Add VA to the list of places I'll never live in

[Justin B.]

I saw on the news, here, that now in VA a 20 over speeding ticket will/can cost upwards of $5500 once the fine and all of the fees/court costs have been tallied.  The governor said he had no intention of repealing it as he didn't see it as a big hardship - especially if nobody was guilty of speeding!  They also interviewed some broad who thought it was not out of line - hope she gets nailed by a defective/mis-adjusted radar gun...

Any comments from our VA bros?

[Ed Miller]

They wouldn't need a misadjusted gun to nail me, though I only get a ticket about once every 10 or more years.  I speed every day, but there are almost never any police on my commute.  Oh yeah, that's why I go that way!

I get pretty disgusted sometimes with the crap people will put up with.

[msbuck]

I actually heard about this a year or so ago while up in the Meadows of Dan, VA. area.  It seems the cost of the ticket depends on what the judge deems it worth, but I heard up to $1500.  It seems some folks were taking the $50 speeding ticket as a "entrance fee" and willing to pay it to have fun on all the twisties up on the parkway.  This was their way of handling it.  Can't say I've ever heard of anyone getting one of the big dollar tickets, though.  

[NC Steve]

The big problem with speeding on the Blue Ridge Parkway is that it's Federal  government land.
Way back in the early 70s, I knew a few street racers up in Asheville who took to staging "events" on the Parkway in their Triumph TR-6s and Stags, early Datsun 240Zs, etc. and finally got caught after eluding Smokey for several months. 2 of 'em actually pulled 6 months active time at Central Prison in Raleigh, for "prearranged racing on Federal Parks Service property".  
To this day, I've always religiously stuck to the 45 mph limit on the BRP,' cause they will still ticket you in a flash up there!

[SCJJR65]

[size=12]Yeah, and besides, why in the Hell would you want to race through what are (arguably) some of the most scenic vistas and lovely roads on the entire east coast!  Are we in that much of a rush?  If so, stick to the superslabs, and leave the more picturesque byways like the BRP to those of us to still love to take in their beauty in long, slow, and admiring breaths![/size]

[Justin B.]

One other little interesting tidbit was that state officials questioned indicated these revolution-inspiring fines ONLY applied to VA residents, not out-of-staters.    Apparently somebody thought this would be generally looked on as extremely unfair and were afraid the all-mighty tourist buck would be endangered.  :-/ Well, gee, this makes me want to visit and spend my money there!