Motorcyclist clocked at 170 MPH on NY Thruway

[hbelkins]

"Reckless driving" in Virginia = 1 over the speed limit in parts of Texas. Doesn't really make a lot of sense.

When you factor in the topography and traffic volume differences between the two, yes it does make sense.

I would respectfully disagree. I don't think that speed itself should be a determination of reckless driving. It's possible to drive recklessly and be going 30 mph. A car on I-64 between Charlottesville and Richmond doing 80 mph or even more is not reckless per se. Now, if said car was weaving in and out of the traffic lanes or cutting other drivers off, yes it would be reckless. But that same behavior would be reckless at 75 or 70 or 65.

You just about have to drive 75 or 80 to keep from getting run over by other passenger vehicles on I-81.

[froggie]

You forget that, the faster you're going, A) the longer your stopping distance is, and B) the narrower your field of vision.

[bugo]

"Reckless driving" in Virginia = 1 over the speed limit in parts of Texas. Doesn't really make a lot of sense.

When you factor in the topography and traffic volume differences between the two, yes it does make sense.

81 as reckless driving makes sense?

[agentsteel53]

On the subject of motorcycles. I had one pass me on a double yellow line with oncoming traffic Friday afternoon as I was driving home from work. The guy passed me and several other vehicles and made the same right turn that I do (from KY 30 west onto KY 52 west) and I met him heading back in the opposite direction about four miles down KY 52. He had to be doing at least 90 when he passed me, and he forced the oncoming pickup truck onto the shoulder. I understand that this same guy got killed in a single-vehicle motorcycle wreck later that night, when he hit a utility pole and guy wire. Rumor has it he'd been drinking.

that's some fast-acting gene pool chlorine!  glad he didn't take someone with him.

I don't understand the mentality behind someone driving that fast with so much of their body exposed and not protected like you are in a car.

even if it were a car, I wouldn't understand the mentality.  I could perfectly safely do 120-130 on some wide open roads in, say, Nevada, but I doubt KY 30 and KY 52 are anything near that topographically speaking.

[1995hoo]

^ With regard to your last point, it may also be that way because reckless driving is more clearly defined in Virginia law than some states: 81 MPH is automatically reckless driving.

Arguably it's fairer to say "81 mph is grounds for a ticket for reckless driving." I was at court one day and saw a case called involving a guy who got a speed ticket, but not a reckless ticket, for going 98 mph late one night on I-66 somewhere between Fair Oaks and the Prince William County line. The judge asked the cop why he didn't give the guy a reckless and the judge said he didn't believe the driver was endangering himself or anyone else because there was almost no traffic on the road, the weather was good, there was a full moon, and he was driving a brand-new Corvette. The judge said "OK." I remember the details so well simply because I was impressed that a cop considered the circumstances instead of writing the "bigger" ticket. I don't remember what the judge gave as a penalty, though. Normally in Fairfax County the judges give one day in jail for every mile an hour above 90 (thankfully, I know this NOT from personal experience but rather because opposing counsel in a case I had about 10 years ago did a lot of traffic court work).

....

And plenty of people (even residents of the Commonwealth (!)) are not aware of that provision in Virginia law (until and unless they get charged with driving 81 MPH or higher).

I have been asked why Virginia does not "advertise" this fact with signs on its highways, and the answer I give (which may or may not be correct) is that it would imply to people that 80 MPH is the de-facto speed limit in Virginia (not good), and it would also mean that VDOT would have to incur substantial expense in manufacturing and installing many of those signs.

Even though there are some parts of Virginia's highway network where 80 MPH would be an appropriate speed limit.  Two that come to my mind are I-295 between I-64 and its southern terminus at I-95; and all or very nearly all of I-85 (except perhaps for the northernmost segment in Petersburg).

It's always surprised me how many people just assume Virginia law says "20 over." The law used to say 20 over except that (a) in a 35-mph zone 60 was reckless and (b) and anything in excess of 80 was reckless regardless of the speed limit. The 35-mph zone portion was deleted sometime within the last ten years. The "anything over 80" provision is a bit of a "gotcha" law, I think. Imagine if those so-called "abusive driver penalties" were still in effect now that the speed limit is 70 mph in many places in Virginia. One can agree or disagree about what constitutes a reasonable speed limit on a given road, but I think most rational people (even the most vocal of the anti-car crowd) would agree that driving 11 mph over the speed limit is not a severe enough offense to warrant a $3000 levy by the Commonwealth!

You speak of police and judges being reasonable in their assessments, but my experience tells a different story.  I typically set my cruise to 10 over the limit because that's just standard practice here in GA.  Well, on the 70mph portion of I-85 I got pulled over, clocked at "81" and written up for reckless driving.  I had to hire a lawyer to argue it down for me.

So while I agree that 11 over the limit is a bit silly for a misdemeanor, Dinwiddie county Virginia seems to think otherwise.  Apparently they've made quite a racket of it, too, judging by how routine the whole process of dealing with the lawyer seemed to me.

No matter where you go, speed laws are always more about revenue generation than actual safety.  Some jurisdictions just take it further than others.

I didn't speak of "police and judges." If you notice, I specifically referred to one cop and one judge as the basis for my statement about how it's technically more correct to say that in Virginia 81 mph is automatically "grounds for a reckless driving ticket." Dinwiddie County is notorious, though. I know lots of people who have gotten tickets going through there. It seems to be Southside's version of the Madison County portion of US-29 (which just about any UVA student or alumnus is likely to consider one of the top two or three speedtraps in Virginia–but it seems to me that since everybody knows it's like that, it's your own fault if you forget to slow down).

But in terms of the original topic, I think 20 days in jail and a 90-day suspension for going 170 mph on a road as busy as the Thruway is probably a relatively light penalty.

[agentsteel53]

it seems to me that since everybody knows it's like that, it's your own fault if you forget to slow down

I would have had absolutely no idea, and I'm generally fairly well-informed on the topic of roads.

[1995hoo]

it seems to me that since everybody knows it's like that, it's your own fault if you forget to slow down

I would have had absolutely no idea, and I'm generally fairly well-informed on the topic of roads.

OK, maybe I should have said "since everybody who regularly uses that road knows it's like that."

[kphoger]

it seems to me that since everybody knows it's like that, it's your own fault if you forget to slow down

I would have had absolutely no idea, and I'm generally fairly well-informed on the topic of roads.

OK, maybe I should have said "since everybody who regularly uses that road knows it's like that."

Therefore....it would still be agentsteel53's fault?  hehehe

[cpzilliacus]

I didn't speak of "police and judges." If you notice, I specifically referred to one cop and one judge as the basis for my statement about how it's technically more correct to say that in Virginia 81 mph is automatically "grounds for a reckless driving ticket." Dinwiddie County is notorious, though. I know lots of people who have gotten tickets going through there. It seems to be Southside's version of the Madison County portion of US-29 (which just about any UVA student or alumnus is likely to consider one of the top two or three speedtraps in Virginia–but it seems to me that since everybody knows it's like that, it's your own fault if you forget to slow down).

Never attended UVa, but at least in the past, I believe that Greene County (also along the U.S. 29 corridor between Charlottesville and Gainesville) was a pretty notorious place for strict speed limit enforcement by that county's sheriff's office.

[tidecat]

One of my friends rides a motorcycle down I-64 to work in downtown Louisville, and he says it is not unusual for him to do over 100 MPH.  Ironically, his employer is one of two largest providers of health insurance in the Commonwealth.