reckless driving ticket 85/70 while cruise control set under 80.

It is always helpful to have a lawyer represent you in a situation like this to be sure that your rights are protected.  Because it is reckless driving charge, that carries the potential for jail time and should be taken very seriously.  Besides the fact that you may need a lawyer in your place since you will be out of the country on duty at the time of the court date, a major advantage to having a lawyer is that the prosecutor will ordinarily not even speak to unrepresented people before the court hearing.  So you will not be able to work out a deal yourself ahead of time and will have to go in front of the judge without knowing what is going to happen.  And again, I'm not sure how you are planning to do this when you won't even be there.    Another thing to consider is that while it generally is a good idea to take a driver improvement course in order to add positive points to your license, you don't necessarily want to do that before the court date, if you have an otherwise good driving record.  This is because if your driving record is perfect, you should already have 5 positive points on your record and the plus 5 that you gain from the class would have nowhere to be applied.  So you would be taking the class for nothing.  You have to wait until the court docks the points from your record and THEN take the class to build those points back up. This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case.  If you need further information or assistance, please feel free to contact my office for a consultation. Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case.