I regularly drive at speeds in excess of 100mph when highways are empty and waze shows no police. What would be the fate of a person caught at those speeds in Virginia?
Reckless driving in VA is a class 1 misdemeanor. Punishable by confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.[1]
That said, many things are a class 1 misdemeanor. Usually reckless driving is a fine similar to that of speeding. I've seen judges with stances like "1 day in jail for every mph over X" where X is usually 90,95, or 100. I think the most I've ever heard of was like 3-5 days for 100mph+, and even that was served on weekends.
Well, I heard of one guy who was given 3 months for 76 in a 55 by a very old substitute judge, much to the defendant's, Trooper's, and clerk's shock. The Trooper made it a point talk to the defendant and inform he could talk to the court clerk about the appeal process. The defendant appealed it down to a fine of around $150.
Realistically you'd be out a grand because it'd cost you $500 of lawyer to get it plead down to a $500 non-criminal offense.
VA only cares about the money. Individual cops will stop people they see doing stuff that warrants a "that's seriously unsafe, I can't just let that slide" response but the courts just see it as a revenue stream and will gladly let people plead down as long as the total shakedown is about the same. They don't care if a large chunk winds up in the lawyer's pockets because it's a giant revolving door.
But it will be enforced by the velocity squared proportionality of kinetic energy and chronically underfunded highway maintenance coupled with old highways, not the police.
That's the part I chuckle at - what do you think your braking distance is at 100MPH? Most places do NOT have roads that are conducive to this as a regular practice.
It's been like eight years. I don't recall exactly, but what I recall is that Waze showed me other Waze users on the road, including their positions, and these were updated in something close to real-time, which means one could estimate their speed. I imagine a police officer waiting to "ambush" a speeder they know is coming.
I have never seen anything close to real time updates on Waze, even 10 years ago. Its always very delayed jumps and never seeming to be actual accurate positions.
Depends on the county and the judge. There’s a judge in Loudoun who is known for giving, at minimum, three days in jail for reckless driving. He allows for work-release so people don’t miss any days of work, but still.
That said, many things are a class 1 misdemeanor. Usually reckless driving is a fine similar to that of speeding. I've seen judges with stances like "1 day in jail for every mph over X" where X is usually 90,95, or 100. I think the most I've ever heard of was like 3-5 days for 100mph+, and even that was served on weekends.
Well, I heard of one guy who was given 3 months for 76 in a 55 by a very old substitute judge, much to the defendant's, Trooper's, and clerk's shock. The Trooper made it a point talk to the defendant and inform he could talk to the court clerk about the appeal process. The defendant appealed it down to a fine of around $150.
[1]https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter1/secti...