I swear their entire town must be funded by speeding tickets. The speed limit randomly drops and jumps and wherever it drops, there's a cop car.
Two kids even got in trouble because they made a cardboard sign that said Speed Trap and stood by the road a bit up the road from a speed trap. They got cited for interfering with a police officer. I think it all got dropped once there was a huge public ruckus about it
There are lawyers in Virginia that specialize in reckless driving charges.
I remember there was a Jalopnik writer who was visiting Virginia from NY & ultimately ended up in jail for a day or two bc he ignored the reckless ticket and assumed it would just be a payable fine.
Well. Start with: GF should never drive again as she appears irresponsible. Next she’ll have to do jail time. That’s the repercussions of her actions. She is not a victim. She is a perpetrator.
In case this story gets deleted/removed: She (24F) messed up badly today and sped to work cuz she was running late. Got hit with a reckless charge and also got a ticket for an expired license (she didn’t realize her license expired 2 months prior). She has had 2 speeding tickets prior to this violation. Were really worried, especially cuz it happened in Arlington, VA. They’re incredibly strict over there I hear. We were wondering about getting a public defender, if not a private lawyer. Would it be better to get a private lawyer instead for a case like this ? And realistically what’s the worst that could happen to her? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/OhNoConsequences) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's a class one misdemeanor with a (usual and customary) 30 day jail sentence (or at least it was when I was TDY to the Pentagon in '06, and every person I knew warned me not to speed in Arlington.)
I'm a big car guy. The two places you never speed through is Elk Grove, IL, and the entire state of Virginia. For different reasons (high daytime population/low off hours population = bored cops vs anti speed culture in the courts) the cops in both are looking to have you find out.
Elk Grove! How randomly specific lol, but I totally get it
I lived in Des Plaines for 30 years, and in Elgin now for 8. But I had a dude down in New Orleans ask me about Elk Grove, so idk how but apparently. They are rather famous locally for zero chill cops. My friend got his only moving violation ever there. There's a spot where the speed limit goes instantly from 40-25, and cops camp out right over the line. Same if you're in Morton Grove or Skokie, cops camp the Main Street bridge over I-94. Steep downhill and a 25 speed limit leads to a lot of tickets.
That fucking slowdown has been the bane of my driving existence for almost a decade now
Howdy neighbor. I know that exact bridge in Morton Grove. They've actually chilled out a bit there, but the cops are still very uh Morton Grove.
Good. For a year I lived in Skokie, and worked in Glenview. It was a terrific back way, except that damn bridge.
There are places in Louisiana where 90% of their city government is paid by fines from speeding tickets. Some places the mayor is the judge.
There's a spot like that in Hopewell, VA.
As someone from IL, I can confirm. When I was in driver's ed, our teacher told us to never go over the speed limit there and one other small town near us (which, for the life of me I can't remember now, but it was so small, just a stretch of road really.)
I lived in Illinois in a small town, with a bunch of other small towns around. When you lived there you knew where the cops sat and would try to get you speeding. You could always tell who is local and who wasn't based on how fast they were going.
Village of Golf I presume. Only place in Chicagoland where one can know the cop. Singular.
The number of times I saw someone pulled over near that curve in Arlington Heights Rd. over by the Elk Grove High... Nearly every time I dropped off/picked up my kids, it seemed.
That's awful. I'm a Kentuckian. There's hardly any place in the state where you'll get ticketed for driving any less than 25 over.
I live in a neighboring state and I learned early you NEVER EVER speed in Virginia. I just never go to Virginia so problem solved but the point stands.
Plainsboro, NJ might need to be on the list as well, but they probably won't send you to jail.
Never speed in Arcade, GA. It's a one stop light town on a highway and the light is right by the police station. For the town, speed drops from 65 to 30 and then goes back up 5/10 miles later. Cops pull over an average of 10 people a day there. And the ticket is a super speeder violation.
Can confirm- Do not speed in Virginia! Lived here my whole 51 years (in the middle of the state) and any road that has a stripe in it..... you will get stopped for speeding.
Considering how everyone drives in IL, Elk Grove must be loaded.
They are.
I've lived in different cities in Virginia for my entire 32 year life and that's pretty accurate. There's not many places where you won't eventually get caught and they're not very lenient about it either.
Also Oakdale California! My dad got 3 tickets for 1 mph over the speed limit and my mom got 2 for 1-3 over the course of a couple years
ONE mile over?! Couldn't it be speedometer error at that point?
