Majority of people spend their holiday season meeting up with friends, family and colleagues, which means a great deal of travelling is involved. Besides the traffic, the enforcements on the roads and highways of Virginia also increase during the season, causing a greater possibility of getting a ticket for reckless driving, speeding or any other traffic infraction. Some tickets are marked with “RD” that stands for Reckless Driving and is considered as a Class One Misdemeanor in Virginia. A driver gets charged with reckless driving in Virginia if he is driving 20mph over the maximum speed limit or is driving a vehicle in a way that endangered someone’s life, irrespective of the speed. Apart from that, DUI and violating a restricted driver’s license or driving on a revoked license is also considered a felony.
The reckless driving charge can result in serious penalties and consequences that consist of imprisonment, DMV demerit points, suspension of driver’s license and a permanent criminal record that is not expungable. Therefore, it’s necessary to take a reckless driving charge in Virginia seriously and refer to an attorney. Who can make you well aware of your legal situation and suggest, whether to plead culpability or fight the ticket to get it reduced to a non-criminal infraction, so you don’t have to face any collateral consequences in the future, which can affect your employment and educational opportunities. Attending a DMV-approved driving school instead of going to the court can also prove to be a good idea, as it can get you five positive points on your Virginia driving record that can help nullify the demerit points.
Since the happiest time of the year also corresponds with more highway casualties, Virginia’s specifically strict laws are rigorously imposed by the enforcements during holiday weekends, in order to make sure the roads are safe for everyone. The Virginia State Police subpoenaed 2,673 people during a summer holiday weekend in 2014 and 2,312 people got issued with reckless driving tickets in the Thanksgiving of the same year. Transportation Gov reports that annual crackdowns on drunk drivers are also conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), at the time of holidays, so drivers should be mindful that they’re under close inspection.
Motorists should be aware that the law enforcement is specifically vigilant during the holidays to make sure no one’s holiday gets ruined because of an accident. In order to avoid being the unlucky person who gets indicted for reckless driving in the holiday season, it is important to drive in a manner that makes sure no one’s life is in danger and not cross the maximum speed limit. Getting a DUI (Driving Under Influence) charge is also pretty common during the holidays so it’s important to ensure that you have a designated driver if you are planning to consume alcohol, drive with a seatbelt on and avoid cellular devices or any other distraction while driving.