What to Expect From a Hampton Reckless Driving Case

A Hampton reckless driving case will require a court appearance, similar to any criminal charge. An individual charged with reckless driving in Hampton can expect that the officer that pulled them over and issue them a summons. The officer will then most likely testify at trial to what he believed happened that led him to issue the reckless driving summons. The defendant can expect that the judge will ask if they have any questions for the officer and if they have anything else they would like to say; with the caveat that the officer and the judge will be able to question them about whatever they say. The judge will then issue the sentence and the case will be closed.

Treatment of Reckless Driving Charges in Hampton

Hampton is a jurisdiction that comes down harshly on reckless driving. Reckless driving is one of the more common charges in the Hampton area, so judges don’t have a lot of sympathy for reckless drivers. One reason it is a more common charge, is that Hampton is a commuter city, so there are a lot of people that drive through it every day. This means that there are a lot of drivers on the road and they are often speeding. For these reasons, Hampton area judges are pretty harsh when it comes to sentencing in these cases and they don’t hesitate to throw someone in jail for these charges.

Examples of Reckless Driving

Reckless driving in Virginia can be charged not only due to excessive speeding, which includes driving 20 miles/hour over the posted speed limit or over 80 miles/hour, regardless of the speed limit, but it can also be charged as a response to many other driving behaviors that are deemed to be reckless. These behaviors include; passing a stopped school bus that is loading or unloading passengers; passing an emergency vehicle with its lights on; driving with faulty brakes; drag racing; failing to maintain control of a vehicle; driving an overloaded vehicle; or driving too fast for current weather conditions. There is also a catch-all category of reckless driving, which is simply general reckless driving. Often times when there is an accident, officers will attempt to determine who is at fault, and charge that person with general reckless driving.

Benefit of a Local Attorney

Hampton is a pretty small city and it is important to have local counsel that is familiar with how the local courthouse does business. Every courthouse has its own rules, and customs and different kinds of judges, but Hampton in particular is a close knit community. Everybody knows everybody at the courthouse and it is obvious when someone who doesn’t frequent that courthouse is present. It is better to have someone who is a regular, and who is familiar with the little nuances that each judge has. Consulting a local Hampton reckless driving lawyer is beneficial because they can work with the system, instead of trying to navigate a reckless driving case in a new courthouse.