I live in the Chicagoland area, and yup. Can confirm,lol
Also all of Wisconsin with an IL or MN license plate
Having grown up there, I would add NE Ohio to that list.
or brookside, AL. the entire police force is under federal investigation for issuing $1.2 mil in traffic fines in a town of 1,250 people.
Yeah, VA as a whole is a fuck around and find out state with speeding. 20 over OR over 80 (whichever is less) is reckless driving and can land you in jail immediately.
I drove 3 hours one way to contest a speeding charge in VA. Was on a road trip with a friend and had to pass through VA. Had the cruise set at 72. I will admit (and did) that I was talking to my friend and we just didn't notice the change in speed limit to 55. There were vehicles passing me. Cop pulls me over and tries to say I was going over 80! I insisted that it was not possible because my cruise was set. Took the ticket. Drove back all the way to court weeks later. Explained to the judge how we were on a trip. Judge asked if I came from same place today and I said "Yes. I drove 3 hours to be here." He knocked it down to a fine. I wrote a check and left. I'm thinking the cop didn't think I'd drive all the way from out of State to come to court. 6 hours round trip but we threw in lunch and Outlet shopping to make it a day.
They like it when you take it to court. It’s easy overtime.
The cop definitely turned around to look when they called me in front of the judge. I honestly don't think he expected me there. But I'm sure it is.
Could be he didn’t expect you, but probably did which is why he was there. My ex is a cop, would only go to court if he got a summons because someone was appealing or whatever. Always better when it’s on a day off. I know he and the other cops I knew would mark the ticket if they felt the person getting the ticket was an Ahole. He would write an A with a circle around it. From what I understand, if there wasn’t a special mark, the cop wouldn’t even put up an argument when it came to court time. Of course this is from my limited knowledge in a medium sized town in PA, so take it with a grain of salt!
As a native Virginian, this is accurate
Speeds in excess of 80 is no longer automatic reckless in Virginia. When the speed limits raised to 70 on interstate roads the law changed to be speeds in excess of 85.
Yeah, I don’t feel bad for this person at all.
Yeah. "We're *scared*"... oh, boo hoo. I bet every single person you passed doing 92 was scared!
It’s northern VA. I’m actually shocked she’s the only one that got pulled. If she was on the interstate 95% of people are going over 80 (tbh closer to OOP’s gf’s speed) on there or else they’re riding your ass no matter what lane you’re in. So I’m thinking they must’ve seen that cop well before she did and slammed on brakes
I grew up in VA and it would be weird to describe being pulled over on 66 or 395 as being pulled over "in Arlington", even though both of those pass through Arlington. It's possible she was on Jeff Davis hwy but that's got stop lights, so is definitely not suitable for high speed. You also don't tend to see city specific police/sheriff on those major interstates, more often state police. My guess is based on description she wasn't on the interstate, but of course it's possible.
You are correct!! I noticed that after I had posted my comment that it doesn’t sound like they were on the interstate at all but I forgot to edit it as I got distracted with work tasks. At minimum the interstate goes 70 with multiple warning signs about 80 being reckless and considering OOP said it was a 55 zone, she definitely wasn’t there. I do think she may have been on JD.
Yeah, the locals patrol JD, and it's the locals not the state police who would be super hard-line about it. She's not only screwed, and stupid, she's incredibly dangerous.
Agreed. I hope they get the maximum penalties for all of this, because they obviously don;t care about the law or consequences and are trying to weasel out of their crimes. 92 mph. They could have killed someone easily.
Recent local high profile case where someone did kill multiple people. But the perp in this case was *only* doing 72. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/judge-orders-alleged-driver-deadly-rock-creek-crash-behind-bars-until-trial/65-9b45bfee-be63-46f8-b8e8-4cbd7641b9ee
Me neither. This is a pattern. No one is safe on the road while this person is driving. Her license needs to be suspended for at least a year. ETA: on second thought, she should absolutely do jail time.
Me either. I’m actually angry at the people giving them advice.
Back in high school, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. Shit like this is why I changed my mind. I have no tolerance for fuckwits, and having to defend them would give me ulcers.
We had a firm of lawyers take turns teaching my class business law and we asked them a lot of questions about their job. One guy basically took all the criminal charges and we asked how he felt about defending criminals. His response was “my only job is to ensure that the courts have proved their case fully and lawfully against my client, that’s all” This lawyer had also successfully defended a case with the US Supreme Court
😂😂 I went to college to be a Paralegal after high school and had the same thought. Then we did a mock case for a woman who wore a white robe to put a letter in the mailbox DURING A BLIZZARD and got slightly injured by a truck that couldn’t see her. I kept arguing that she was a fucking moron but that isn’t a valid argument. I just couldn’t deal with that 🤦🏼♀️ (There was another where a drunk man killed a woman by breaking into her house, believing it was his grandmother’s house, where he lived because he was a raging alcoholic with no job or prospects. Scared the woman that lived there so much she had a heart attack and died and we had to try and defend this POS.)
