Ticketed with a CDL – Call a Lawyer
If you received a Virginia traffic or reckless driving ticket and you hold a CDL (commercial driver’s license), you need to talk with an experienced traffic attorney. Your friends may have been through similar tickets, but yours is different. Your CDL presents a unique hurdle that could be a problem in court.
Video Transcription
Hello, my name is Andrew Flusche. I’m a Virginia traffic attorney. If you have a Commercial Driver’s License (a CDL) and you have any kind of traffic ticket it is critically important that you talk to a traffic attorney who practices in the court where your case is pending.
I don’t have to tell you that your job depends upon that CDL remaining intact. So it’s vital that you talk to an attorney so you can see what possible ramifications you may be facing depending on what happens with that traffic ticket. This is especially important when you’re charged with something serious like reckless driving, which is a misdemeanor conviction. I don’t know what your employer’s policies may be regarding a reckless driving conviction, but I do know that most people who have drivers on staff don’t want to have tickets like that on the records, for insurance purposes and whatnot.
I see all too often people come into court thinking that maybe they can plead ‘guilty’ or plead ‘no contest’ and ask for driving school and get a break. The problem is, when you have a CDL, the driving school option that may be available for everybody else who is there that morning is not available for you. Virginia law specifies that the judge cannot send a holder of a CDL to driving school to get a break on the ticket. Now, there are other ways we could try to get a break; such as a negotiation with the officer or the prosecutor, if there is one involved in your case; but typically the driving school option is not a possibility in your case. At least, that’s the way it works in Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, where I primarily practice.
I’ve heard from too many people who have had that happen to them. Their friends told them “Oh, you’ll be fine, just ask for leniency from the judge. You have a good driving record.” Then I get a call later on after they’ve been convicted of reckless driving because the judge could not send them to driving school due to that commercial driver’s license.
The thing that might surprise you is that this rule applies even if you were driving your personal vehicle, and even if you don’t use your CDL. Even if it’s from a job that you used to have and you no longer use it, you still cannot be sent to driving school under Virginia state law. So again, it’s critically important to talk with an attorney before your case goes to court, because sometimes we can still do some really good stuff and get a good outcome on your case in spite of the commercial license. Once you’ve been convicted, you do have the right to an appeal within 10 days, however it can be much harder on appeal to get a god result.
So talk with an attorney. It’s critically important to talk to somebody before you go to court. Talk to an attorney, not just friends and family who have been in a similar situation, but a good traffic attorney who practices in the court where your case is pending.
