Virginia court treats all its criminal offenses strictly to control the crime level in the state. Reckless driving is considered as a criminal offense in Virginia as its consequences are causing damages to the citizens and their properties. Therefore in order to stop forthcoming damages and offenses, the careless drivers are severely penalized by the court so that they could understand the possible consequences of their careless attitude.
Understanding Reckless Driving Speeding law in Virginia court’s Terminology
Virginia court defines reckless driving under section 46.2-886 as regulation of traffic code. The code defines reckless driving as driving of any vehicle by an individual on highways at twenty mph or more than the maximum limit.
If you get an opportunity to drive in Virginia you should make sure you follow all the necessary traffic rules to avoid getting a ticket. Your one careless mistake can cause you a lot of damage. If you already got a ticket then you should first understand for what offense you are charged with and as soon as you got a ticket immediately contact an experienced and professional lawyer.
Individuals who are often given a ticket for reckless driving confuse it with the speeding ticket, however both of them are two different offense and are disciplined differently too. They may appear similar but Virginia court has more serious penalties for reckless driving than speeding. A person can pay a fine of maximum 250$ for a speeding ticket while the reckless driving charges can have multiple penalties.
Here is a list of possible penalties in Virginia if a person is proved guilty for reckless driving:
- Heavy Fines
- License suspension
- Imprisonment
How can reckless driving lead me to Imprisonment?
Reckless driving in Virginia can lead you to face jail time. However, the penalties of reckless driving vary from case to case. The court would dig into your past driving records and would even look into each detail and extent of your reckless driving. According to the historical data of Virginia majority of individuals who faced jail time has crossed the speeding limit by 20 mph. Hence it is an advice for all the drivers of Virginia not to surpass the speed limit over 20 mph.
License suspension
Another penalty that court applies on reckless drivers is the permanent cancellation of the driving license. It is important to understand that if the court cancel the driving license you are no longer eligible to drive in the state. I you are lucky enough then the court can offer you a license suspension which will allow you to drive for specific purposes such as going to your workplace, taking your children to their school or going to a doctor. The license suspension prohibits the individual to drive for leisure or any other purpose except emergency.
The individuals are penalized for cancelation of their license in rare and extreme cases. The court digs into the historical record of the driver and the severity of the reckless driving before canceling his/her license.
Imposition of Heavy Fine
The fine for reckless driving and speeding is different. While an individual can get through with a fine of $250 for speeding, a driver charged with reckless driving will be penalized with at least $300 to a maximum of $1000. In rare cases, the drivers are penalized with $2500 depending on the severity of the case and damages caused by reckless driving of the individual.
Apart from these penalties from the court the individual also faces some long-term damages of reckless driving such as:
- Hike in the price of Insurance premium
- Problem faced in Security clearance
- Can lead to Losing the job if the individual faces imprisonment
- Having a criminal record
- And loss of Demerit points