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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.

Reckless Driving on a Bicycle Law?

Apparently, Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds is introducing a bill to make reckless driving on a bicycle a separate law.
It is certainly true that you can “drive” recklessly on a bike. There was a horrible hit and run on a bike case in DC that I think it still unsolved. A rider stuck and killed an elderly pedestrian.
But the question is, why does this need a separate statute? As via Blacknell points out, reckless on a bike appears to be already covered within the existing reckless driving statute.
Kind of a mystery.
—
Update: Via ridesolutions quoting Senator Deeds’ legislative aide, the reasoning appears to be that :

“…a separate section of the code with a lesser fine would be more appropriate.”

Makes more sense now.

Reckless Driving By Passing a School Bus Loophole

One clever defendant and his attorney found a crazy loophole to beat a specific type of Virginia reckless driving charge.

You can be arrested and charged with misdemeanor criminal reckless driving for all kinds of behavior, from speeding over 80mph or 20mph over the posted speed limit to other types of dangerous or reckless driving, not moving over a lane when emergency vehicles are parked on the road, and countless other actions behind the wheel.
According to the Washington Post, this particular legal strategy hinges around some strange wording around the statute for reckless driving for passing a stopped school bus.
The exact wording in the Virginia Statue is:

“A person is guilty of reckless driving who fails to stop, when approaching from any direction, any school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children.”

This wording of the reckless driving law was changed in 1970 for some reason, and it removed the word “at”.

So the case was won by arguing that he did not “fail to stop the school bus” which was already stopped.

The judge didn’t agree with the prosecution’s argument that the intention of the law was clear.
No doubt this law will be corrected and clarified by the Virginia legislature as soon as possible.

Frankly, I’m surprised this has been in the law for 40 years, and this is the first time someone has challenged the legal wording.

Increased Patrols on Virginia Highways Through Holiday Weekend

Virginia State police have announced increased police patrols and presence on the highways from now until the end of the holiday weekend.

In a multi-state effort as part of the Combined Accident Reduction Effort (CARE), the VSP will have extra officers looking for impaired and drunk diving, distracted driving, reckless driving, speeding, and seatbelt violations.
Extra police efforts on the roads are commonplace during holiday weekends, and are often funded by federal highway programs.
As alway, be careful on Virginia roads, and obey all traffic laws during this busy travel time.

Virginia Speed Limits Going Up

The speed limit on 680 total miles of Virginia highway is set to increase from 65 to 70mph this year, but most of the change will be on rural parts of the highway system, and not I95 or I64 in metro areas.

According to WTVR, the signs will begin to be updated by the end of this month. But don’t jump the gun and think that the high speed limits will be allowed until the posted signs are updated. Police will still be issuing speeding tickets and reckless driving citations for 20mph over the old limit that reflect the existing signs.
All in all, the changes will not affect most drivers in Virginia. And there are no changes to the laws, Virginia will continue to have one of the toughest reckless driving laws in the nation, with criminal misdemeanor charges for anyone driving 20 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.

New VA Law Allows 70mph Speed Limits, But Nothing Raised Yet

Governor McDonnell signed into law a change that will allow maximum speed limits on Virginia Highways from 65 to 70mph.
But, “Not so Fast” is the watchword for Virginia motorists looking to shave a little time off their drive, or have a little extra cushion before speeding violations and even reckless driving citations become a threat.
The law as written allows the VDOT to review certain stretches of highway and decide if they deem them safe for a speed limit increase, but no speeds have been raised as yet. The Virginia Department of Transportation has said it intends to heavily scrutinize and study any eligible stretch of highway before making any changes.
If, eventually, some parts of I-81 are raised to a new 70mph limit, some legislators have indicated they would be open to making changes to parts of Virginia’s tough reckless driving laws. Current law makes it a class 1 Misdemeanor criminal offense to drive over 80mph. Another section of the reckless driving law makes it a crime to drive 20 mph over any posted speed limit.
Logically, most people would agree just 10 mph over the legal limit shouldn’t be a criminal and jail-able offense.
It’s still all speculation, but it is good news that the Commonwealth is at least considering some rational changes to our speeding and reckless driving laws.

More on Driving I-81 Dangers

As we noted before, I-81, especially near Page and Shenandoah counties is a dangerous road. This has been recognized by the Virginia Department of Transportation, and today’s comments about a reckless driving charge for a truck driver who fell asleep add some extra food for thought.

Due to budget cuts, rest areas have been closed, and it is illegal to pull over on the side of the road to sleep. This may have been a significant factor in the accident after the driver fell asleep at the wheel.

Fortunately, there was no one was harmed in this incident. But when you take roads that VDOT and the Virginia State police know to be dangerous, and make them more dangerous due to short term budget constraints, you are toying with public safely in a disturbing way.

Mistake in Allowing Reckless Charge Dismissed For Commerical License

A judge in Richmond is under fire for allowing a reckless driving charge for a commercial bus driver to be dismissed after completing a driving school program. That bus driver is facing new charges for reckless driving after hitting and killing a pedestrian with her bus.

Under the law, if a person has a commercial driver’s license in Virginia, they are ineligible for a reckless driving offense dismissal after attended driving school, under a law passed in July 2008. The original reckless driving incident occurred in May of this year.

Though the defendant clearly checked off that she had a commercial driver’s license, the judge still allowed her to take a Second Chance Driving Improvement Clinic. After satisfying the terms of the driving class, on Sept 10th, the reckless driving charge was dismissed on Sept 30th.

The defense attorney quoted indicated that is it not uncommon for judges to miss laws that have been recently passed, especially when the facts of those laws come up infrequently.

If the reckless driving offense had stood, and she had not been allowed the opportunity for the dismissal, she likely would have lost her job as a driver for the GRTC Transit System. However, she also violated company policy by not notifying her supervisor of the reckless driving charge.

It is certainly possible that she would have been fired from her job if she had followed that procedure, and if the judge had refused to allow for the dismissal, she would have lost her driver’s license and not been driving.

Whenever there is a tragedy like this, people are always looking for someone to blame. It is impossible to say what would have happened in either of those cases, but it is clear that multiple administrative failures led to a circumstances where someone was killed.