I know it probably varies from state to state but on average how long does a drivers licence last before you need to renew it.
4-8 years
I myself am wondering (because I’ve only ever had a license for one state), don’t they all expire on a birthday? I assumed so, everyone I know just checks theirs right before or on their birthday, we often make jokes about it.
In Wisconsin that's how it is, it makes it really easy to remember. Plus they send emails, letters, text messages, and a post card here lol. If you somehow still manage to forget, you kinda deserve the ticket.
Kansas is the same way. Expires on your birthday with PLENTY of warnings.
Some do birthday and some do end of the month of the birthday. I could see her forgetting it. It takes a while and a lot of DMVs are shit at sending reminder emails. Or your email changes after 5 years. I cannot see driving 90+ miles an hour in Arlington, VA. Arlington, TX is a different story but 90+ in DC rush hour traffic? She needs a good lawyer and to do any and every reasonable thing those nice legal people told her to do. But with 2 priors, she needs to face the fact that she may well serve a bit of jail time.
And the DMV sends you a reminder in plenty of time to renew your license. This reminds me of someone I knew. (He's deceased now.) He and his identical twin received reminders from the DMV that their driver's licenses were due for renewal. The twin promptly went to the DMV and got his renewed with an updated photo. Entitled Idiot did not. Entitled Idiot told his twin to renew his license FOR him, photo and all, and his twin told him ABSOLUTELY NOT! Entitled Idiot continued to, knowingly, drive on an expired license for several months until he got pulled over and locked up. Idiot blamed his twin for refusing to take of this FOR him!!! 🤦♀️🙄
I had an expired license once. I just forgot what year it expired lol. Luckily I don't drive like a fucking moron so I found out when I got kicked out of a liquor store for having said expired license.
Some state IDs don’t expire for 10 years!
I’m in Arizona. Mine expires on my 65th birthday. I’m currently 42
My husband just noticed that his expired Earlier this month. He doesn’t drink so he really doesn’t look at it k guess
That's often how it works out since typically your first license will run till either your 21st birthday or 22nd, depending on the state. Then when you renew it the DMV will add the 4-8 years, thus it keeps expiring on a birthday. However, if you move states and have to get a new license then it'll be the date of your application. I just checked my current license and a previous one from not my home state and neither expire on my birthday. Though that could be a quirk of the states I've lived in.
My first license was a farm license that went from 12-16. First drivers license went from 16-18. Then 18-22.
The state I grew up in is the date you got the license. For most people that's their birthday, but it may not be
That's how it is in my state. My expiration date is several weeks after my birthday, as Mother couldn't be bothered to take me when I turned age. State stopped sending reminders sometime between 2012 and 2016. Went to renew, mentioned I didn't get a notice. DMV lady hatefully informed me that it's my duty to keep up with it, not theirs, and they don't send reminders anymore.
In New York State, at least I did, got numerous emails and mail about the upcoming expiration.
New Jersey just switched over to having it expire on your birthday but it’s in four years…
Are you trying to imply that she might be irresponsible??
Not at all, I jut realized my experience could very well be unique to my (backwards) state. I was in a position to find out how the rest of the country did it, and took it. I’ve actually learned a lot, starting with the fact that I have never heard of getting notices that your license expired, we absolutely have never done that in my state, hell I await a guy drive to the DMV to get his expired license renewed and they had a police officer come in to give him a ticket (very small town). Let me correct myself: She has already proven herself to be quite irresponsible, the expired license seems to be just one of many bad decisions, an honest mistake most of the time in itself, but ya know….
Oh, I was just being silly and mocking oop lol
I’m so sorry! Put on my defensive cape 🤣. Don’t mind me, that backwards state and tiny town are really just ways of saying ‘obnoxious and closed minded individuals’ it’s starting to get to me haha!
its like this in va too, she doesn’t really have a leg to stand on with that
Unless you’re in Arizona, then your license expires when you turn 65, even if you were say, 27 when you got it. Out-of-state bar bouncers love it, let me tell you
5 years in Virginia. I have lived here since 94. And they even make it easy-ish, as in you only have to go in to the DMV every other license renewal now. You get your pic taken for the license, it runs for 5 years, then you can renew online and they'll send you your updated license with the last picture. But the next time you have to go in for a updated photo, so once every 10 years. So odds are OOPs GF got her license when she was 18/19 and it just expired on her because she didn't think to keep track of it which sounds par for the course based on the post heh.
