You can be charged with reckless driving in Virginia for violating what is known as the “move-over law”. Under this little-known Virginia traffic law, you are required to move over one lane to the left if you are on a multiple lane highway, and there is an emergency vehicle (police, fire, ambulance) with lights flashing at the side of the road.
If for some reason you are unable to move over safely, or it is only a 2 lane road (one lane in each direction), the law requires to you slow down and proceed with caution.
The reason for this law is primarily the safety of police officers and other emergency safely workers. It is to ensure that they have enough safe distance to do their jobs safely while near from high speed traffic.
That is understandable and reasonable, but it is a simple fact that most Virginia drivers are unaware of this regulation, and of the seriousness of a criminal citation that can result. While being unaware of this requirement is no defense against the criminal charge of reckless driving, an experienced defense lawyer can often get the charge reduced to a non-criminal offense.
In any reckless driving case, the primary goal is to keep you from getting stuck with a criminal record. However, there are some Virginia judges who will insist on jail time for a reckless conviction, so a defense lawyer can be crucial to protecting you from extreme penalties.
In addition, getting your charge reduced can save you significant fines, and points on your driving record that can result in tremendous increases to your auto insurance rates. In most cases, hiring a defense lawyer and getting criminal traffic charges reduced more than pays for itself, just in the dollars the incident will cost you.
—
If you are facing a reckless driving charge, please contact us for a free consultation on what we can do to fight this criminal charge, and keep your record clean.