What is the Penalty for Reckless Driving in Virginia Fairfax Attorney?

Reckless driving in Virginia, in accordance with the law, is regarded as a very serious offense and offenders are highly advised to contact and/or hire an attorney at law for assistance.

Virginia’s rashly operating vehicle penalties are defined under the Regulation of Traffic Code specifically, statute § 46.2-862 – Exceeding speed limit. In accordance with this law, any person that drives a motor vehicle on a highway at a speed of twenty miles per hour or more in excess of the given speed limit will be guilty of rash operation vehicle. The penalties on the other hand slightly vary in terms of whether the driver has exceeded the speed limit recklessly for the first time or has been regularly exceeding it.

In most situations, reckless driving is regarded as a class one misdemeanour in accordance with the laws of Virginia. The penalties related to rash operation vehicle are enlisted below.

• Jail time for a period not exceeding a period of one year;
• Up to and not more than $2,500 in fines;
• Suspension of the driver’s license of the offender; and
• A placement of six demerit points on the offender’s vehicle operator record.

However, these penalties highly vary in case the rashly operating vehicle is deemed to be a felony rather than a misdemeanour. This is the case when a driver is charged with rashly operating vehicle while his/her license is suspended or revoked due to a moving traffic violation. This is also the case if the driver causes the death of another person due to his/her reckless driving.

Furthermore, reckless driving is also deemed to be a felony rather than a misdemeanour when the rashly operating vehicle charge was due to racing and a possible injury occurring as a result from racing engaged in by the reckless driver.

In the above two cases, the reckless vehicle operator is regarded as a class six felony where if convicted, the jail time sentence may go up to 12 months or a prison sentence for a period up to five years. In relevance to the fine, it may be as high as $2,500 as indicated above.

In addition, the killing of a person while racing will most certainly consider reckless driving to be a felony rather than a misdemeanour. In this case, in accordance with Virginia Code §46.2-865.1, a special felony is created and that involves a penalty that constitutes a period of imprisonment that may go up to twenty years. However, the mandatory minimum of serving such sentence is only one year. In addition to the above mentioned, the driver’s license may be subject to a suspension for a term of one to three years.

It is highly advisable that drivers immediately seek legal assistance from an attorney at law that specializes in the field of reckless driving. This is recommended regardless of the charge pressed against the driver. An attorney at law from Virginia may be able to mitigate the consequences that the driver mayor may not face.

If you need a Virginia Reckless Driving Lawyer to help you with your Reckless Driving case in Virginia, call us at 888-437-7747. Our Virginia Reckless Driving Attorneys can help you. C