Live in PA - VA speeding ticket & Due Process Issue

[de_novo]

Back in July I was driving in Clarke County VA to go to a birthday party for my aunt. I was driving down a 4-lane highway (Route 17 I believe) and did not see any speed limit signs, so i set the cruise control at 70 since i believed it was a rural Interstate and the limit was automatically 65 mph due to Federal legislation.

So I was pulled over and the officer stated I was doing 72 in a 55. I advised that I had not seen any signs, and when I asked what the distance should be between posted limit signs, the officer advised me that she did not know and that it didn't matter. I took the ticket, she had crossed off the part stating that i must appear at trial and the ticket was not even completely filled out, so I was unsure what I even owed.

My "court date" came and I was not apprised of my rights, so I missed the date. I got a letter dated 9/7/12 stating that I now owed over $240 which included a fee for missing the court date. On 9/13/12 I appealed the Notice to Pay and of Suspension for Failure to Pay by writing a three page letter brief with attachments that summarized my argument.

I did not hear from Clarke County Court, so I called to see if the appeal was received. They stated that judge had received it and would look at it when she had time. I said that was fine, assuming I would be given due process. I then received a letter from the VA Dept of Transportation stating that my license was revoked in VA. Not a problem, except when I want to renew my license in PA. So I called Clarke Co courthouse AGAIN to check on the status, and was advised the judge still had not looked at the appeal.

Yesterday (11/13/12) I received a letter stating that they had sent my information to collections to collect the debt I owed. I advised them that my case was supposedly under appeal and that I was awaiting the ruling from that appeal.

My questions are two fold: What are my options in this situation as I believe that I was not given proper due process to argue my case, and what should I do about the ticket? From what I have said, a good faith effort has been given on my part to rectify this situation in a manner consistent with the law.

 

[army judge]

Back in July I was driving in Clarke County VA to go to a birthday party for my aunt. I was driving down a 4-lane highway (Route 17 I believe) and did not see any speed limit signs, so i set the cruise control at 70 since i believed it was a rural Interstate and the limit was automatically 65 mph due to Federal legislation.

So I was pulled over and the officer stated I was doing 72 in a 55. I advised that I had not seen any signs, and when I asked what the distance should be between posted limit signs, the officer advised me that she did not know and that it didn't matter. I took the ticket, she had crossed off the part stating that i must appear at trial and the ticket was not even completely filled out, so I was unsure what I even owed.

My "court date" came and I was not apprised of my rights, so I missed the date. I got a letter dated 9/7/12 stating that I now owed over $240 which included a fee for missing the court date. On 9/13/12 I appealed the Notice to Pay and of Suspension for Failure to Pay by writing a three page letter brief with attachments that summarized my argument.

I did not hear from Clarke County Court, so I called to see if the appeal was received. They stated that judge had received it and would look at it when she had time. I said that was fine, assuming I would be given due process. I then received a letter from the VA Dept of Transportation stating that my license was revoked in VA. Not a problem, except when I want to renew my license in PA. So I called Clarke Co courthouse AGAIN to check on the status, and was advised the judge still had not looked at the appeal.

Yesterday (11/13/12) I received a letter stating that they had sent my information to collections to collect the debt I owed. I advised them that my case was supposedly under appeal and that I was awaiting the ruling from that appeal.

My questions are two fold: What are my options in this situation as I believe that I was not given proper due process to argue my case, and what should I do about the ticket? From what I have said, a good faith effort has been given on my part to rectify this situation in a manner consistent with the law.

It was a lousy traffic ticket.

There is no federally mandated speed limit on highways.

You were mistaken.

You were cited.

You failed to appear, and were sentenced.

Now you've failed to pay.

It will only get worse, until you pay.

Due process?

Have you ever been to traffic court?

They don't care about due process.

They only care about getting money from you.

Pay the fines, give them their money, or the next thing that will happen is you'll be arrested for driving on a revoked license.

That will mean more money and more inconvenience.

 

[de_novo]

No, I have not been to traffic court, so am not aware of how things work in that system. I would still think that if my case was under appeal that they would not continue along the path that they have chosen, even if I was ignorant as to how the system worked in VA when I live in Central PA. I understand ignorance is no excuse, but that doesn't mean that they can send this to collections while under appeal, correct?

