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Virginia Legislature Refuses to Reform Reckless Driving Laws, Speed Cameras

Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Do such words sound familiar? Those famous phrases are emblazoned on the long-established board game of Monopoly.

Unfortunately, it’s not just a board game in Virginia. Apparently, it’s a real-life game of picking the pockets of motorists to raise revenue. And in Virginia, one may go to jail and also pay a fine for ‘reckless driving.’ The offense that could result in jail time includes driving 80 mph in a 70 mph zone.

Reckless At 10 mph  Over The Limit

70/65Recently, the speed limit was raised to 70 mph on certain Virginia highways, but the reckless driving standard remained set at 80 mph, just 10 mph higher. As defined, reckless driving is a class one misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $2500, six points, a six-month license suspension, and a year in jail.

Delegate Joseph D. Morrissey (D-Henrico) detected this oversight and promptly introduced legislation to keep such severe sanctions from applying until one is cited for going 20 mph over the speed limit. His effort was quickly killed by a subcommittee on January 9th, the very first day that the new General Assembly was in session.

Was money a factor? Well, that broadly-defined reckless driving law has become ‘big business’ in the Commonwealth. Reckless driving citations account for fully $29.5 million of the $238 million in annual traffic fine revenue generated in the state.

New taxes are anathema, particularly in Republican-controlled jurisdictions. The cowardly, indirect ‘tax’ called the ‘traffic fine’ is emerging as an increasingly significant way to meet those government obligations in lieu of either raising taxes or controlling spending.

Right Turn On Red

traffic lightsBased upon an already existing law in the neighboring state of Tennessee (Tenn. Code Sec.55-8-198(i)), Mr. Morrissey (D-Henrico) then tried to introduce legislation that prohibited camera citations unless there is a failure to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian, cyclist, or motorist during a right-hand turn. Delegate Morrissey appeared have supporting data on his side. Both the US DOT and the City of Los Angeles have studied the issue of rolling right turns, and they found little evidence of increased accidents.

Such information did not deter the House Committee on Science and Technology from quickly shutting down Mr. Morrissey’s radical attempt at common sense. The committee voted 18-4 against House Bill 1879.

Perhaps strategies this injurious to the Commonwealth should be kept to board games. ‘Monopoly’ is all about money. Perhaps the traffic laws in the state of Virginia are as well.

The Virginia House of Delegates’ message to municipalities is clear –  keep those cameras rolling during right turns. Keep those automated tickets flowing, and keep the cash flowing as well.

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!

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.

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.

Speeding & Reckless Driving Crackdowns in Virginia

One wonders what prompts news reports of enhanced enforcement of traffic violations and reckless driving laws in Virgina.

Is there any difference between enhanced enforcement and regular patrols? If so, what factors invoke the need for extra efforts in these safety enforcement operations that the Virginia state police is so fond of publicizing?

It is understandable that press releases make news, and may help drivers think twice about their careless driving, and the impact it will have.

But it is it just publicity, or are there actual extra patrols unleashed at certain times? Because the publicity effect and value is probably the same whether enforcement efforts are really any different.

Just an honest question.

But, from this news we did learn that:

  • On 1-64, the ratio of regular speeding tickets to criminal reckless driving citations is just under 7 to 1 (1700/251).
  • While on I-66, the speeding to reckless citation ratio is 5 1/2 to 1 (680/123).
  • Some small percentage of traffic stops result in felony drug charges.

What does it all mean? Does any of this really inform a driver’s behavior? Or is it column filling pseudo info for newspapers, and busywork for the state police public relations department.

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If you are stopped for reckless driving or arrested and charged with a crime in Virginia, please contact our attorneys for a free case evaluation and consultation.

Virginia Reckless Driving: Emergency Vehicle "Move Over Law"

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.

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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.