When something goes terribly wrong in an operating room and a life is needlessly lost, the legal system often faces the tough task of attaching monetary value to such a death. The sum that is calculated is often in the millions of dollars. [Read more…]
Virginia Proposes Fine Increases for Texting While Driving.
Can Virginia find even more ways to boost fines and penalty fees for drivers? Yes, it looks like they can, and will.
Update: The bill passes both chambers. [Read more…]
A Virginia Reckless Charge Means License Suspension for DC Drivers
The Washington Post reports on how the vast differences in reckless driving laws between Virginia and DC can result in drivers with DC licenses getting a 6 month license suspension for a single incident of driving 10mph over the speed limit.
According to the story, the DC DMV will automatically suspend your driver’s license for 6 months if you get a reckless driving conviction in Virginia. And it is incredibly easy for this to happen, since Virginia’s reckless driving laws include reckless by speed, which is a citation for driving 20mph over the posted speed limit, or 80mph on any highway, even those where the posted speed limit is 70mph. [Read more…]
Virginia State Police Begins Traffic Enforcement Campaign
The VSP begins it’s summer campaign of extra highway safety enforcement.
According do this article, “Operation Land, Speed, and Air” will focus extra police patrols on I-81 and I-95, looking for drunk drivers, speeders, and reckless drivers.
Does any of this make the road of Virginia safer? Maybe. But that is the nature of more police… there are always people you can pull over for speeding and other offenses. It is easy enough to generate bigger numbers of traffic citations if that’s the goal.
But what this is really about is that they get extra federal funding for these campaigns, as it clearly says in the article: “Funding for the enforcement initiative is provided through federal highway safety monies”
Which is all well and good, but it is silly to claim that it is about anything else: We have federal money to pay more officers, so we will do stuff. Fair enough.
And they kind of give away the point when they talk about what they will do with the extra funds generated by fines and fees. And the fees are high, especially for the criminal charge of reckless driving, which you can get by merely going 20mph over the limit, or 80mph anywhere. It is widely accepted that Virginia has the the most stringent reckless driving laws in the nation. It is painfully easy to get cited for this misdemeanor offense.
Plus, if the only concern was public safety, why only now? ““Too many lives are put at risk because of irresponsible driving behavior.” Clearly that is not only true during the summer.
But yes, it is possible that you are more likely to be stopped during the summer if there really is an extra police presence.
Anyway, be careful out there and drive safely. As always!
School Bus Driver Charged with Reckless Driving
This is an interesting and unusual case where a school bus driver was charged with reckless driving.
Obviously it was a serious accident, but the circumstances are unusual. [Read more…]
Charlottesville man in Police Chase
While few police stops are quite that exciting or dramatic, a recent attempted police stop resulted in a police chase in Augusta County, by vehicle and on foot, resulting in an overturned vehicle and minor injuries for the defendant, and a trip to the Middle River jail.
The news report at NewsLeader.com doesn’t say why the police were originally attempting to pull over Trevis H. Johnson, 28, of Charlottesville, but he was later charged with reckless driving, drug possession, and eluding police.
Typical police stops for reckless driving, the likely cause for the original police attention to the defendant, result in a criminal citation for a Class 1 misdemeanor. This charge is a serious offense, but there are often opportunities to challenge a criminal reckless charge in VA courts.
Getting this offense reduced to an improper driving civil citation is a real win, and is something that is regularly accepted by judges if your attorney can make a successful argument.
If you flee the police, and roll over your vehicle, then run away on foot however, avoiding a reckless driving penalty is probably not going to happen. But you definitely need a lawyer, even more urgently.
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More on questions about reckless driving.
Is 10mph Over A "Safe" Speeding Limit?
Hampton Roads has an interesting analysis in the Pilot Online about the number of speeding tickets issued for travelling at rates 10mph over the limit or less.
It is widely believed that police are unlikely to pull you over for speeding if you are only going 10mph over the limit, and their analysis appears to bear that out. According to their research, only three tenths of 1 percent of tickets issues where for less than that speeding threshold.
However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. You are probably most likely to get tagged with low grade speeding in school zones with lots of kids around, which makes sense.
