Went for a little jaunt on Saturday between gaps in the rain, or so I thought (ended up getting dumped on near the end of the ride). I was wringing out the Sporty on Rt. 58 in Patrick County, VA. If anyone is familiar with the area, this road is a divided four lane and is typically devoid of all traffic save for a few cars here and there. I typically pass very few cars between Martinsville and Stuart.

I was winding down from a run up to 110mph when a state trooper passed me going the other direction. Of course, he was in an unmarked Impala so I didn't realize I was toast until he whipped a quick u-turn in the median and lit me up. He got me at 77mph in a 55mph zone... which is reckless driving in Virginia. Thankfully, he was fairly cool and cited me for 77mph in a 60mph zone. Still going to be an expensive ticket but at least it's not reckless. It's a damn good thing he didn't get me in the triple digits or I might still be sitting in a cell.

Lessons learned? I need to slow the **** down. I have no impulse control. Good thing I don't own a sport bike. Also, I despise late model Impalas.

Now I just need to figure out how to raise the cash to pay the ticket without my wife finding out!

 

Man that's a expensive reminder on when and when not to break the speed Limit.Those open straight roads are just to....tempting.

 

Just called the court house and found out it will be $163. Not nearly as bad as I figured it would be. I may try and actually make the court date and try to finagle my fine down a bit and lessen the hit on my insurance as well. My two previous speeding tickets in the last 20 years or so were reduced by the judge. 10 over the limit doesn't sound quite as bad as 17 over the limit.

 

22 miles over wouldn't have been a good thing for you. The ticket for what you got will be bad enough but also you can count on an insurance increase. Man that thing will be on your license for 5 yrs now. I know the area and it is a nice road. Feel sorry that you got caught I sympathize with you. The price we pay for a little freedom.

 

Yeah, 22 over would have been bad but I may have been able to lawyer out of a reckless. 55 over would have been catastrophic; not much is going to explain that away. I'm just thanking my lucky stars he wasn't coming down the road about 10 seconds earlier.

 

The impact on your insurance will depend on the company you are with, the good news is the state of VA is only a 3 year state. Meaning, insurance companies can only surcharge you for three years as opposed to 5 like many other states are doing these days.

 

Got my first last night, 70 in a 55, $175 and 4 points. It was at night and he was sitting around a really long sweeping corner. It's taking away from my savings for my new pipes.

 

You never know what will happen when you get to court. I was in Arlington Court House, in Arlington, VA and I was waiting for my turn in front of the judge and the guy before me gets up to defend himself after the charges were read that he was speeding while riding on his motorcycle. The judge asks him “How do you plead?” and he said “Guilty, with an explanation!” The judge said “Let’s hear it.” So the guy said “Remember how it has been raining for the last two weeks straight? Well on the day in question it had just stopped raining and it was a beautiful day and as I was riding down the road the car in front of me was not going as fast as I wanted to go so I passed him and that’s when the officer saw me and pulled me over for speeding.” The judge said “Yes, I remember that day and it was a really nice day too! Change dismissed! You will have to be more patient next time young man!” Man! I almost dropped a deuce right there! Charge dismissed? WTF!!! So now it’s my turn and I am thinking that the judge must be in a good mood so I hope that I can get as good a deal. But Nooooo! The officer is not in court at the time my case is called and it is a State Trooper so I have to sit down to wait for him to show up and I was there at 8 am and finally at 5 pm he shows up and they hear my case and I’m found guilty. WOW! Strange but true! Hey, good luck with YOUR case (and watch out for Smokey) and ride safe out there!

 

Is traffic school an option?
Here in California we have the option of going to traffic school if we havent gone in the last 18 months, unless you have a commercial license that is. I was about to get my commercial license when I was pulled over doing 81 in a 65, that changed my mind about the commercial license real quick.

 

I know that stretch very well. I live 1/4 mile off the Danville bypass. ALMOST got hammered the other day, just 'stretching' out the Sporty. Won't say how fast, lmao.

Good luck with the ticket, you never know what will happen in court.

I heard that reckless changed to 11 over in Va, I guess I heard wrong, huh? Hope so!