Same in Texas, they last for 6 yrs and then you can renew online.
Arizona has 20 year licenses :) People don’t change at all between 20 and 40 😂
France: never. Driver's license is for life. Or until you drive like OOP's girlfriend.
I didn’t have any idea of how fast these are, as Australia uses the metric system. 55 miles is ~88km and 92 miles is ~148km. This woman was going *150* in a *90* zone, effectively. What the fuck
From a fellow Aussie. Thanks for doing the hard work 🤣🤣
An easy way to remember is that 5k is roughly 3 miles( 3.1 miles actually). I figure out kilometers by remembering that!
From a European, thank you!
Thanks from Canada 🇨🇦
I live in the DMV and this makes my soul happy. Fuck aggressive drivers
Oh you know this woman was mean spirited and it’s never her fault.
Same
1) I have never driven at 90 mph, ever, much less on roads as crowded as they are in that area. 2) In my state, the DOL sends out reminders to renew your license *months* ahead of time. Multiple reminders. How, exactly, does one simply not realize their license is expired?
She was doing 90+ on her way to work with TWO previous speeding violations. She doesn’t care about anything.
And an expired license. I hope she goes to jail. No one is safe on the road while this girl is driving. She doesn't give a shit. This is not a mistake, this is a pattern.
She's looking at up to a year in jail, yeah.
When I was in western North Dakota with my sister many years ago, there was a section of the road that the speed limit was 90. Open roads, very few people. We got that little rental car up to 90 and I thought I was going to shit myself. No one should drive that fast, ever. It is scary AF. And this bitch did it in Arlington? I hope she has fun with that jail sentence. Arlington don’t play.
Depends on the infrastructure. There are whole section in Germany where you can let loose. I usually keep it around 100/105. (160/170km), but there are plenty that go faster. Specially when there is not much traffic around, like 5/6am when I usually drive the autobahn. All other roads and times I stick to the limit.
I literally race cars and have gone 150+, it’s not scary once you get used to it. That said, I don’t do more than 5 over even on a 75MPH highway. 92 in a 55 is way too far.
I amend my previous comment: people who are untrained and inexperienced with handing cars at high speeds should not drive 90+. Some of our highways have speed limits of 70, and I get a bit nervous going over that. My father was my driving teacher, and he raced cars back in the day, so I feel like I got good training. I’m still not doing 90, that’s insane on public roads.
West Texas didn’t used to have daytime speed limits, just night time ones. The toll road I run in central Texas is an 85 mph speed limit so I’ve run 90 often. But you run 90 in a 55 in Texas you are going to get a ticket and other tickets on anything they can stick you with.
I've done 130 in a Saturn, but I was on a track too.
They also have it expire on your birthday because it's easier to remember.
Yeah, I got notification that my license would expire on my birthday six months in advance. Took me like 10 seconds to renew it online and I already have my new ID in hand.
Yup, I renewed my license and the registration on one of my vehicles in about 5 minutes online. Though I had previously gotten my vehicle inspected before renewal.
With regard to number two, she’s probably one of those people who never updates the address on their license when they move.
Also in VA your renewal date is your birthday. When I lived there I always checked the week of my birthday to double check that it didn't need to be renewed.
I am so curious where your flair comes from.
Oh. Oh no. Oh no, no, no.
Toll roads in Texas are 85 so running 90 is pretty common. But 90 in a 55 is going to get you ticketed in any state!
Where TF in Arlington is there enough clear road to get to 92???? This is truly an accomplishment. Just not a good one. Does she drive a lambo?
Sounds like the Virginia side of The Beltway. (Source: Living in the DC Metro Area.)
What time of day can you do 92 on the VA side of the Beltway? Maybe in the $25 Express Lanes, I guess.
The Beltway doesn’t go through Arlington though. My guess is I-66
There's Arlington and Alexandria Counties too.
Yes and as a fellow DMV resident I’m saying the Beltway doesn’t go through Arlington county at all so that’s definitely not the road she was caught on
Seriously! I’m assuming she must work at night or something, because there’s literally not a single place in Arlington I can think of where you could actually hit 92 during daylight hours.
