VA Senate passes bill to raise Reckless Driving limit from 80mph to 85mph (Norfolk: 2015, house)

[LM117]

Ignoring the speed limit is no excuse, but being able to get nailed with RD doing 80mph in a 70mph zone always struck me as a "gotcha" law. However, the bill keeps the "20mph or over" limit intact. For example, if you get caught doing 80mph in a 60mph zone, you can still get nailed with RD. Opponents are saying that it would make VA's highways unsafe, which is BS imo. A similar bill was introduced some time ago, but it didn't pass due to pressure from the VA State Police and local municipalities' concerns about "safety" and "fiscal impact" (Translation: revenue). Hopefully, this time it'll become law. I wouldn't be surprised if Emporia and Hopewell are hoping this bill crashes and burns...

Senate votes to raise speed limit for reckless driving | Virginia | pilotonline.com

[Bigfoot424]

I spoke with a friend (state senator) last year and told him I disagreed with our RD law in regards to speed such as 80/70 being written as RD. He actually agreed with me but knew the law and order colleagues would not go along with the change lest they be viewed as soft of law violators. And for anyone's info there are many police officers that will write the speed under the regular speeding charge instead of RD. I know I did many times when I was still a LEO. But there are plenty of LEO's who believe anything 20 and over or 80+ in a 70 is RD. I hope this law changes.

[LM117]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

I spoke with a friend (state senator) last year and told him I disagreed with our RD law in regards to speed such as 80/70 being written as RD. He actually agreed with me but knew the law and order colleagues would not go along with the change lest they be viewed as soft of law violators. And for anyone's info there are many police officers that will write the speed under the regular speeding charge instead of RD. I know I did many times when I was still a LEO. But there are plenty of LEO's who believe anything 20 and over or 80+ in a 70 is RD. I hope this law changes.

So do I. The last bill didn't even make it through the Senate, so here's hoping. The 80mph RD charge never made sense to me in the sense that I'd much rather share the road with someone who is doing 80mph in a 70mph zone that isn't swerving or weaving like a drunk driver than someone who is doing the speed limit or a little under that actually is swerving and causing danger to others. Then again, I grew up in NC where the legal definition of "reckless" is a little different than VA's. No offense, Bigfoot.

[Bigfoot424]

None taken. I've disagreed with it for years.

[RiotAct41]

Good.

[LM117]

Originally Posted by AshleySchaeffer

Still way to low. 20 over when they impose incredibly low speed limits on major roads (55 on 66/95/495 is a joke, especially when the pay lanes are 65). Take a look at other state laws and you'll realize that we're being treated like crap here in the commonwealth.

80>85 is an improvement, but we really need an overhaul of the State Police regulations, which currently allow it to act as a tax collector.

I love being out west, because you can cruise at 90 all day long and no one cares.

The VA State Police only enforces the laws the General Assembly passes. I'm not too familiar with VA's politics or traffic laws since I'm originally from NC, but I believe (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) that any revenue from tickets issued by a state trooper goes to the Commonwealth's Literacy Fund, so there's no reason for the VSP to act as "tax collectors". However, there are some local municipalities whose local PD's do tend to act as revenue generators for the cities, so any ticket revenue issued by a local PD officer will go to the local government. Emporia and Hopewell (along I-295) are the most well-known and notorious examples of this and even made the news a few times over it. I've driven through both places, so I can confirm the excessive (if not abusive) speed enforcement in those cities. As far as the highways in Northern VA goes, I don't know what to say about that one. I haven't been up that way in a few years.

[Bigfoot424]

State PD as well as most, if not all, large police agencies see most of the funds collected go to this fund you mentioned. Unless things have changed since I retired that is.

[LM117]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

State PD as well as most, if not all, large police agencies see most of the funds collected go to this fund you mentioned. Unless things have changed since I retired that is.

Well, it seems to have changed a little as of last year. According to the most recent article I could find (dated February 2015) regarding the Literacy Fund and revenue, the General Assembly apparently amended the state budget that increased the amount of revenue local municipalities must send to the Literacy Fund as a way to discourage municipalities (especially small towns) from relying solely on ticket revenue as their biggest source of income, since whatever revenue that doesn't get sent to the Literacy Fund goes to the local government of whose local PD issued a ticket. It used to be that the required amount was much lower, which made it easy for Emporia and Hopewell (along I-295) to become speed traps, or at least the most well-known. I'm not aware of any other town in VA that has the reputation that they do. I don't know if Hopewell has eased off the excessive enforcement on I-295 since the amendment took effect last July (haven't drove there since 2010). I'd like to think so, but I'm a tad skeptical. I do know, however, that when I drove through Emporia last August on US-58 on my way to Norfolk, it was business as usual...

Virginia General Assembly puts brakes on speed traps - Transportation - Fredericksburg.com

[LM117]

It seems that although the bill passed the Senate, the House Criminal Law subcommittee is trying to (if they haven't already) kill the House version of the bill. Apparently, it's the same subcommittee that killed earlier attempts to raise the Reckless Driving threshold. I'm not $urpri$ed. Emporia, Hopewell, and the traffic lawyer$ will be happy about this...

Rasoul proposing increase to Reckless Driving threshold | WSLS

https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/leg...161+sum+HB1043

[LM117]

The Senate has passed a bill in another attempt at raising the RD limit to 85mph.

Senate backs bill to raise reckless driving threshold to 85 mph | General-assembly | richmond.com

The Senate on Tuesday voted 23-16 to pass a bill that would raise the threshold for reckless driving in Virginia from 80 to 85 mph.

Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, said his Senate Bill 104 was necessary because someone shouldn’t potentially be convicted of a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine, for going 11 miles over the standard 70 mph speed limit on interstates.

Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, who handles traffic cases as part of his law practice, agreed. He said imposing a reckless driving statute at 80 mph doesn’t deter anyone from speeding because most of those who are ticketed don’t realize that going over 80 would mean reckless driving.

Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, said he wanted to keep the law as it is, and said the reckless driving charge over 80 mph stops people from excessive speeds on Interstate 81 and saves lives.

I want what Obenshain is smoking.