Virginia is known for some of the toughest speeding laws in the nation, with criminal charges for driving 20mph over the limit, or over 80mph, known as “reckless by speed“. Reckless driving in Virginia is the same seriousness as a drunk driving charge – a Class 1 Misdemeanor offense.
But it is comforting to know that you are very unlikely to get a speeding citation for under 10mph over the limit. The practical reason for this isn’t so much that the police are just willing to give you a pass. It’s more likely if they want to pull over speeders, it frankly isn’t hard to find people travelling faster than that, so they don’t waste their time with the very minor infractions in most cases.
And it’s certainly true that speedier drivers, especially chronic ones, are a bigger threat to public safely, and more worth the time and effort for an officer to stop them and issue a traffic ticket.
But Virginia is probably the last place that you want to push the limit much beyond that, given the significant legal problems you face when you up the ante.
When is a Reckless Driving Charge Not Just A Reckless Driving Charge?
Reckless driving is a surprisingly standard and common offense in Virginia. Even though it is a criminal charge – a Class 1 Misdemeanor, the same as a DUI – it is very easy for the average person to get arrested and charged with reckless driving.
A Reckless driving charge only requires that you drive 20mph over the posted speed limit, or 80mph on highways to result in a criminal charge of “reckless by speed“.
Of course, not all reckless offenses are quite that benign or accidental. The Times Dispatch, in it’s regular Crime and Police News Section, reports on an incident where a person allegedly runs through a red line, and then attempts to run from the police.
He was ultimately stopped after an extended chase involving multiple police departments. One of which laid down a spike strip to blow out the tires and cause the car to stop.
He was arrested for both reckless driving and eluding police, a felony criminal traffic offense.
Of course such an incident is far from typical. Judges see reckless driving defendants every day in Virginia courts, and very few are quite this dramatic.
Most are average citizens who may have been driving a bit to fast, but never expected to find themselves accused of criminal charges.
Fortunately, our attorney can very often help get these charges reduced to non-criminal offenses, like a regular speeding ticket, or improper driving.
This legal representation costs far less than the fines and fees you would face if you are convicted of reckless driving. And many judges absolutely will convict you of the charge. In some jurisdictions, with particularly cranky judges, you are at real risk of a night or two in jail, just for driving a bit too fast!
It makes sense to consult with a Virginia defense attorney who regularly defend reckless charges to find out what your options are for getting rid of this legal problem as painlessly as possible.
Jail Time for Reckless Driving
Virginia is know for the toughest reckless driving penalties in the country, and Virginia judges certainly do issue jail sentences for offenses that would probably just be traffic citations in other states.
But that doesn’t mean some driving isn’t truly reckless, and may well warrant criminal charges and penalties, as one New Jersey man recently found out.
According to Delmarvanow.com he was sentenced to 10 days in jail for driving 110 mph on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at 2am, with his wife and small child in the car.
The 17 mile long Chesapeake Bay bridge and tunnel is very narrow, and crosses a large opening of the Chesapeake Bay, between Maryland and Virginia. It can be frightening to drive on at posted speed limits, especially when it is windy.
Doing a buck ten on this narrow bridge, at 2am, sounds terrifying, and extremely dangerous. I think it is reasonable to assume that criminal penalties, and even jail time could be the result, even under New Jersey reckless driving laws, which are nowhere near as strict as Virginia.
I think most people who’ve driven on this bridge before would have to agree that driving that fast there sounds crazy.
Reckless Driving for Rolling Through a Right on Red
A new proposed bill could add another marginal traffic violation to Virginia’s reckless driving laws, already the toughest in the nation. According to The Newspaper, HB1993 would criminalize not coming to a complete stop before taking a right turn at at red light.
Virginia drivers already face a Class 1 misdemeanor reckless driving offense for driving 80mph, which is in some cases only 10mph over the posted speed limit.
Criminalizing a rolling stop is another indignation to our besieged motorists.
The reckless driving laws already more than cover this situation if it result in an actual accident, or near miss, and creates a serious danger or risk of injury.
But presenting someone with a criminal citation for drifting through a red light making a right turn, if no one is around is an extreme overreaction.
If enacted, this offense could result in fines of $2500, a six month license suspension, 6 points on your driver’s license, and even jail time. And there are absolutely judges in Virginia courts who will hand out jail time for reckless convictions.
More on reckless driving.