I live in Maryland and received a ticket in Virginia for going 78 mph in a 55 mph zone. This is considered reckless driving. I wasn’t able to appear in court and have been assessed a fine by Mecklenberg County, VA. Also, I discovered that a misdemeanor
The most common form of reckless driving in Virginia is speeding 20 or more miles over the speed limit. In Virginia reckless driving falls under Virginia Code Section 46.2-868. As stated here in the Code of Virginia reckless driving is a Class One Misdemeanor punishable by:
- Up to 1 year in jail, and/or
- Up to $2500 in fines, and/or
- Up to 6 months loss of privilege to drive in Virginia
There are
new remedial fees that Virginia started collecting as of July 1, 2007 for convictions of certain offenses. Reckless driving comes with a fee of $350 to the court upon conviction, with two additional payments of $350 each due to DMV, one within 14 months of conviction and the other within 26 months of conviction. Luckily for you these fees are only assessed to Virginia residents.
Reckless driving charges in most VA jurisdictions come with more than just a fine that can be paid to the court. Instead one must appear in court because jail time is a possible part of the sentence. You stated that you did not appear in court but were fined by the County in which you received the ticket so hopefully you did comply with the ticket and were not found as a failure to appear by the court.
It would appear that you were convicted of the reckless driving offense since this misdemeanor charge was placed on your driving record. You are correct a misdemeanor is a criminal offense, and conviction ordinarily results in a criminal record. Misdemeanors are technically less serious offenses, than felonies. Possible punishments for misdemeanors include imprisonment, probation, fines, and at times driver's license sanctions (suspension or revocation).
Virginia Code 18.2-9 through 18.2-11 outline the classification for both felony and misdemeanor offenses. There are four classes of misdemeanor offenses in Virginia. Class three and four misdemeanors are punishable with fines only while class one and two misdemeanors carry a potential one year or six month jail sentence respectively. As we noted above reckless driving is a Class One misdemeanor in VA.
If you complied with the citation and have taken care of the ticket then we do not see why you would be arrested in VA or in MD and extradited to VA. If you did not comply then since both states are members of the Drivers License Compact (DLC) and Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC) then the MD MVA would be notified of the VA violation and if you did not pay or comply with the ticket then MD should suspend your license until you did take care of the Virginia reckless driving ticket.
The court listed on your Virginia ticket and the Maryland MVA could give you more information on your situation and the legal implications surrounding you in both states.
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