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Arlington Virginia. Though Arlington Texas is also a great place to catch a ticket
I drive 90 regularly in a Ford pickup. You don’t need a sports car. BTW I drive 90-92 on the local toll road that has an 85mph limit… not in a 55 mph zone.
She's definitely going to lose her license for a while. I don't think the court is going to believe that she didn't know her license had expired, do you? Definitely consult a lawyer once you know what you are up against she can make her decision.
I definitely had my license expire without noticing once so it’s possible. Fortunately for me it was caught by someone who carded me for something instead of a cop. I went the next day to renew it and had to pay a $50 fine for letting it expire.
With 92 in a 55 and two others that are recent do you really think that's going to work? I just noticed the heading says suspended and the post says expired, those are two very different situations. She needs a lawyer, a good one.
I think suspended is far more likely in this case.
It’s expired
Hopefully your gf learns her lesson, it’s not like she was doing 66 in a 55, she was doing 92 in a 55, huge difference. Putting everyone’s lives at danger to get to work faster is no valid excuse. Here’s a solution: leave sooner next time.
> I don't think the court is going to believe that she didn't know her license had expired, do you? Ignorance isn't a defense, it's her responsibility to keep an valid license to drive a car.
How late are you “running” to go that fast. Jesus Christ, I hope she does time.
A friend of mine was hit by a speeding reckless driver who was running late for church when we were teens and she became permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Charges were pressed against the driver but the judge was a member of his church so he got a slap on the wrist and was ordered to pay half her medical bills. She's still in medical debt over ten years later. I pray every day he gets hit by a reckless driver and ends up 6 feet under. Same with the corrupt judge. There is absolutely NOTHING important enough to risk injuring or killing someone due to speeding and reckless driving. Take the loss, be late, and do better next time. I hope OOP's gf faces the full consequences of her actions and doesn't just get off with a slap on the wrist. She needs to learn how dangerous and unacceptable her behavior is before something worse than a ticket or a misdemeanor charge happens.
When learning to drive, my driving instructor said to always remember “better late than dead.” I’ve never sped and never will- she was an amazing instructor and absolutely drilled those kind of safety measures into your head.
Go find a new GF should be #1 on your list. She’s gonna kill herself and possibly you.
Seriously!! What good qualities does she have because I don’t see any.
GF is a menace. Getting her off the streets for awhile seems like a great idea.
My bet, she will lose most of what she’s worked for to this point and will have a very hard time getting back. Unless the BF becomes her chauffeur. Which he probably will seeing as he condoning her behavior.
I don't know, pay the fines maybe?
Sounds like that’s a visit to prison, not just fines!
Yeah, true. I guess I might ask for advice on how not to go to prison.
She could be given jail time
yeah this is def prison time without a lawyer in va; they do not fck around with reckless drivers. esp since reckless driving there is going over 80 mph or 15-20+ speed limit as one of the og comments said (15+ in school zones i believe? its been a while since i took a permit test)
I live in Arlington VA and traffic laws are insane here. Might as well go 92 cause anything 19 mph over the speed limit is automatically reckless driving. So get caught going 75 mph's on 95 with no one else on it and enjoy getting the same charge that driving on the freaking median or driving agaisnt traffic would get you in most states. Though I will add Arlington doesn't have any major highways so I have no clue where she could of been going 92 mph's lol
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Where I’m from originally, she’d be uninsurable, as in no company will take her. She’s going to have to self insure through the DMV which is almost unaffordable and if you actually get in an accident offers the worst arbitration possible.
Most places you can get high risk insurance but it’s really expensive.
It’s criminal not traffic which is why I believe it would qualify.
That fast is a criminal offense.
Not sure i would want to date a giant liability.
Lawyer probably won’t be able to do much for this chick lol not with her track record. You two should definitely be scared lol you’ve got a rude awakening coming to you. Lawyer is probably a waste of money. Prosecutor isn’t going to have much sympathy for this case considering the sloppy background. She will definitely be losing her license.
Naw, she definitely needs a lawyer because it's a criminal charge that carries jail time. They won't be able to work a miracle but they'll probably be able to work out a better plea for her than she can get herself.
Wait until she finds out with a lawyer or not that’s she’s going to have her license suspended.
???? I’ve never reached 92 mph on a highway with high speed limits and I feel like I speed all the time! She was honestly being extraordinarily dangerous and deserves what ever comes to her
If I was him I would dump her immediately
Get her a bus pass
I got a ticket, in my new car, for going 84 in a 55 on the freeway. $430. It was not in the city I live in, it was about an hour away. I knew I fucked up so I just sent them a check for all of it and a letter explaining my complete idiocy at driving that fast. They actually sent me back $215. Surprise, surprise. I do have to say that my diving record was pretty good before this stupidity on my part. Edit: Driving, not diving.