And no, I will not be arrested for driving on a revoked license unless I go back to VA and get pulled over. PA does not have reciprocity with VA to take away a license.

 

[army judge]

No, I have not been to traffic court, so am not aware of how things work in that system. I would still think that if my case was under appeal that they would not continue along the path that they have chosen, even if I was ignorant as to how the system worked in VA when I live in Central PA. I understand ignorance is no excuse, but that doesn't mean that they can send this to collections while under appeal, correct?

And no, I will not be arrested for driving on a revoked license unless I go back to VA and get pulled over. PA does not have reciprocity with VA to take away a license.

You're getting in deeper and deeper.

You're arguing to the wrong entity.

They want their money.

VA and PA are both in the same DL compact.


Driver's License Compact- Reciprocity with other states
Will my license suspension or points received in another state other than PA transfer to PA?
The Driver's License Compact is in effect in Pennsylvania and is entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1581. (statute printed below in full). Whether a "conviction" for violation of a sister state's law has occurred within the meaning of the Driver's License Compact is to be determined by reference to the law of the state whose law was violated.
** In addition to Pennsylvania, the following jurisdictions are signatories to the Compact: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming. Although both Rhode Island and South Dakota have enacted legislation authorizing entry into the Compact, neither state had formally adopted the Compact. See discussion below- What is the Driver's Licensing Compact?
In determining whether a reported offense in a party state may properly serve as a basis for suspending a Pennsylvania licensee's operating privilege under the driving under the influence statute, the party state's offense need only be "substantially similar" to the corresponding section of the Vehicle Code in order to mandate a suspension under the Compact. However, in determining whether the Commonwealth can sanction a citizen pursuant to the Driver's License Compact for a substantially similar out-of-state conviction, the "substantial similarity" envisioned by the Compact does not call for a direct comparison of Pennsylvania's statute to the out-of-state statute, but, rather, requires determination of whether the two state statutes are of a substantially similar nature to the Compact. Thus, in determining substantial similarity for purposes of treating an out-of-state drunk driving conviction as a Pennsylvania conviction, the correct comparison is never between the blood alcohol levels described in the statutes, but between the description in the Driver's License Compact of drunk driving and the other state's law.
What is the Driver License Compact?
The Compact is an interstate agreement designed to promote highway safety and traffic law obedience by out-of- state motorists by requiring the suspension or revocation of their operating privilege under the laws of their home state upon conviction of a major vehicle law offense in a member jurisdiction.
To best understand how the Compact works, consider the plight of the Pennsylvania driver who is convicted for DUI in a Compact-member state. For purposes of imposing an operating privilege suspension, Pennsylvania is required to treat the conduct reported as if it had occurred within the Commonwealth. The result is that the offender is treated as if he or she violated the DUI statute. 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802. The result may be no suspension if the violator has no prior offenses as defined by 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3806(b). A prior offense means a conviction, adjudication of delinquency, juvenile consent decree, acceptance of accelerated rehabilitative disposition or other form of preliminary disposition for a violation under Section 3802, former 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3731 or a substantially similar offense in another state within 10 years before the present violation. Should the driver commit two additional major offenses within the requisite time period, that person will be deemed to be an habitual offender under Pennsylvania law and will suffer a five-year operating privilege revocation in accordance with 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1542.

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[mightymoose]

You are expected to pay any fines on or before the initial court date. If an appeal goes in your favor you may be reimbursed.
What is described here does not sound unusual. The delay with the appeal decision may be related to your failure to pay the bail.

 

[guestpost]

Wow, that's just hard to comprehend, but I guess I will just have to pay the fee.

 

[de_novo]

So this type of thing is common in traffic court?

 

[army judge]

So this type of thing is common in traffic court?

Yes, it's traffic court. It's mainly used as a revenue collection scam. It isn't about rights. Come on, you know this country is a sham. You get anally probed to board an airplane, if you breath; you're taxed. Rights?
Forget about rights, it's about them scamming you outta your money.


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