Werth to serve jail time for reckless driving

[byrdz]

Werth was pulled over on July 6 on the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County, Va., for driving 105 mph in a 55-mph zone, according to court records.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/01/29/washington-nationals-jayson-werth-sentenced-to-5-days-in-jail/22528699/

[Loophole]

Should have spent enough time in the area to know never go a mile over in Virginia. If he were a normal person they'd have boated him off to prison in Australia.

[Number5]

105 mph on the Beltway is insane.

[bobmc]

105 mph on the Beltway is insane.

I remember hitting 100 mph on the B Dub in PG County back in '69 with my GTO. But yes 105 on 495 is reckless. Some of us do stupid things and live to tell about it and don't kill others in the process thankfully!

A friend of mine just completed twenty days in jail on weekends for a second DUI in Arlington County. He said he got thrown in with the overnight drunks by mistake for ten of the days and it was "sobering" - rowdies, vomiting, sleeping on concrete floor and taking a lot of crap from authorities. The normal weekend jail stay isn't as bad with decent food.

He lost driving privileges for three years and I believe he is on a monitor for six months. He decided to give his car to his son and walk more.

[Can_of_corn]

http://jalopnik.com/never-speed-in-virginia-lessons-from-my-three-days-in-1613604053

[Satyr3206]

If he got 5 days then I should have gotten.....

I used to think I personally owned the road. I thought the deed came with the license. Before anyone gets too up in arms, no one was ever injured in these incidents and I haven't had a ticket since 1988.

A friend of mine had a Super Bee and we did 140 going under the triple bridges on 695 near Security. Didn't get caught. No ticket.

I made it from Downtown Baltimore to Ocean City in 2 hours 15 minutes. No ticket.

Did 110 over the Bay Bridge. No ticket but my rear tire blew out as I was slowing down on the Eastern Shore side of the bridge. If it would have been a minute earlier I wouldn't be typing this.

Got caught doing 105 in a 50 on Jones Fall the day before I went in the Marine Corps. The Officer was an ex Marine and was nice enough to write it for 79 in a 50.

And this is only some of it. At one point I had 42 points on my 2 page driving record. The thing that stopped me from driving like a maniac was, when I got my license back, my insurance had a higher payment than my truck.

Hard to believe I actually lived through some of the goofy crap I did.

[SouthRider]

http://jalopnik.com/never-speed-in-virginia-lessons-from-my-three-days-in-1613604053

Wow. I got pulled over doing 83 in a 55 in Va a few years ago. There was no other traffic and the road started going downhill while I wasn't paying attention to my speed. The cop was nice enough to ticket me at 79 while telling about the penalties for going over 80. I had no idea. I never realized how lucky I was to avoid a horrible experience.

[Can_of_corn]

Wow. I got pulled over doing 83 in a 55 in Va a few years ago. There was no other traffic and the road started going downhill while I wasn't paying attention to my speed. The cop was nice enough to ticket me at 79 while telling about the penalties for going over 80. I had no idea. I never realized how lucky I was to avoid a horrible experience.

I was stationed in VA for a bit over three years.

They don't fool around even a little bit.

Was a shame, I had something that used to run a bit back then.

[byrdz]

He was driving this 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, so yeah.

[scOtt]

I guess I was extremely lucky the couple times I've driven down to Lake Anna.

[Tony-OH]

Just a ridiculous sentence. Unless there was unreported ciumstances like him weaving in and out of traffiic or driving recklessly around other cars, putting the man in jail for speed on a highway is ridiculous. Sure that speed on the bletway is crazy at some points, but in others, in clear traffic, it's quite easy to get up to high spped. Traffic court judges are only a small step above the abulance chasers and parking ticket attendents when it comes to their place in the "justice system." I'm pretty sure when people are going through law school they don't aspire to beome a traffic court judge. Critical thinking are not part of their skill sets. I've had several run ins over the years with these guys and let me tell you, I'm guessing that most barely passed their bar exams.

Virginia is one of the worse states when it comes to speeding violations. Like most states now adays, they have turned their state police departments into tax collectors rather than a real police force that there to keep people safe. Maryland is just as bad. The only time you ever see one of these guys is when they've either pulled someone over, or are sitting there waiting to shoot the unlucky fish in the barrel. Heck, add in Pennsylvania as well. It's embarrasing what these states have done to their police forces.

I got pulled over last month coming back from a wrestling tournament in Pennsylvania at night. I was riding on the right lane when I saw a car riding in the left lanes for miles approaching every so faster than I was driving. I was doing 74 in a 65 so the car in the left lane was cruising above that. Down the highway I could see some slower cars that I would need to pass but I was hoping the car in the left lane would pass me by and I could merge over. I'm on cruise control so my speed is constant so what does the car in the left lane do when it gets almost side by side with me? It starts going slower (matching my speed) which would trap me behind the slow cars in the right lane. So I punch my hemi and shoot over into the left lane in front of the jerk and go up to about 90 mph as i pass the two cars and then I drop back to the 74 I was doing. The jerk car then speeds up and gets on my asss and tailgates me for about two miles. Now I'm kind of pissed so I don't move over like I normally do. I'm doing 9 miles an hour over the speed limit in the left lane so I was like screw this guy behind me.

Well, you know what happens next right? The lights tunr on and the dbag ends up being a Pennsylvania female cop. What does she ticket me for? Driving in the left lane of a two lane highway while not passing traffic. $25 ticket but after fees and taxes it ends up $130 if I pleed guilty through the mail.

So she was driving down the highway over the speed limit, cruising in the left lane, tailgaited and in the end I get the ticket. I thought about fighting it but remembering my usual talks with the rocket scientists that call themselves traffic court judges, I decided to just pay the dame ticket and add to my extreme dislike of State police officers.