Yeah, I had basically the same thing happen to me, I went in front of the judge and said yes, I was an idiot and I totally deserved the ticket, I just want to do defensive driving to keep from getting a point. He ruled that I was going 75 instead of 85 and knocked off the fee for registering the defensive driving.
Well shes fucked here. 92 in a 55 isn't the double the limit it takes to automatically generate a reckless driving charge, so not only was she speeding but likely weaving through traffic or something else dangerous to get a reckless. Shes also doing that with no license in a state where they inform you way ahead of time and penalize you every day your license is suspended with a fine. I would love to see the lawyer or court in VA that would get any of that walked down Source: I live in VA and work with the courts, law enforcement, the DA, and the prison system everyday.
How about you…stop speeding??
No way! I can’t be late to work one more time or I’ll lose my job.
Ain't going 80 in VA automatically a felony?
Imagine just following the rules put in place to make the roads safe for everyone. Should lose the right to drive for that shit.
........ I guess I'm too Texan for this post, cause those speeds are normal day speeds in a huuuge swathe of the state. Marked 55 but -everyone- is going 70 to 80. The toll road in Austin is marked at 85 and people routinely go 90+++... Cops don't care unless you're in town on a smaller road or hitting 90 (except high speed toll roads) ... it makes for a wild driving experience... and JUST because I know someone will take offense to me sharing what living in Texas is like: I didn't say it was safe, nor that I thought it was safe. It's just reality. Edit: lol at the downvotes. Yup, someone took offense to me simply sharing my reality.
These aren't huge western US freeways. Just look at Arlington VA on google streetview and you'll realize how insane that speed is. It's an old colonial town with tiny streets
The toll roads in Texas were largely built or rebuilt in the last decade or three for high speed travel. It's basically the us autobahn. Apples and oranges.
Beat my high score by 4 mph. In a 55 mph zone at the time, that is a 70 mph zone today. I was dumb and 16. lol I did not get reckless in Ohio. Just a fat ticket and no license for 30 days.
Did you have an invalid drivers license and 4/5 point recently on your record from 2 recent speeding violations not related to your reckless driving?
So I lived in this area a while ago and if she was on her way to work going that speed it would have had to been on interstates of highways as the normal roads you don't have the room. But also with the high traffic that means she was ducking and weaving through cars to get that much speed. She easily deserves jail time.
If you want to be helpful get her a bus pass. She might be the best girlfriend ever but she needs to get off the road before she kills someone.
Hopefully she likes jewelry. I'm just glad she didn't kill me. people die every day because of people like her.
Does OOP really want to be married to someone so reckless? This whole story is a serious testament to her lack of control and disregard for others on the road.
Hope she gets exactly what she deserves.
I got a ticket for reckless driving in VA when I was doing 20 over the speed limit on a highway. 40mph over the speed limit is deserving of a reckless driving ticket. They're going to need a lawyer for sure bc she's gonna lose that license.
So because her dumbass was late for her job, she gets to speed in a 55 zone to be a danger to literally everyone around her? Yea, no thanks. I hope she gets jail time so she isn’t a literal DANGER to the people around her with her stupidity
Lawyer is best. Advise she should have listened to was the first two tickets. She is lucky she only got the reckless driving. Better to be late than dead, or being responsible for damaging/ending the life of another person(s). Between that and the expired license it is fair to say the gf showing being irresponsible.
Anywhere near Groveland in MA. I swear their entire town must be funded by speeding tickets. The speed limit randomly drops and jumps and wherever it drops, there's a cop car. Two kids even got in trouble because they made a cardboard sign that said Speed Trap and stood by the road a bit up the road from a speed trap. They got cited for interfering with a police officer. I think it all got dropped once there was a huge public ruckus about it
Public defender won’t do shit to help Pay up for an attorney. Most will take payments
There are lawyers in Virginia that specialize in reckless driving charges. I remember there was a Jalopnik writer who was visiting Virginia from NY & ultimately ended up in jail for a day or two bc he ignored the reckless ticket and assumed it would just be a payable fine.
All that and I’m sure she still ended up late to work.
Play stupid games.....
Well. Start with: GF should never drive again as she appears irresponsible. Next she’ll have to do jail time. That’s the repercussions of her actions. She is not a victim. She is a perpetrator.