wreckless driving

[wahoo250]

I recently have been charged with a wreckless driving offense. i also recently have been accepted to an airline interview. You all see my dilema. what advise can you give me on how to approach the subject when asked and what this possibly may mean for me. I have only one prior ticket of speeding in 8 years of driving. im 24 years old.

 

[labbats]

wreckless is good

reckless is bad

I'd see if your state offers the chance to take a class and have it cleared up.

 

[EagleRJ]

This wasn't a DWI plea-bargain, was it?

Drunk driving charges are frequently plea-bargained down to reckless driving, and the airlines know that. If you were drag racing or doing power-slides in the Wal-Mart parking lot, you may want to secure court documents attesting to that (Your summons may have comments from the ticketing officer that would suffice).

Alternatively, you could ask the court to charge you with something else, even if the fine is higher. Explain your situation and they may help you out.

 

[wahoo250]

no it was given after a snowfall and i almost hit an officer's police car while making a left hand turn. he said i was driving in his lane.

 

[flyifrvfr]

no it was given after a snowfall and i almost hit an officer's police car while making a left hand turn. he said i was driving in his lane.

I would hire an attorney and explain to the attorney what a reckless driving charge does to the chance of getting hired by an airline.I would then have the attorney explain this to the Judge who will then likely give you probation before judgement.Make sure your attorney requests this because it is not a conviction.Plea guilty and hope the Judge gives the P.B.J. Normally in a trial you can pay attention to the other cases before the Judge and if the Judge is throwing the book at everyone before him,you can get a postponment

 

[FN FAL]

Maybe your attorney can postpone your case for up to a year. At least that way, you can dodge any of the questions that may come up in regards to "have you ever been CONVICTED of a motor vehicle violation."

I can only figure the reason why the airlines can get away with asking you about DWI's that you have NOT been convicted of yet, is because the clock starts on the FAA reporting of a "MOTOR VEHICLE ACTION" thing, as soon as the cop hands you your "reciept" for your drivers license. So that is more of a stickier wicket.

As far as your reckless charge, you ain't guilty till you make a plea of no contest, a plea of guilty, or until they convict you.

If you haven't pleaded no contest yet or haven't pleaded guilty yet, I would ask your attorney to postpone the case for a year or at least 'till you get past indoc. If they only ask during the interview if you have you have ever been CONVICTED...you are off the hook.

I doubt they would ask if you have any common traffic charges pending...and I never heard that one at an interview. They usually ask during an interview about DWI's, FAA accidents or incidents.

I think the rest comes when they have you fill out the paperwork for the background check. All the more reason to try to postpone the case as long as you can. If they ask you on the background paperwork about PENDING stuff, you gotta list it. I wouldn't lie on any interview question, or on any back ground investigation questionaire. Not a good thing to do...but there is a big difference between them asking you about having been convicted and having pending charges.

I know they can ask during the interview about DWI's, because the FAA "process" has already begun, once you recieve the "notice to suspend" or "notice to revoke", which the cops pawn off as a reciept for your drivers license during a DWI arrest.

I don't know why they would ask about common traffic violations for which you have not been convicted in court yet. Those things get dropped and reduced or even thrown out by prosecuters in exchange for you volunteering for driver improvement clinic or something. So till your convicted of simple traffic charges, I don't really know why they would ask about pending stuff.

 

[FN FAL]

no it was given after a snowfall and i almost hit an officer's police car while making a left hand turn. he said i was driving in his lane.

You got reckless for THAT???? Hahahahahahaha. Get yourself an attorney and get that crap dropped to crossing a solid line or some other minor traffic infraction crap. I have gone and seen the city prosecuter before a court date MYSELF and got stuff reduced to a satisfactory settlement and pled guilty to the lesser charge. Get an attorney and get this turd turned down to something lesser, before it sees a judge.

This aint like you were driving down the wrong side of the interstate and giving the cops the finger when they tried to pull you over.

You can get this beat down, with out pleading guilty at some Peanut Butter and Jelly Kangaroo court.

Infact, I would be suing the city for not plowing the street, leaving conditions so bad you could'nt see where the dang lanes went...

Get a lawyer and give em hell!

 

[Chas]

In most courts and states

First off Lawyers are usually worthless in these cases They do what you can do yourself in many cases but charge you the big $

These charges take some time until the case is settled . In many courts they will plea bargain these down to other offenses If I was you I would explain to the prosecutor your situation and plea leniency . In the meantime PM me I MAY be of some assistance depending on where you live . Chas

 

[flyifrvfr]

Re: In most courts and states

First off Lawyers are usually worthless in these cases They do what you can do yourself in many cases but charge you the big $

The reason you would wan't to get an attorney is because you can't be cheap and hope for the best.The Judge would rather see that you thought the charge was serious enough to warrant hiring an attorney.Remember,Judges were once lawyers and although I know it sucks you shouldn't risk your possible job because someone else said not to hire an attorney.Do yourself a favor and spend the money to get a lawyer and use this as a learning tool,albeit an expensive lesson.Good Luck....

