Phoenix
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Can a mod fix my typo in the Title? Should have been "Absurdly" 
Wow, Mr. Werth. Didn't anyone tell you that if you are going to be speeding THAT MUCH, then pretty much the one state in all of the USA you DON'T want to do it in, is Virginia...?
Oops.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...ngton-nationals-faces-reckless-driving-charge
Washington Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth is facing a misdemeanor reckless driving charge after being pulled over July 6 for going 105 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY SportsJayson Werth's reckless driving case has been continued until Nov. 12.
The incident took place in Fairfax County, Virginia, according to online court documents.
Werth originally had a hearing scheduled for this past Friday, but it has been continued to Nov. 12.
==================================================
There was a recent write up by a car test driver / reporter who made the same mistake as Mr. Werth there, and he wrote an article about it. I can't post it or link to it due to a few four letter words he chose to include but it's called:
Never Speed in Virginia: Lessons From My Three Days In Jail
Patrick George
Filed to: Car Crime
8/04/14 1:30pm
and here is an excerpt:
I should probably explain why going into Virginia to have fun in a car is a bad idea in the first place. See, they're crazy about speeding there. Really, really crazy. Speed limits are set absurdly low, 45 mph on some highways. Radar detectors are illegal, and cops have devices to detect them. And if you get caught going over 80 mph at all, that's automatically a reckless driving charge.
Reckless driving is not a traffic citation, it's a criminal charge, and a Class One misdemeanor at that. That means it's the highest level of misdemeanor you can be charged with in Virginia, right below a felony. The maximum penalty for a reckless driving conviction is a $2,500 fine, a six month driver's license suspension, and up to a year in jail.
See what I mean when I told you it's serious? They hand it out like it's Halloween candy, too. You drive 20 mph over the limit, it's reckless driving. They even charge you with it for failing to properly signal, or when you're found to be at fault in a car wreck. I've heard of some cases where people get 30 days in jail if they speed over 100 mph.
Other Class One misdemeanors in Virginia include animal cruelty, sexual battery, and aiming a firearm at someone. This is how the state regards people who drive over 80 mph.
I do think Virginia's speed laws are absurdly harsh, especially as a native of Texas where 80 mph is an almost universally accepted highway speed by most drivers and where a toll road just outside of Austin lets you go 85 mph. There, this probably would have been a really expensive speeding ticket; maybe even one I could get dismissed with defensive driving. I covered the courts for a long time when I was a newspaper reporter in Austin, and I was floored to learn Virginia actually sends people to jail just for speeding.
=============================================
I live in and drive in Virginia and I am always very careful to not be in the reckless driving danger zone of speeding, despite my proclivity to speeding pretty much on a daily basis.
On the bright side, maybe Mr. Werth will get to do community service time with......... wait for it..... PETA.
Wow, Mr. Werth. Didn't anyone tell you that if you are going to be speeding THAT MUCH, then pretty much the one state in all of the USA you DON'T want to do it in, is Virginia...?
Oops.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...ngton-nationals-faces-reckless-driving-charge
Washington Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth is facing a misdemeanor reckless driving charge after being pulled over July 6 for going 105 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY SportsJayson Werth's reckless driving case has been continued until Nov. 12.
The incident took place in Fairfax County, Virginia, according to online court documents.
Werth originally had a hearing scheduled for this past Friday, but it has been continued to Nov. 12.
==================================================
There was a recent write up by a car test driver / reporter who made the same mistake as Mr. Werth there, and he wrote an article about it. I can't post it or link to it due to a few four letter words he chose to include but it's called:
Never Speed in Virginia: Lessons From My Three Days In Jail
Patrick George
Filed to: Car Crime
8/04/14 1:30pm
and here is an excerpt:
I should probably explain why going into Virginia to have fun in a car is a bad idea in the first place. See, they're crazy about speeding there. Really, really crazy. Speed limits are set absurdly low, 45 mph on some highways. Radar detectors are illegal, and cops have devices to detect them. And if you get caught going over 80 mph at all, that's automatically a reckless driving charge.
Reckless driving is not a traffic citation, it's a criminal charge, and a Class One misdemeanor at that. That means it's the highest level of misdemeanor you can be charged with in Virginia, right below a felony. The maximum penalty for a reckless driving conviction is a $2,500 fine, a six month driver's license suspension, and up to a year in jail.
See what I mean when I told you it's serious? They hand it out like it's Halloween candy, too. You drive 20 mph over the limit, it's reckless driving. They even charge you with it for failing to properly signal, or when you're found to be at fault in a car wreck. I've heard of some cases where people get 30 days in jail if they speed over 100 mph.
Other Class One misdemeanors in Virginia include animal cruelty, sexual battery, and aiming a firearm at someone. This is how the state regards people who drive over 80 mph.
I do think Virginia's speed laws are absurdly harsh, especially as a native of Texas where 80 mph is an almost universally accepted highway speed by most drivers and where a toll road just outside of Austin lets you go 85 mph. There, this probably would have been a really expensive speeding ticket; maybe even one I could get dismissed with defensive driving. I covered the courts for a long time when I was a newspaper reporter in Austin, and I was floored to learn Virginia actually sends people to jail just for speeding.
=============================================
I live in and drive in Virginia and I am always very careful to not be in the reckless driving danger zone of speeding, despite my proclivity to speeding pretty much on a daily basis.
On the bright side, maybe Mr. Werth will get to do community service time with......... wait for it..... PETA.
