Reckless Driving Accident Cases
An accident is not enough to prove reckless driving in Virginia. However, when there is a serious (or sometimes even a minor) accident the police are quick to write reckless driving tickets in Virginia. However, proving what caused the accident is essential to reckless driving accident cases in Virginia.
You should not be convicted unless the government can prove that reckless driving caused the accident. Let me give an example. The police come across a totaled car on the side of a 55 mpg rural road. The driver was ejected from the car, the engine block and bits of the car are strewn across 300 feet and the trees are sheared off 20 feet above the ground from the impact of the wreckage in the air. The police write a ticket for reckless driving and deliver it to the driver at the hospital. There are no statements from the driver and no witnesses.
Under Virginia law this reckless driving case should be dismissed because there is no proof what caused the accident.
Here is another example. A driver rear ends another on the highway. The front driver doesn’t see what happened, just felt the impact. The rear driver doesn’t give an explanation or is never asked what happened.
Under Virginia law this reckless driving case should also be dismissed because the police do not know beyond a reasonable doubt that reckless driving caused this accident.
If you are ticketed for reckless driving, remember, the police must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that reckless driving occurred NOT that an accident occurred. An accident is not enough to prove reckless driving in Virginia.
Luke J. Nichols
The law firm of Nichols & Green pllc
(703) 383-9222
