Reckless Driving Charges in Fairfax

Reckless driving in Fairfax means operating a motor vehicle in a manner that endangers life, limb or property. The most common type of reckless driving is reckless driving due to excessive speed. This happens when someone is driving 80 miles per hour or more in any area in Fairfax or is going 20 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit. Speak with a Fairfax reckless driving lawyer for help on how to proceed with your case.

Reckless Driving Charges v. Speeding Tickets

Reckless driving is a higher offense than a speeding ticket. A speeding ticket is a traffic infraction, whereas reckless driving is a criminal charge. The major difference is that a criminal charge is permanent and has an effect on you for the rest of your life. It’s important to know if you’re being charged with reckless driving or just speeding and the best way to tell is by looking at the ticket or document that the police officer gave you to sign and seeing if it says right there what you’re charged with.

A lot of times, the officer will write RD and then write your speed if it is reckless driving. If it’s speeding, he will write SP and then write your speed. If the document doesn’t specify, then you can see whether you’re required to appear in court. This will also be written on the ticket. If you’re not required to appear in court, then it’s most likely a speeding ticket. If you are required to appear in court, then the box excusing you from making an appearance will not be checked, or that entire section will be crossed out on the document and you can be pretty sure that you’ve been issued a reckless driving ticket.

Ways Reckless Driving Can Be Charged in Fairfax

Along with the most common way that reckless driving is charged, which is by excessive speed, reckless driving includes a whole bunch of moving violations that occur when someone is driving in a manner that endangers life, limb or property. These violations include passing a stop school bus or emergency vehicle with its lights on, driving with faulty brakes, drag racing, driving too fast for the current weather conditions, and general reckless driving, which is a catch-all category that you can almost throw any kind of behavior into as long as the police officer can argue that you were behaving in a reckless manner.

Severity of Reckless Driving Charges in Fairfax

Reckless driving is an extremely serious offense in Fairfax. It’s a class 1 misdemeanor which is the most serious class of misdemeanor. This means that it’s a criminal charge, which if it results in a conviction, you will have a criminal record for the rest of your life. It’s more than just a speeding ticket, as speeding tickets are just traffic infractions that won’t affect your criminal record. A lawyer can help you understand the difference and explain to you what your rights are and what you should do in order to get this off your record or to mitigate the damages that may come with it.