If you miss court for a traffic ticket in Virginia the judge will issue a warrant for your arrest, may even issue a substantial fine and potential license suspension.
If you pay off the traffic ticket before it goes to court then you can avoid going to court over the ticket.
But if you don't pay the traffic ticket and don't appear in court then a warrant will be issued for your arrest in most cases.
If you don't appear in court for the traffic ticket then the judge will likely find you guilty in absentia and the court will also then send the fine and costs to the address on your summons.
In Virginia you're not generally required to attend or show up to court for a speeding ticket and other traffic tickets if you pay the fine or ticket.
Although if you do wish to contest the traffic ticket or speeding ticket you must appear in court or have an attorney represent you and failure to do so can lead to a warrant for your arrest.
To get a violation off your driving record in Virginia you can enroll in and take a state approved driver's improvement course and accumulate safe driving points.
However the violation cannot be completely removed from your driving record in Virginia but it can help reduce the effect of the violations on your driving record.
Maintaining a good driving record for a certain period of time and accumulating good safe driving points and taking a drive improvement course can help.
Eventually the violations will drop off and not affect your auto insurance rates over time.
The length of time that it takes for driving records to clear in Virginia is between 3 to 5 years for less serious offenses and around 11 years for more serious driving offenses such as reckless driving.
In Virginia tickets stay on your record for a period of 3 years to 5 years for most speeding violations and other common violations.
However traffic tickets for more serious driving offenses such as reckless driving often remain or stay on your driving record in Virginia for a period of 11 years.
In Virginia the length of time that a traffic ticket will stay on your record will vary depending on the specific offense that got you the traffic ticket.
For most speeding ticket violations in Virginia the ticket itself will often stay on your driving record for up to 5 years, however the associated demerit points may only affect your driving record for 2 years.
A traffic ticket for reckless driving conviction remains on your Virginia driving record for as long as 11 years.
And many 4 point traffic violations, which include speeding 10 mph to 19 mph over the posted speed limit often remain on your Virginia driving record for up to 5 years.
And 6 point traffic violations in Virginia, which include those speeding 20 mph or more over the posted speed limit and more serious traffic offenses can remain on your record in Virginia for 11 years.
And some 3 point traffic violations such as failing to signal can remain on your record for up to 3 years in Virginia.
The information on your Virginia driving record and other driving records in other states as well no matter where you live are used by insurance companies to determine your auto insurance premium rates, so it's important to try and avoid traffic tickets when possible and understand how long the ticket remains on your driving record.