Virginia Reckless Driving Speed Calibration Tests Loudoun County Lynchburg Fredericksburg

Virginia Reckless Driving Speed Calibration Tests Loudoun County Lynchburg Fredericksburg

Savage v. Commonwealth, 2009 Va. App. LEXIS 327 (Va.Ct. App. July 21, 2009)

The omission of pacing from the methods for determining speed that were enumerated in 46.2-882 did not in any way invalidate it as an appropriate means of proving the speed of a vehicle.

The arresting officer paced the defendant's car for two-tenths of a mile at 70 miles per hour. The posted speed limit was 45 miles per hour. The defendant did not object to the evidence of her speed. When the Commonwealth rested its case, the defendant moved to strike the evidence. She argued it was insufficient to prove her speed because pacing was not a method for determining speed listed in Code 46.2-882. The trial court denied the motion.

By not objecting to the admission of the officer's testimony of his pace of the defendant's car, it became evidence of the speed of the car. It was sufficient to prove guilt, and the trial court properly denied the motion. Nothing in Code 46.2-882 suggests the statute is meant to limit the means for proving speed. The statute itself states that speed "may" be determined by the enumerated means. The statute does not prevent the Commonwealth from proving a vehicle's speed by other methods. One of the easiest methods is pacing. This involves accurately determining the speed of one vehicle while proceeding at a constant distance from a second vehicle. If the distance between the two vehicles remains constant, the speed of the second vehicle must be the same as the known speed of the first vehicle. Code 46.2-942 2 clearly contemplates the use of pacing as a method of determining a vehicle's speed by authorizing the admission of calibration tests to prove the accuracy of an arresting officer's speedometer.

These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm's unofficial views of the Justices' opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content.

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