Speeding ticket and radar detectors in national parks?
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Speeding ticket and radar detectors in national parks?
I was recently ticketed ($185) for doing 57 in a 35 along Skyline Drive, which is within a National Park. I asked the officer (US govt plates) if there would be any points, and he said he wasn't sure, but thought not, since it's Federal land and their info probably doesn't flow down to the states. Does anyone know for sure?
A related question is whether radar detectors can be used in National Parks. I had stowed mine away, thinking that I was in Virginia, but now I'm wondering if technically I wasn't in Virginia. One the one hand, there's the Federal part, but on the other hand the office said that exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 is considering reckless driving in Virginia, though he didn't ticket me for that. Maybe they're applying Virginia laws in this particular National Park?
A related question is whether radar detectors can be used in National Parks. I had stowed mine away, thinking that I was in Virginia, but now I'm wondering if technically I wasn't in Virginia. One the one hand, there's the Federal part, but on the other hand the office said that exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 is considering reckless driving in Virginia, though he didn't ticket me for that. Maybe they're applying Virginia laws in this particular National Park?
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I was recently ticketed ($185) for doing 57 in a 35 along Skyline Drive, which is within a National Park. I asked the officer (US govt plates) if there would be any points, and he said he wasn't sure, but thought not, since it's Federal land and their info probably doesn't flow down to the states. Does anyone know for sure?
Why would he cruise control on the Skyline Drive? It's one of the most entertaining roads we have out on the east coast.
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the park police forwards tickets to virginia DMV. lube up. not like you have a choice. pay the ticket... unless you want to go to federal court (U.S. District court) to argue it.
Hopefully Virginia will just see it as a regular speeding ticket instead of reckless.
good luck.
Hopefully Virginia will just see it as a regular speeding ticket instead of reckless.
good luck.
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A friend of mine got pulled over by the Federal Police on the GW Memorial Parkway a few months back and he received a hefty fine and points. Good Luck with your situation.
Why would he cruise control on the Skyline Drive? It's one of the most entertaining roads we have out on the east coast.
Why would he cruise control on the Skyline Drive? It's one of the most entertaining roads we have out on the east coast.
Wayne
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the park police forwards tickets to virginia DMV. lube up. not like you have a choice. pay the ticket... unless you want to go to federal court (U.S. District court) to argue it.
Hopefully Virginia will just see it as a regular speeding ticket instead of reckless.
good luck.
Hopefully Virginia will just see it as a regular speeding ticket instead of reckless.
good luck.
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Actually, after getting the ticket, I set my cruise control to 38. Painfully slow. I don't know if I'll be driving that road again unless I confirm that I can use a radar detector there (illegal in VA, but I don't know about this park).
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OP: Good for you. 35mph is boring. Unless you are on some really fun twisty mountain roads where 35mph is pushing the envelope. NC 94 comes to mind. A bit far away for you.
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home the point
Don't know for sure. I've been pulled over there several times on my bikes, but never got a ticket (park rangers are generally very nice and usually thank me for actually pulling over). I know of several bikers who got tickets at Skyline and they claimed those tickets never showed up on their MD/VA licenses. So no, I don't think you'll get points off. I'd just pay.
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I've heard of it "not being sent down to the state" when someone I know got a stop sign ticket in a National park in CA. He kept getting calls from collections after a while because he ignored it... Don't know why the dmv didn't suspend his license or why he didn't have trouble registering for one in another state with that blemish on his record... BUT I think they DID have a record of it.
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The points will eventually show up, it depends on how the ticket is processed and I believe how the officer wrote it up. Higher fines, lower or no points (same deal you can ask for in court if you have to show up), lower fine, more points.
As for getting tickets on federal property.. don't do it.. they can ban you from driving on federal property (it is an extreme, but is has happened to a co worker, who was a dick to the cop who pulled him over for doing 45 in a 35 on federal land in MS/LA area, he lives in DC and was there on business). He was banned from driving on any federal property in the US for 2 years...
Granted, as I said, that was an extreme, and the guy was being a dick to the officer, so the likelihood of that happening is slim..
Also, I believe 2 or more moving violations on federal property can result in a ban as well.
Also note that the federal land in question was not a national park, but a federal civilian and/or military facility (I'm not going to go into too many details).
As for getting tickets on federal property.. don't do it.. they can ban you from driving on federal property (it is an extreme, but is has happened to a co worker, who was a dick to the cop who pulled him over for doing 45 in a 35 on federal land in MS/LA area, he lives in DC and was there on business). He was banned from driving on any federal property in the US for 2 years...
Granted, as I said, that was an extreme, and the guy was being a dick to the officer, so the likelihood of that happening is slim..
Also, I believe 2 or more moving violations on federal property can result in a ban as well.
Also note that the federal land in question was not a national park, but a federal civilian and/or military facility (I'm not going to go into too many details).
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home the point
The points will eventually show up, it depends on how the ticket is processed and I believe how the officer wrote it up. Higher fines, lower or no points (same deal you can ask for in court if you have to show up), lower fine, more points.
As for getting tickets on federal property.. don't do it.. they can ban you from driving on federal property (it is an extreme, but is has happened to a co worker, who was a dick to the cop who pulled him over for doing 45 in a 35 on federal land in MS/LA area, he lives in DC and was there on business). He was banned from driving on any federal property in the US for 2 years...
Granted, as I said, that was an extreme, and the guy was being a dick to the officer, so the likelihood of that happening is slim..
Also, I believe 2 or more moving violations on federal property can result in a ban as well.
Also note that the federal land in question was not a national park, but a federal civilian and/or military facility (I'm not going to go into too many details).
As for getting tickets on federal property.. don't do it.. they can ban you from driving on federal property (it is an extreme, but is has happened to a co worker, who was a dick to the cop who pulled him over for doing 45 in a 35 on federal land in MS/LA area, he lives in DC and was there on business). He was banned from driving on any federal property in the US for 2 years...
Granted, as I said, that was an extreme, and the guy was being a dick to the officer, so the likelihood of that happening is slim..
Also, I believe 2 or more moving violations on federal property can result in a ban as well.
Also note that the federal land in question was not a national park, but a federal civilian and/or military facility (I'm not going to go into too many details).
However you are right that you can either be banned or have your driving privilege taken away on respective department properties (I don't think there's a ban for all Federal land unless you're wanted by the US government).
Last edited by cptdaz; Jan 19, 2012 at 02:02 PM.
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They do if you get the tickets in the DC Metro area (to include MD and VA) area (as shown by my MD record showing my stop by the lovely Pentagon Police....)
I cannot be sure about other states, nor being stopped by actual military police. While my idiotic co worker was banned from federal land, no points ever showed up on his license, but his fine was through the roof..
I cannot be sure about other states, nor being stopped by actual military police. While my idiotic co worker was banned from federal land, no points ever showed up on his license, but his fine was through the roof..
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home the point
There aren't exactly long stretches of road in the Pentagon. Did you get a speeding ticket in the parking lot or something? Better yet, driving those golf carts too fast in the basement level 
?
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Sorta.. heh.. I was cutting through the lot from 110 to get to army navy drive and he tagged me coming off of 110. Fortunately, I have never received any tickets there when I was on an actual pentagon contract 
