[VIDEO] Uber Drivers – Fight Virginia Reckless Driving
A reckless driving conviction on that record could impair your ability to drive with Uber, especially depending upon if you have other tickets. Contact me so we can look at your defense options.
Are you an Uber driver or a hopeful driver for Uber in the future? If you’ve received a reckless driving ticket, we need to talk about your options to try to help your Uber career.
Before Court
If you have a pending ticket for reckless driving, your case is urgent. We definitely need to talk about what may happen in court and how I can help you try to avoid a reckless driving conviction. As you probably know, Uber checks your driving record to make sure that you have a good record. A reckless driving conviction on that record could impair your ability to drive with Uber, especially depending upon if you have other tickets.
I’ve searched and tried to find official guidance from Uber on what driving record policies they have, and unfortunately I’ve been unable to locate specifics. However, I’ve heard from other clients who are Uber drivers, who I’ve represented in the past, that they do check your record and it is important to keep your record as good as you can.
Even if you’re charged with reckless driving in a case where you think that they can prove that you did it, such as reckless driving by speed and you know you were going fast, that doesn’t mean that there is no hope. There are still ways that we can hopefully try to get this charge reduced or maybe even dismissed to try to keep your record clean, or at least better than a reckless driving conviction.
The first way we can try to get the charge reduced or dismissed is by simply checking all the evidence the trooper has. Even if you think you may be guilty of reckless driving, that doesn’t mean that the trooper or the deputy can necessarily prove that you are guilty of reckless driving. Of course, you are innocent until proven guilty and so we definitely will want to check all the evidence to see if there’s any arguments we have to try to get the charge dismissed completely.
The next phase, really, is a negotiation with the officer and with the judge. In many courts around Virginia, there is always some leniency for reckless driving cases where the officer may technically have the evidence to prove his case of reckless driving but if you have a good driving record, you were polite with the officer, and we have a good judge, we can maybe still have the charge completely dismissed in some cases. Perhaps with you doing driving school, community service, maybe getting your speedometer calibrated, those things can help to try to have the charge completely dismissed and in some cases at least reduced from reckless driving to a minor speeding offense.
After Court
If you’re an Uber driver and you’re seeing this page after you’ve been convicted of reckless driving, there still may be hope for you.
If it’s been less than 10 days since your conviction for reckless driving in Virginia, you have the absolute right to appeal the charge or the conviction to circuit court to get a brand new trial with a different judge. So if it’s less than 10 calendar days from your conviction date, you need to act fast and note your appeal in writing with the General District Court to get a new trial with a different judge.
If it has been less than 60 days since your conviction in General District Court for reckless driving in Virginia, you can still file a motion to reopen the case. Even if your appeal right has expired due to time, there still may be time to ask the original judge to reconsider his verdict. The judge has 60 days in which to consider a motion to reopen and that could get you a new hearing with that judge, and it could produce a different outcome. A motion to reopen is not guaranteed to be granted; however if a judge grants it that does mean that he will consider, hopefully, giving you perhaps a different disposition. One of the most common reasons I’ve seen judges being willing to grant a motion to reopen is if there’s some additional evidence that comes to light, or if maybe you simply were unaware of the nature of the charge and didn’t have an attorney the first round, and then you worked to get an attorney, the judge might consider reopening the case in that scenario.
Unfortunately, if it’s been more than 60 days after your reckless driving conviction in Virginia, there is really nothing that can be done. The only real exception that I’m aware of to do anything after 60 days after conviction if you didn’t appeal the case or have a motion to reopen, is if there was some kind of fraud on the court such as a case of identity theft. If someone used your name or your ID and got a reckless driving ticket issued in your name without you knowing, then it certainly could be a case where the judge can at any time correct a fraud on the court. So that would be a case where we would want to file a motion to lay out the situation and try to get some relief from the court to have the ticket vacated in your name.
As you can see, it’s very important if you’re an Uber driver or a hopeful Uber driver in the future, you need to contact me about your reckless driving situation. If it’s before court, or less than 60 days after court, I very well may be able to help you have the case dismissed or at least try to get it reduced from reckless driving to a lesser offense that wouldn’t’ be as serious for your Uber career.