 

[FN FAL]

Attorneys ARE worthless. Yea, represent yourself...that's what I would do.

I already told that guy that he could go in and see the prosecutor before the trial date and try to get the thing whittled down to something like inattentive driving. He doesn't need an attorney for that.

He most likely WILL need an attorney to postpone the case long enough to put it on the back burner till he gets IN at the airline, if he can't get the thing whittled down.

It's only an airline career, I'd say go cheap. Wait till your court date, put on your best khaki dockers and your golf shirt that says "what ever fbo I'm going to cfi at for life" on the front and throw yourself on the mercy of the court. Hehehehehehe.

 

[wahoo250]

what if i a, not able to get it knocked down...worse case sinerio

 

[ShawnC]

I already told that guy that he could go in and see the prosecutor before the trial date and try to get the thing whittled down to something like inattentive driving. He doesn't need an attorney for that.

Not going to say that the above isn't good advice, but in some states such as Florida you can't do that, it's you versus the cop.

It doesn't apply to this case (icy streets, we don't get that in Florida), just for others that may read this thread in the future.

 

[FN FAL]

Worst case scenario?

Well, you could wind up being a disheveled old curmudgeon of a freight doggie like me. Working 12 days a month, home every night, not working holidays or Sundays, making 40 grand a year with pay raises until you hit 55 a year.

It sucks being a bottom feeder, so you better get to work on getting that thing reduced to inattentive driving or at least have a good story to tell them interviewers about how it was snowy and you did not see the lines in road, so you can get on with being a big dog at the airlines.

I think you're going to do O.K. kid, just don't lie on anything.

 

[FN FAL]

Not going to say that the above is good advice, but in some states such as Florida you can't do that, it's you versus the cop.

I did it. I have done it. I will do it tomorrow. It was a good deal for me to plea bargain with the city attorney. I'm not going to argue state to state laws, however, I don't believe there is no such thing as plea bargaining in the state of FLA. If this truly is the case, then the kid is going to have to get an ATTORNEY. So in any case, you make my case. If you can't get some play with the city attorney, then you are going to have to recruit professional guns to work on the trial.

Believe me...I represented myself at an article 15 in the military at age 19. When it was all over with, I left the XO of the boat pounding the freaking podium after he had to drop 'disobeying an order' charges. If you don't know the laws of your particular state, you better work it with someone that does. That means hiring a mouthpiece.

 

[ShawnC]

I edited it about 10 minutes before you posted that.

 

[Chas]

My offer ...

to iansmo25 as a Police Officer of 19 years is to personally speak to the officer or prosecuter in the hopes of helping him. I too am hoping for a flying career upon my retirement in 5 months . Despite what people here feel about police officers and my political views. I am offering whatever help I can to assist another aspiring pilot pursue his dream . The offer has been made to iansmo25 . The ball is in his court .
In this thread I have made statements regarding attorneys and those statements are accurate . I have seen what judges do with lawyers especially judges who work part time in small village courts . These same judges themselves are practicing attorneys by day.
I have in the past succesfully interceded for people. Chas

 

[Salty Dog]

Another bone you might try to throw out if nothing else is working is "deferred adjudication".

It basically means, your worshipful judgeness, that if I keep my nose clean as a whistle for the next year, this will go away forever. Yet should I, your most obsequious, servile, and penitent citizen run afoul of the law again, you can hang me for both.

The idea being that they get a good reason to believe you will want to walk the straight and narrow complete w/sword hanging over your head, and you get the opportunity to prove this was a complete fluke never to be seen or heard about again.

Worked for me.

 

[wahoo250]

I want to thank Chas for his offer

 

[FN FAL]

I edited it about 10 minutes before you posted that.

it's o.k. I don't know what that means, but I'm not offended. I think everybody here has been cool with trying to help the kid out.

We all have had at least one brush with the law and most of us are pretty good people. We're not crack heads and thieves trying to get one up on the system. I think everybody here believes that one mistake is not enough reason an employer can use to rule out a good employee.

I wish the original poster good luck with his situation and with any luck, he'll get his charges reduced, get the job, and not get killed in a car accident in the future making the same mistake.

None of us is above making a mistake and getting hurt, killed, sued, or cited, when it comes to operating motor vehicles...no matter how good we think we are.

 

[Wankel7]

Just looking at the basics. Was everything correct on the ticket? Date, time, am/pm, name, mr/mrs, car, model ,year?

Wankel