Speed Limit Law Defenses in Richmond
Speeding is a common offense. Despite how common it is, it can still have serious consequences for an individual. That is why it is important for people who face speeding charges to retain the services of a legal advocate. Work with an experienced speeding ticket lawyer that could devote the time and resources necessary to build your case. A qualified attorney can determine which speed limit law defenses in Richmond will work best for you.
Speed Limit Laws
An absolute speed limit is a posted speed that tells a person what the speed is. Presumed speed limits are something that Virginia does not have. Basic speed limits are when a person is operating the vehicle at a speed that is reckless for the conditions at the time that they are operating the motor vehicle. They can change depending on the road conditions at the time of the speeding.
A person does not know the speed limit if there are no signs. If this is like Highway 50, a person tries not to get pulled over. If it is a highway, the speed limit is 55 miles per hour. If it is within the city, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour. If a person did not see any posted sign, then once they come up with a posted sign, they can adjust their speed accordingly.
Potential Defenses to Speed Limit Violations
It is a city’s responsibility to post the speed limit and to ensure that those signs appear on highways as well. If they are not posted by the proper authority, then a person can challenge the speed limit sign and the speeding. Also, the sign actually has to be there. If a person can show that the speed limit was either covered up or not visible, then they can successfully challenge the speeding ticket. Also, a person can challenge the method in which they are caught speeding. If law enforcement used radar, the defense can challenge the radar, if pacing, they can challenge the pacing. There are a couple of different speed limit law Defenses in Richmond that a person can challenge a speed limit ticket.
Misconceptions About Speeding
A common misconception is that people are allowed to drive 10 percent over the speed limit plus two miles per hour. That is untrue. Speeding is not allowed at all. Certain officers may not pull a person over unless they are going at a certain speed. This is not going to be worth their time if they can successfully defend against it. They allow a person to be speeding 10 over, even 15 over before they pull them over. At a technical level, if the speed limit is 60 and they are going 61 miles per hour, they cannot be pulled over for speeding.
Mitigating Circumstances for Speeding
There are a lot of mitigating circumstances that can be incorporated into speed limit law defenses in Richmond. There are a lot of mitigating circumstances when it comes to speeding, as well as some things that constitute affirmative defenses for speeding.
Mitigation
In mitigation, there are things the courts in Richmond accept for speeding tickets, like a clean driving history, completion of driving school, and some form of reason that makes sense for the speeding. For example, if somebody is going to or needs to go to the hospital, it is not a life-or-limb situation, but there are some kinds of emergencies that can be mitigating when it comes to speeding situation. The hospital is a situation in which speeding can be mitigating.
Affirmative Defenses
Affirmative speed limit law defenses in Richmond refer to a specific defense, which if proven, could result in mitigated charges for an individual. For example, if a person is speeding to protect the life and limb of themselves or somebody else, generally that would have their charge dismissed if that is the actual reason for speeding. Reasonable fear of death or bodily injury can be mitigating and sometimes an affirmative defense to speeding. There are a lot of different things that a person can discover on a case-by-case basis that could be mitigating or be defenses to a speeding ticket.