I apologize if you a traffic court judge or a state police officer, but my involvement with both of these professions have rarely been good.

[scOtt]

tax collectors

Revenue generators. For their own state, but more so for their own departments. So they can buy more equipment, so they can catch more speeders, so they can generate more revenue, so they can buy more equipment, so they can catch more speeders, so they can generate more revenue etc. etc. etc.

[Number5]

Just a ridiculous sentence. Unless there was unreported ciumstances like him weaving in and out of traffiic or driving recklessly around other cars, putting the man in jail for speed on a highway is ridiculous. Sure that speed on the bletway is crazy at some points, but in others, in clear traffic, it's quite easy to get up to high spped. Traffic court judges are only a small step above the abulance chasers and parking ticket attendents when it comes to their place in the "justice system." I'm pretty sure when people are going through law school they don't aspire to beome a traffic court judge. Critical thinking are not part of their skill sets. I've had several run ins over the years with these guys and let me tell you, I'm guessing that most barely passed their bar exams.

Virginia is one of the worse states when it comes to speeding violations. Like most states now adays, they have turned their state police departments into tax collectors rather than a real police force that there to keep people safe. Maryland is just as bad. The only time you ever see one of these guys is when they've either pulled someone over, or are sitting there waiting to shoot the unlucky fish in the barrel. Heck, add in Pennsylvania as well. It's embarrasing what these states have done to their police forces.

I got pulled over last month coming back from a wrestling tournament in Pennsylvania at night. I was riding on the right lane when I saw a car riding in the left lanes for miles approaching every so faster than I was driving. I was doing 74 in a 65 so the car in the left lane was cruising above that. Down the highway I could see some slower cars that I would need to pass but I was hoping the car in the left lane would pass me by and I could merge over. I'm on cruise control so my speed is constant so what does the car in the left lane do when it gets almost side by side with me? It starts going slower (matching my speed) which would trap me behind the slow cars in the right lane. So I punch my hemi and shoot over into the left lane in front of the jerk and go up to about 90 mph as i pass the two cars and then I drop back to the 74 I was doing. The jerk car then speeds up and gets on my asss and tailgates me for about two miles. Now I'm kind of pissed so I don't move over like I normally do. I'm doing 9 miles an hour over the speed limit in the left lane so I was like screw this guy behind me.

Well, you know what happens next right? The lights tunr on and the dbag ends up being a Pennsylvania female cop. What does she ticket me for? Driving in the left lane of a two lane highway while not passing traffic. $25 ticket but after fees and taxes it ends up $130 if I pleed guilty through the mail.

So she was driving down the highway over the speed limit, cruising in the left lane, tailgaited and in the end I get the ticket. I thought about fighting it but remembering my usual talks with the rocket scientists that call themselves traffic court judges, I decided to just pay the dame ticket and add to my extreme dislike of State police officers.

I apologize if you a traffic court judge or a state police officer, but my involvement with both of these professions have rarely been good.

I agree completely that Virginia exceeds the standard that "the punishment should fit the crime." Speeding is not a criminal offense, clearly. I drive through Virginia relatively often to visit relatives in Tennessee and Alabama. The speed limit most of the way along I-81 is 70 MPH. When traffic is sparse, it is very easy to look down and notice that you have gotten up to 80 MPH or more. The idea that you could actually be put in jail for that is absurd, frankly. That isn't justice. Virginia is committing a more criminal act by jailing decent citizens for such a thing than the speeding violators have committed, IMO. Perhaps one day some smart young attorney will successfully push a class action suit against the Commonwealth.

Having said all that, 105 MPH on the Washington Beltway is extremely dangerous, regardless of the hour. There are just too many exits and potential for people traveling at a normal speed to change lanes, not realizing that someone is coming up on them at twice the speed limit. Not to mention the occasional pothole, which could be catastrophic if hit at over 100 MPH. I do not buy that one could inadvertently find himself cruising at that kind of speed on that particular road. Werth did endanger others with his actions, IMO. I think license suspension or revocation makes more sense than jail time, however.

[Can_of_corn]

I agree completely that Virginia exceeds the standard that "the punishment should fit the crime." Speeding is not a criminal offense, clearly. I drive through Virginia relatively often to visit relatives in Tennessee and Alabama. The speed limit most of the way along I-81 is 70 MPH. When traffic is sparse, it is very easy to look down and notice that you have gotten up to 80 MPH or more. The idea that you could actually be put in jail for that is absurd, frankly. That isn't justice. Virginia is committing a more criminal act by jailing decent citizens for such a thing than the speeding violators have committed, IMO. Perhaps one day some smart young attorney will successfully push a class action suit against the Commonwealth.

Having said all that, 105 MPH on the Washington Beltway is extremely dangerous, regardless of the hour. There are just too many exits and potential for people traveling at a normal speed to change lanes, not realizing that someone is coming up on them at twice the speed limit. Not to mention the occasional pothole, which could be catastrophic if hit at over 100 MPH. I do not buy that one could inadvertently find himself cruising at that kind of speed on that particular road. Werth did endanger others with his actions, IMO. I think license suspension or revocation makes more sense than jail time, however.

I am guessing a weekend in jail is a heck of a deterrent. They probably have a lot less problems with repeat violations then states who simply fine speeders.

Like I said, I lived in VA for over three years and I only got pulled over once for speeding and that was for doing 9 in a 5 on base.

You can't stay under 80 on I-81? Use cruise control.

[scOtt]

You can't stay under 80 on I-81? Use cruise control.

I always use cruise control. But those incremental up and down buttons... one more mph won't hurt. One more won't hurt. One more...