Reckless Driving in VA - but I wasn't speeding!!

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Virginia

Hello,
After reading a few of these threads on here, I hadn't realized that reckless driving was a criminal offense!

Anyway, here's what happened:
I was driving down 81S through moderately heavy traffic while stupidly eating at the same time. As I looked down for a second I swerved off the road into the median and then kept over-correcting until I ended up flipping the car twice and landing about 2 inches from the other side of traffic. The cops didn't get there until after the accident. No other cars were involved. He wrote reckless driving - failure to maintain control of the vehicle on the ticket - nothing was written about speeding.

I have a clean driving record - except for one speeding ticket in SC - I was going 83 in a 55 - considered reckless driving there, but didn't have to go to court for this, just paid it through the mail. Is there any way the court can find out about this? Should I get a copy of my driving record?

The officer also told me that it would make me look good in court if i went to driver improvement before the court date (this Wed), which I have done.

I don't have an attorney (I didn't realize this was such a big deal in VA), but I do plan to dress nicely and stuff.

Also, my friend in the car sustained a minor injury (hairline fracture in her neck - had to wear a neckbrace for 4 wks), but the officers present do not know of our injuries, just that no other vehicles were involved. However, since we were on business using a state vehicle (we work for VA Tech), it was covered under worker's comp. If it comes up, would it be OK for me to just say we went to the hospital to make sure everything was OK, and we were released that night (implying nothing major). I guess I should rephrase that in a more court-like manner.

Thanks very much for your help. Sorry this was so long.

Operation Improper control of brakes

I just looked up my court date info online and it says i was charged with "OPER IMPROPER CONTROL/BRAKES"

Is this better than just reckless driving?

What are the maximum penalties for this?

thanks again

I wasn't on anything... It was an ACCIDENT. And, yes, I do acknowledge that it was a miracle that no one else was involved.
What I meant by the officers present were unaware of the injuries is that they didn't wait long enough with us in the ER to see what they were.

What is IAAL?

You were not driving safe no matter the charge, you should be able to look up the sentence on line for the charge based on the number on the citation. Apparently you have a history of same, you need to learn to pay attention while you are driving no matter the road conditions. When you go before the judge you will answer his questions with the truth, if he asks if anyone was injured, you reply truthfully. Is your employer VA Tech involved?

" It was an ACCIDENT...."

Yes, that means you were not in control of your vehicle.

I suggest you tell the judge the truth about everything.

rmet4nzkx said:

You were not driving safe no matter the charge, you should be able to look up the sentence on line for the charge based on the number on the citation. Apparently you have a history of same, you need to learn to pay attention while you are driving no matter the road conditions. When you go before the judge you will answer his questions with the truth, if he asks if anyone was injured, you reply truthfully. Is your employer VA Tech involved?

Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice. I'm having a difficult time trying to look up the sentence online. Some people have noted here on this forum that they get a fine and possibly a license suspension depending on their record. I'm hoping the driver improvement certificate will really help me out. Will the VA district court know of my past speeding ticket in SC on my NC license? It was about 4 years ago.

As far as VA Tech being involved, we rented a car from their motor pool and were on a business trip. After the accident, I gave them info about where the car was being towed and they retreived it the following day. It was totaled, so they aren't going to be able to use it again. The motor pool dept. hasn't contacted me since, and no one else I work for or the officers has said anything about someone from VA Tech needing to be present during the court hearing.

"Will the VA district court know of my past speeding ticket in SC on my NC license?"

It is possible that this will show up when they run your driving record on the nationwide database.