I will say this as a car guy, Virgina has an exceedingly bad reputation among gear heads. If you look at virtually any east coast rally, they will all route around Virginia to avoid driving through it.
- VA is the only state to ban radar detectors
- It has the lowest interstate speed limit in the country
- It has some of the stiffest super speeder and reckless driving laws in the country. In most places if you go like 30 over that's just a bad ticket but in VA that's criminal reckless driving.
- And many other anti-car related laws.
I will be the first to say, don't speed, don't street race and if you have that itch to go a track but also, VA is a horrible place to be if you're a car person. It's not in the least bit surprising that they are the first to pursue such legislation.
I looked it up, in Virginia the highest interstate speed limits are 70MPH. They're 65 in New York, (and in other states), so it's patently untrue that they have the lowest interstate speed limits. Source: https://www.iihs.org/topics/speed/speed-limit-laws
It likely depends on the part of the state. There are famous parts of Virginia where the interstate is limited to 50mph and the police are some of the most productive in the country at giving tickets. These parts are connected to the parts that are 70mph, which causes people who did not notice the speed limit change to be ticketed. If they are so much as 1mph over 70mph when the speed limit changes to 50mph, it is a misdemeanor charge for reckless driving.
Sounds good to me. People shouldn't be driving 30 over. Reckless driving should be taken seriously. These don't sound anti-car. They're pro-life and safety.
The public doesn't take "reckless driving" seriously because it is not defined in a serious manner.
It encompass people who are going 60/65/75 (depending on state) in a 55 on the interstate that's actually a 45 because of an inactive construction zone and also people who are going 60mph on 30mph city streets (probably genuinely reckless per common usage of the word). They're two very different degrees of misconduct and the former vastly outnumbers the latter and everyone knows it and political will for penalties is based off this.
You wanna see reckless driving taken seriously the first step is to stop advocating for definitions of reckless that include behavior the general public doesn't see as reckless.
"You wanna see reckless driving taken seriously the first step is to stop advocating for definitions of reckless that include behavior the general public doesn't see as reckless."
Where was I advocating that? Also, just because the general public believes something doesn't mean it's true.
It’s not 30 over, it’s 30 over the limit, or anything over 80 mph. They tried to nail me for reckless driving for going 82 on an empty interstate, when the speed limit was 70. Then, because I have a common name, the dumbass lawyer I hired showed up to the court date of a different person with the same name as me who was also charged with reckless driving, no one showed up to my court date, and I was threatened with jail time.
I was eventually able to clear everything up thanks to a sympathetic judge, but overall Virginia is not a serious state.
§ 46.2-862. Exceeding speed limit.
A person is guilty of reckless driving who drives a motor vehicle on the highways in the Commonwealth (i) at a speed of 20 miles per hour or more in excess of the applicable maximum speed limit or (ii) in excess of 85 miles per hour regardless of the applicable maximum speed limit.
- VA is the only state to ban radar detectors
- It has the lowest interstate speed limit in the country
- It has some of the stiffest super speeder and reckless driving laws in the country. In most places if you go like 30 over that's just a bad ticket but in VA that's criminal reckless driving.
- And many other anti-car related laws.
I will be the first to say, don't speed, don't street race and if you have that itch to go a track but also, VA is a horrible place to be if you're a car person. It's not in the least bit surprising that they are the first to pursue such legislation.