FYI: Reckless Driving in VA

Just finished the driving school to dismiss the citation of reckless driving in Virginia:

If your speed is 20 mph over the speed limit or your speed is over 80 mph, you are automatically considered reckless driving in VA. I drove 83 mph on road of speed limit 65mph and get the citation. Later I was told if your speed is >=10 over the limit, you could be given a speeding ticket in VA. Much tougher than other states.

Reckless driving is much more serious than regular Speeding, considered as class one misdemeanor criminal offense. You have to go to a court. You can not just pay the fine. If not shown in court, you will be convicted in absente. If convicted your licence would be suspended for weeks and some cash fine, and points etc, a big hussle. (they will notify your home state to force that in action)

The good thing is: if you go to court, there is a prosecuter you can talk to. If your history is clean, you might get the option of going to a driving school to dismiss the case and your record will be clean after that. That is what I did: Talk to the prosecuter to get the option(may be some other better options), plead guilty and go to a driving school. You can go to some online dring school (like www.safe2drive.com, self-paced and cost about $40 dollars). If you are not resident of VA, you can tale the final exam in your home, otherwise, you have to go to a test center in VA assigned by the online school. Driving school is easy to pass, and you will learn something.

Hope this helps for those who get caught in VA. And last thing: drive defensively!