Driver Improvement Classes for Manassas Reckless Driving Cases

In some cases, taking a driving class to mitigate a reckless driving charge can be of benefit. However, this might not always be the case depending on how extreme the charge is. If you are wondering how enrolling and participating in one of these classes may help your case, speak with an experienced Manassas reckless driving attorney. They understand the laws surrounding this charge, and depending on your circumstances, will be able to determine whether or not this will help.

Taking a Class to Reduce or Avoid a Reckless Driving Conviction

In some reckless driving cases a driving class can be utilized to avoid conviction, but this is not always true. Sometimes for situations where the reckless driving charge was very extreme, like if someone was going 30 miles per hour over the speed limit or more or were going 90 plus miles per hour, then taking a driving class typically won’t be enough to have the charge dismissed or even reduced. It’s more of a mitigating factor.

It demonstrates that the driver has taken on additional responsibility in a proactive manner to prove that they are taking the case seriously. Sometimes this can be persuasive enough to a judge, especially if someone has a clean record, and it can also make jail time less likely.

Available Driver Improvement Classes in Virginia

There are many kinds of private vendors that offer these driving classes. The DMV website has a list of all the available clinics that offer the course. There are usually multiple courses available close to someone’s home, so the best thing they can do is just Google “driver improvement” and find whichever is most convenient to them. They’re not very expensive. The most expensive is usually around $70 but they do have quite a range of pricing, and it’s not difficult to find a course for around $35.

Required Time Commitment

The standard driver improvement course that the court generally accepts is 8 hours long and then comes with a final exam. You have the option of taking a class either in person for 8 hours in a row, with a lunch break and then final exam that same day, or you can take the class online.

If you take it online, the class is 8 hours, split up in whatever manner you prefer. So it’s possible to take one hour every day and then take the final exam whenever it’s convenient to you. The final exam is offered at a testing site, so you have to schedule an appointment to go take it in person.

Ways a Driving Class Can Help a Manassas Reckless Driving Case

Taking a driving class can help because it shows the judge that you’re serious about taking steps to prevent future driving incidents. It demonstrates that someone is being proactive in improving their own driving. This can have an impact because some judges will actually reduce a Manassas reckless driving charge if it is not too egregious, if the driver does take a class beforehand and presents it in court.

Sometimes this can help you avoid a license suspension as well, because accumulating too many points on your driving record can cause a license suspension. Taking a driver improvement class voluntarily gets you 5 positive points back on your driver’s license, while reckless driving is 6 point off of your license.

Taking Driving Classes Out-of-State as Mitigation

Because you are taking the class before court with intent to mitigate the a Manassas reckless driving charge, generally it’s not going to be relevant which state the classes are in because the idea is not so much to have it accepted by the court as a court imposed requirement. It’s to prove that you’re dedicated to improving your own driving. Any driving class that you take and present a final certificate of is going to be persuasive to the judge.

The difference in taking one from Virginia or one from out of state is going to be more about the driving record’s consequences. Different states won’t give you points off a driver’s license in Virginia, but it can still work as a mitigating factor for your charge.