If you have been accused of reckless driving in Virginia, you may benefit from taking a driving course. For this reason, the following is information on where to find a driving course and how it can help you. For more specific information call and schedule a consultation with a Virginia reckless driving lawyer today.
This depends on the jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions in Virginia allow “Driving School for Dismissal” or “Driving School for Reduction.” This is an agreement that is struck between yourself, the judge, and the prosecutor.
Depending on the facts and circumstances of your case, the facts and circumstances of your prior driving history, and your age, an experienced reckless driving attorney can help you select the driving school that is best for you. Advice from an attorney may include which school is appropriate for your case, how you should take it (in-person or online), where you should take it, and which type of driving school is more respected in your particular jurisdiction. In-person classes are typically eight-hour classes that meet on Saturdays and Sundays, which means that you are giving up significant time to complete the course. In Virginia, there are no two-hour classes approved by the Virginia DMV.
If you are an in-state resident over the age of 20, you can go to the Virginia DMV website for a list of local computer-based driver improvement classes. You may also take an in-person class or an in-person class coupled with an advanced four-hour class. Depending on the facts and circumstances of your case, the facts and circumstances of your prior driving history, and your age, you should contact an experienced reckless driving attorney to discuss whether driving school is appropriate for your case, how you should take it, where you should take it, and which type of driving school is the best for the facts and circumstances of your case. Driving schools are typically not overly expensive, depending on the type of school, whether you take in-person classes versus online classes, and the locality in which you take it.
Typically the online driver improvement classes are online learning modules, which means that you will go through an online course at a predetermined speed. You may break up the online course and do separate chunks at various times to meet your schedule. Oftentimes physical in-person classes are eight-hour classes that are on Saturdays and Sundays, which means that you are giving up sufficient time to complete the course. In Virginia, there are no two-hour classes.
There are two main reasons why a driving improvement course can help with your case.
First, it shows that you are committed to driving safely and that you are taking a positive and affirmative action to rectify your recent history of unsafe driving.
Second, in Virginia you may take a driver improvement program once every two years to earn positive driving points. Virginia licensed drivers earn +5 points for every voluntary class they take, with the caveat that the maximum amount of points you can have in Virginia is +5. Therefore, if you are a new licensed Virginia driver over the age of 20, you may take an online driver improvement class to go from 0, the point balance for a new driver, to +5, the point balance for a driver with most positive points.
Whether you should take the voluntary driving improvement course to obtain points is a case-by-case determination, and you should contact an experienced reckless driving attorney to get their opinion of whether a driver improvement program prior to court or after court is more appropriate, depending on your facts and circumstances.
If you are assigned by a Virginia court to take driver improvement course for reduction or dismissal of pending charges, then that course must typically be Virginia DMV approved. If, however, you simply wanted to take a driving course for the purpose of showing the judge or the prosecutor that you are serious about driving safely and that you want to have better standing in front of them when you go to discuss your case, then taking a course that is Virginia DMV approved is not necessary. If you are an out-of-state driver, there are typically many Virginia Driving improvement courses that are available online and do not require in-person testing.
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