Virginia Beach Reckless Driving Cases: Speedometer Calibration

A speedometer calibration is the procedure that’s performed by a mechanic that measures the accuracy of a vehicle’s speedometer. The mechanic will determine whether the speedometer has been properly calibrated and then will print out a report that shows whether it’s off and if it is then by how many miles per hour. This can be helpful in speed related cases if the speedometer is off. You can get it calibrated usually by any auto mechanic and it costs typically around $75. Call today to schedule a consultation with a Virginia Beach reckless driving lawyer and get more information about speedometers and how their calibration can impact a reckless driving case.

Why Calibrate your Speedometer?

A speedometer calibration can help with your reckless driving case because it provides an argument that part of the reason your speed was so high was due to a faulty speedometer, assuming that your speedometer is actually off and was measuring your speed incorrectly at the time of the incident. Sometimes, this can result in the judge adjusting the speed that the driver was charged with by the amount that the speedometer was off by, this can help sometimes if the speed was pretty close to the line between a traffic infraction and a criminal charge, because it can take what would have been a class one misdemeanor down to speeding without having to do anything else and not having to argue anything else. A lawyer might recommend a speedometer calibration if you are close to that line or if there’s some possibility that your speedometer is likely off and it would be helpful to prove such in your case.

Speedometer Calibration and Reckless Driving Charges

It’s not a law that if your speedometer is off it’s not necessarily your fault. It’s possible that someone’s speedometer is off by 20 miles per hour, for example, in which case the officer or the judge would probably be of the belief that the driver should have known of the discrepancy, and therefore it is the driver’s fault. As a result, the judge wouldn’t take the speedometer’s incorrect calibration as a consideration at all. It can be a mitigating factor, assuming that it’s not off by an amount that a reasonable person would know about, and it makes enough of a difference in a case that the driver would have been driving safely if he or she had been following a working speedometer. It’s really subjective and depends on the particular case that but your attorney should be able to tell you if it’s a good idea or bad idea to present your speedometer calibration in court.

Other Important Things to Know

People should know that it doesn’t always help in every single case. Sometimes people will think that getting your speedometer calibrated is just a default thing to do if charged with reckless driving and it’ll always make a difference. But that’s not necessarily always true. For example, if someone is charged with going 40 miles per hour over the speed limit and then they argue that their speedometer was off by 5 miles per hour, then this isn’t going to make any difference at all because even if the speed is adjusted by those 5 miles per hour, they were still driving 35 miles over the speed limit, which is reckless driving. Sometimes getting a speedometer calibrated just isn’t worth it.