What is Reckless Driving in Virginia?
It’s a crime.
If you’re charged with reckless driving in Virginia, you are charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor that carries the possibility of up to one year in jail, a $2,500 fine and license suspension up to six months.
Most lawyer websites will only tell you the maximum punishment and that you’re facing a criminal charge. What most lawyer websites won’t tell you is what the actual punishment might be in your particular case. In fact, many lawyers won’t even tell you that when you call for their free consultation. You won’t find out more about the actual nature of the charge and what you’re actually looking at in your case.
I’m different.
In all honesty, 99% of reckless driving cases that I’ve seen and handled, do not end up with much of any jail time. I’ve only once seen someone get the actual year in jail. The same thing is true for the fine. Most reckless driving cases are not looking at a $2,500.00 fine. That’s the maximum. Most cases are looking at a fine in the neighborhood of a few hundred dollars, maybe under $500.00 depending on the facts of the case.
What is reckless driving in Virginia though?
Virginia law says that if you speed over 85 mph or 20 or more mph over the limit in any situation, it’s considered reckless driving. There are also about a dozen other versions of reckless driving, for example passing a stopped school bus while it’s loading or unloading children.
Does this mean that if you’re charged with reckless driving that you’ll actually be found guilty of it?
No. We do have many possible defenses and alternative outcomes that we can pursue in a Virginia reckless driving cases. Just to name a few, these are some things that we can do.
1. We can investigate and challenge the officer’s radar or laser calibration.
2. We can investigate your speedometer’s calibration and see if maybe your equipment was lying to you.
3. We can challenge the case based on other evidentiary defects in the commonwealth’s evidence.
4. You can ask the judge for an alternate outcome any time you’re attending driving school.
5. You can ask the judge for an alternate outcome with doing community service or some other type of remedial action.
As you can see, there are many different options for a reckless driving case in Virginia, and with an attorney who’s local to the courts, experienced and knows what they’re doing in the court in question, you can ultimately achieve the best possible outcome for your reckless driving in Virginia case. To find out more about reckless driving in your situation, definitely grab a copy of my free book. It’s all about Virginia reckless driving. We’ll never share or sell your information, and your free copy will come to you by email.
Photo by: Travis S.
