Anonymous Rex’s Weblog

Drive 80mph in Virginia and go to jail!

August 27, 2011 at 4:28 am (Uncategorized) (reckless driving, speeding ticket, traffic court, virginia)

Since last posting, my travels have brought me to Virginia where I currently live and am a registered voter. I’ve only lived here a few months and I have already learned the hard way that it is a criminal offense to drive 80mph in the state of Virginia. Anywhere. I was stopped for going 82 on the interstate (with a posted speed limit of 70) and charged with reckless driving. I am now required to go to traffic court––in a town three hours from where I live. I face penalties of up to a $2,500 fine and a year in jail. If found guilty, I will receive a criminal record and my name will be entered into the National Crime Information Center. That record will impair my ability to gain employment and earn income for the rest of my life. All for going 12 mph over the speed limit.

This is a ludicrous law and many people who have lived in Virginia their entire lives are unaware of it. Like so many things in our society, this insanity goes on because no one takes the time to do anything about it or create systematic reform. In this blog, I will discuss Virginia’s reckless driving law and what everyone should do about it.

The Law

The general rule according to the Code of Virginia reads as follows:

Irrespective of the maximum speeds permitted by law, any person who drives a vehicle on any highway recklessly or at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person shall be guilty of reckless driving.

This seems reasonable, except that unlike many states, in Virginia reckless driving is a criminal offense that carries a permanent criminal record––even if you’re from out of state. The maximum fine of $2,500 is the highest in the country for reckless driving: five times the maximum fine for reckless driving in states like Alabama. But worst of all, there are about 20 sub-sections to this law describing all the different actions that constitute “reckless driving.” And they are changing all the time. When I got my license from the Virginia DMV nobody told me, “If you drive 80 in our state, you go to jail.” There are no billboards explaining the reckless driving statutes. My state senator explained to me that the only way a citizen can even be aware of the law is through searching on the Internet. No wonder the state doesn’t tell people about this law: If I had known about this law, I never would have moved to Virginia. Who knows what else they’ll put you in jail for around here?

Here are the most controversial ways to gain a reckless driving charge:

-Driving 20 mph over the posted speed limit.
-Driving over 80.

In my case, I was only going 12 miles over the posted limit, under the “over 80 clause” this was enough to receive reckless driving charge.

What to Do if You Have Been Charged With Reckless Driving in Virginia

Get a lawyer. Treat this as if you have been charged with murder. Even if you have a few thousand dollars lying around, no one can afford to have a criminal record. The courts count on people failing to appear in court or simply mailing in their fines. If you get pulled over for speeding while driving from New York to Florida, you would have to be crazy to drive back to Podunk, Virginia to appear in traffic court, right? But by not appearing in court you are pleading guilty and will receive a permanent criminal record.

The good news is that if you hire a lawyer, they can appear in your stead. I hired a lawyer from the little town where I was stopped. His services cost $150. Not cheap, but much better than the alternative. Local lawyers know all of the judges in the traffic court. Usually judges are reasonable and will downgrade the charge to speeding. They may even throw it out entirely. But some judges are crazy and will give jail time. A local lawyer will know the names of judges like that. I have found cases where people had to demand a trial by jury to avoid a reckless driving charge. Right now, I feel fairly confident about my court date, but you never know. It is still possible my next blog post will be from a prison cell.

While I am grateful for my attorney’s help, it is fairly obvious that this law exists to keep attorneys in business. Googling “Virginia reckless driving laws” will bring up the pages of dozens of lawyers who make their living entirely be dealing with this type of case. Your nightmare is their bread and butter.

Don’t Stop There

If you’re reading this blog, you have to think of the greater good. Don’t just worry about saving your own ass. Take steps to end this insane law and save your fellow Americans (and Canadians) from getting a criminal record. Here’s what you need to do:

1) Warn everyone you know and create awareness. If everyone in Virginia knew about this law, it would end. Create facebook groups, tell your family, your church, etc.

2) If you live in Virginia, write your state delegate and senator and ask them to change the law. I wrote my mine and received an answer within 24 hours (it was sympathetic). There were actually two bills proposed last year that would have ended the “over 80pm is reckless driving” clause, but they died in committee. If we keep the pressure up, we can end this law forever and bring a little sanity into this dark world.

3) If you don’t live in Virginia, state politicians have no reason to listen to you. But you can still punish the state with a boycott. Write the Virginia Department of Commerce and tell them that until the law changes you will not stop for gas or food while driving through their state. Contact the Virginia Department of Tourism and tell them you’re taking your vacation somewhere else because you don’t want a criminal record. Virginia may be for lovers, but it sure isn’t for sane driving laws. This isn’t being petty or vengeful, this is about keeping innocent people out of jail. Fundamentally, this law is about money. If it’s no longer profitable, it will be taken off the books.

4) Post on my blog and tell the world what you did!

Writing Virginia Legislators

If you’re a Virginia resident there are three people you need to write: Your representative to the house of delegates, your state senator, and the governor. Tell them this is an unjust law and urge them to create legislation altering it. If you don’t know what to say, you can you just write something like:

Dear (Delegate/Senator X) or Governor McDonnell,

I am writing you in regard to Virginia’s law defining driving over 80 mph as reckless driving. This law goes against common sense, particularly in a state where the posted speed limit on the interstate is 70 mph. Charging Virginia drivers as criminals clogs our court system and hurts our economy by giving criminal records to people who are law abiding and, in many cases, good drivers. As your constituent, I urge you to support legislation to reform Viriginia’s reckless driving law.

Sincerely,

(your name/ poor bastard who got pulled over driving 82 in Virginia).

You can e-mail Governor Robert F. McDonnell here. You will probably get a personal response from one of his assistants in a few days. Last year, McDonnell did remove one of the 20 ways to get a reckless driving charge that involved passing a school bus. But as the executive, the governor can’t actually propose new laws. For that, you need legislators.

You can find out who your delegate and senator are here. This site also gives their mailing addresses. To get their e-mail address, just Google their name and look for contact link on their website.

If everyone does this, the law will change. Think how satisfying it will feel to know that you got a ticket and actually changed the law!