Reckless Driving Defense Attorneys in Fairfax, Virginia

Fairfax traffic defense lawyers at The Sprano Law Firm, PLLC represent people charged with reckless driving and other criminal traffic cases in all Northern Virginia courts.

If You Have Been Charged with Reckless Driving in Fairfax or Northern Virginia

You have probably figured out by now that Reckless Driving is a much more serious charge than you originally thought, and you are going to need to find a good lawyer to defend you in traffic court. Instead of a simple speeding ticket, Reckless Driving in Virginia is considered a criminal offense, a Class 1 misdemeanor in fact. The consequence of a conviction for Reckless Driving can include a criminal record, heavy fines, and sometimes even jail time and up to six months suspension of your driver’s license or privilege to drive. An experienced Northern Virginia Reckless Driving defense lawyer can often help you avoid or minimize most of those consequences.

Do I Really Need to Hire a Lawyer for My Reckless Driving Case?

The answer to that question depends on the circumstances of the case, the jurisdiction you are charged in, and whether you are willing to risk a criminal conviction when it may be easily avoidable. If you are charged with Reckless Driving in Fairfax County, for example, the prosecutors will not even negotiate with you if you do not have a lawyer. This means that your fate rests entirely with the judge. In Reckless Driving by Speeding cases where the speed is not too high (less than 85 mph for example), a few judges will reduce the charge to a traffic infraction (speeding or improper driving) on their own, even for defendants who show up without an attorney. Other judges, however, routinely convict people who don’t have lawyers for the criminal offense of reckless driving. Some will even impose a license suspension in such cases.

What will happen if you hire a lawyer to represent you on your Reckless Driving case? While criminal and traffic defense attorneys are not allowed to offer anything like a “guarantee”, we can say that in fifteen years of representing people charged with Reckless Driving by Speed in Fairfax and all other Northern Virginia state and federal courts, our defense attorneys have never represented a single person driving less than 85 mph (in a 55 or 65 mph zone) who did not have their charge reduced from a criminal offense to a traffic infraction. These have been our results in those types of cases: no criminal record; no jail time; no license suspension.

Can I Hire a Lawyer to Appear for Me on My Reckless Driving Ticket?

It all depends on the particular facts and circumstances of your case, but in some cases, the answer is yes. Our lawyers have represented many people in traffic court based without them having to appear in court, particularly if they live a great distance away – for example if you were stopped for Reckless Driving while traveling through Northern Virginia but do not live here. Give our office a call today to see if this is a possibility in your case.

High-Speed Reckless Driving Cases

In cases of Reckless Driving by speed between 85-90 mph, or speeding in excess of 35 mph in lower speed zones, it will be much more difficult to get the charge reduced to a non-criminal traffic infraction. Nevertheless, our Fairfax Reckless Driving lawyers have had a great deal of success in these cases. Often it helps if the defendant takes some steps before the court to help mitigate the offense. Depending on the jurisdiction, getting your speedometer calibrated and/or taking a driver improvement course (“traffic school”), combined with the mere fact that you took the time and expense to hire a lawyer, can go a long way in convincing the prosecutor and judge that you take the matter seriously and have learned your lesson.

Reckless Driving Accident Cases

Some police officers will charge anyone they deem to be at fault in a traffic accident with the crime of Reckless Driving, even in cases in which the driving behavior was only negligent at best. Our reckless driving defense lawyers understand that sometimes accidents just happen – and they should not all result in a criminal conviction. Fortunately, most prosecutors and judges are willing to listen to reason, and our attorneys have usually been successful in getting these types of Reckless Driving cases reduced to the simple traffic infraction of Improper Driving (a 3-point offense). We may be able to get the case completely dismissed, resulting in no points on your license. Other times there is a real dispute between two drivers as to who is at fault for causing the accident. If the police officer at the scene decides against you, it is important to remember that this does not end the case. Hiring a good criminal defense lawyer to represent you on your reckless driving case could make all the difference between whether or not you end up with a criminal record, license suspension, high fines and even jail time.

Extremely High-Speed Reckless Cases > 90 Mph

It comes as a shock to most people that you can go to jail for speeding, but that is exactly what happens to most defendants charged with Reckless Driving for going more than 90 mph in Northern Virginia. Particularly in Fairfax County, the general rule applied by most judges is often to impose one day in jail for every mile an hour over 90. In addition, these types of Reckless Driving cases usually result in a 6-month suspension of your driver’s license. Avoiding these consequences is an uphill battle, even for skilled and experienced traffic court defense lawyers, but it can be done. For more information on the possibilities of defending or mitigating these Reckless Driving charges, contact our Fairfax Reckless Driving defense lawyers today.

Contact Us for a Consultation

To contact one of our trusted Reckless Driving defense attorneys today for a consultation, call us or send us an e-mail.

Our office is located near the Fairfax County courthouse. We are open for appointments Monday through Friday, and available by phone and e-mail seven days a week.