Official Reckless Driving Thread (Fairfax: oil, vehicles, retired)

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by shouldve known better

Bigfoot,
The ticket says something to the effect of not contacting the officer or the court, that neither of them can give you any info on the ticket or on the case...another issue is that I will be really lucky if I recognize the officer anyway, it was dark outside and his handwriting is reaaallly bad, I can't read his name or his badge number.

And is there really a big difference between pleading guilty, and pleading no contest?

Thanks again...

You can contact the officer for any reason. You can't contact the officer for things like a continuance but you have every right to call the station and leave a message. If you can read the badge/code number they can figure out who it is. Calling the commonwealth attorney's office is separate from the courts. No guarantee you'll get the person you need by calling so in person at the court may be the best option.

[dkf747]

The above situation shows why the automatic "reckless" ticket for certain speeds is stupid. It's a crime, but not bad enough to go to jail, and is possibly going to cause a loss of a security clearance over a simple speeding ticket? No one can say for sure because it is to confusing for anyone to say if it is a serious crime or just a speeding ticket.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by dkf747

The above situation shows why the automatic "reckless" ticket for certain speeds is stupid. It's a crime, but not bad enough to go to jail, and is possibly going to cause a loss of a security clearance over a simple speeding ticket? No one can say for sure because it is to confusing for anyone to say if it is a serious crime or just a speeding ticket.

Whoever said it was "automatic"? It's not automatic and up to the officer. I know for a fact that most speeding tickets from my old job for 20 or over were written for speeding and not for reckless. You just hear the most grumbling from those charged with reckless. And the OP will not lose her security clearance over this charge. As far as it being serious it really depends on the circumstances but the judges are so used to seeing the reckless charge that to them it is NOT a big deal unless there are mitigating circumstances. I had a long LE career and I saw maybe a handful go to jail on a reckless charge and these were the really bad ones. 100 plus. Many reckless charges, etc.

[googleyes]

Very disappointed that receive no replies to my post seek assistance.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by googleyes

Very disappointed that receive no replies to my post seek assistance.

Just start reading any pages in this topic and most will apply to your situation.

[reckless99]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Reckless can be punished as a criminal offense (misdemeanor) but does not count as a criminal conviction.

Misinformation from a retired cop, IMHO. Ask your attorney to give you a legal opinion that says this is the case.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by reckless99

Misinformation from a retired cop, IMHO. Ask your attorney to give you a legal opinion that says this is the case.

Feel confident enough to place a wager? I'll also guarantee you that most police oficers know more about these things then the VAST majority of lawyers. Even ones who handle these cases.

[slim04]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Feel confident enough to place a wager? I'll also guarantee you that most police oficers know more about these things then the VAST majority of lawyers. Even ones who handle these cases.

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. I've read the law and I think it pretty clearly indicates that a reckless driving conviction is a criminal conviction. But in practice, it isn't really treated like one. So I wouldn't let some lawyer try to convince you to spend big bucks because you are scared to be a convicted criminal.

Basically title 18.2 is the general criminal code. It lists various criminal violations and sets a schedule of penalties. Whenever another statute or title incorporates title 18.2 for a punishment for a violation, it is a criminal offense, unless the law says otherwise.

Title 46 is the vehicle code and it specifically has one exception to a criminal offense, if the violation meets the definition of a "traffic infraction," which is defined as a class 4 misd (up to $250 fine). So most of your regular traffic tickets are civil public order violations, but reckless driving is deemed to be a class 1 misd. (up to $2,500 fine and/or 1 year in prison). So it doesn't fall within the "traffic infraction" carve out.

But if the police do not include class 1 misd. traffic offenses in their criminal background reports, it really doesn't have the effect of a real criminal misd. or felony conviction.

So technically, it is a criminal conviction. So you are supposed to report it on your licensing or security clearance paperwork, it could be used for a sentence enhancement for other crimes, you probably have to report it on job applications, and it could be used to your determinent in an immigration proceeding.

But in practice, none of those places really cares, especially if it is not on your criminal background report. The reason is that many other states treat the stuff considered as reckless driving in VA as a civil traffic offense.

So if you want to be safe, you probably should self-report or disclose, as it will probably not affect you. If you don't, they probably will never find out or not really care either. I have a hard time believe someone is going to pull your DMV record and know the nuances of VA reckless driving law. But in the odd chance someone does, then the act of non-reporting (if you have the obligation to report) is what they would be concerned about, not the violation itself.

Still confused? Me too!

[Bigfoot424]

Slim04,

Good info. I've never told anyone not to report it for things like clearances as I do not know all the ins and outs on those. I do know that in over 30 years in LE I've never seen a reckless conviction on a criminal record. I also confirmed with a friend of mine who is a career prosecutor who confirmed it is not reported as a criminal conviction. It will always be on a driving record obviously.

[MD10]

I recently (three weeks ago) received a reckless driving citation just south of Fredericksburg on I-95 in Spottsylvania County (86 in a 65). I've done some research and discussed this situation with two friends who have also been charged with RD in VA while being Maryland residents. From what I can gather, it appears as though judgments are radically different in different regions of VA.

For example, one friend was just sentenced this morning in Charlottesville and (i) her RD charge was dropped to a speeding violation and (ii) she received ~ $180.00 in fines.

My other friend was sentenced in another area of VA (might be King and Queen Co but I am unsure) and while her RD charge was also dropped to a speeding violation, she received ~ $400.00 in fines and had to attend driving classes.

With that being said, I'm concerned with two things. If my RD charge is not lowered to another offense, will the points transfer to Maryland? Also, I have (perhaps had) a spotless record but was issued a ticket in MD this past week (which is already paid) which may result with a point being added to my record. Would this be of concern during my trial? My friend who was charged in C'Ville told me that the judge did not even look at her record (which is littered with tickets in the state of MD).

Again, I've done a lot of research on this subject, but if anyone has anything knowledgeable to add that has not already been touched upon in this thread, I would be very appreciative.

Thanks