Speeding & Reckless
Where a Northern Virginia speeding charge stops being a ticket and becomes a Class 1 misdemeanor you have to appear for, and which court hears it.
3 guides
Most speeding in Virginia is a traffic infraction with a fine set by the statewide prepayment schedule in § 46.2-878.3 — roughly $6 for each mile per hour over the limit, plus the fixed court fee.
Above a line drawn by § 46.2-862 it stops being a ticket. Driving 20 mph or more over the posted limit, or faster than 85 mph however the limit is posted, is reckless driving: a Class 1 misdemeanor under § 46.2-868, with the jail exposure and the criminal record that go with one. It is not on the prepayment schedule, which is the practical reason a Fairfax or Loudoun driver charged with it has to stand in front of a judge.
These pages cover what each charge costs in the Northern Virginia courts, and where the line between the two sits.
All guides
- Reckless Driving in Fairfax, Virginia: The Court and the Charge
Reckless driving in Virginia is a crime, and a Fairfax charge cannot be prepaid. Which court hears it, what happens on the day, and what it costs.
- A Fairfax County Speeding Ticket: Cost, Points and the Reckless Line
What a Fairfax County speeding ticket costs under the statewide schedule, how many DMV points it carries, and the speed at which it becomes a crime.
- A Loudoun County Speeding Ticket and the Leesburg Docket
A Loudoun County speeding ticket is priced by the mile per hour, heard in Leesburg, and stops being a ticket at all above a line drawn by statute.