RICHMOND, Va. — In a hurry this holiday? Beware that Virginia ranks as one of the toughest states on speeders, and police are proud of it.
Driving 20 mph over the speed limit qualifies as reckless driving in Virginia law. That offense is not a mere traffic citation, but a Class One criminal misdemeanor punishable by a $2,500 fine and up to a year in jail.
“It’s the highest-level misdemeanor, right below a felony,” said Michael Frank, who rated states as best and worst for speeders.
Virginia came in at fourth toughest, with New Jersey finishing No. 1. With its wide-open highways, North Dakota was ranked most lenient.
Unlike North Dakota, which imposes a modest $5 fine for each mile per hour over the speed limit, Virginia pulls out all the stops to crack down on speeders.
“When the commonwealth raised its interstate speed limits a few years back, it failed to adjust the reckless driving threshold accordingly. So now, anyone caught going 11 mph over the posted speed on the interstate is subject to a reckless driving charge,” said John Bowman, spokesman for the National Motorists Association.
Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said VSP “does take an aggressive stance on traffic violators because safe driving saves lives.”
Geller also pointed out that all funds generated from summons issued by Virginia State Police “go directly to court fees and the state’s Literary Fund, which benefits public school construction, technology funding and teacher retirement.”
Though Virginia is the 12th largest state in population, it ranks seventh for most tickets issued per year.
“Speed limits are set absurdly low, 45 mph on some highways,” said Frank. “Radar detectors are illegal, and cops have devices to detect them.”
Bowman said his group’s research shows that Virginia has far more traffic attorneys per capita — about 18 per 100,000 residents.
“That’s nearly twice as high as the next state, which is Maryland,” Bowman said. “This indicates an extraordinarily high level of traffic enforcement, otherwise there wouldn’t be enough demand to keep all of those lawyers in business.”
