Virginia Ranked Nation's Sixth-Strictest State for Speeding, Reckless Drivers

Reckless drivers throughout Virginia should think twice before pressing their gas pedals to the floor.

In a recent study conducted by popular financial site WalletHub, Virginia was found to be the nation’s sixth-strictest state when it comes to cracking down on reckless or speeding drivers.

The commonwealth trailed only New Mexico, Illinois, Delaware, Arizona and Colorado (listed fifth to first).

Virginia was found to be the nation’s 14th toughest state when it comes to cracking down on speeders, and tied for eighth as far as penalizing reckless drivers, sharing the slot with Illinois.

So how were these rankings formed? A number of factors were taken into consideration as WalletHub formed its rankings, including penalties for speeding and/or reckless drivers, enforcement of those penalties, frequency with which speeding drivers are spotted in a given state, and other variables of that nature.

In Virginia, speeding is automatically considered to be reckless driving once a driver exceeds 20 miles per hour above the speed limit. Reckless driving comes with a penalty of three months license suspension and a minimum $2,500 fine.

Being considered a reckless driver also comes with a 22 percent average spike in your insurance rates, a higher rate than 40 other states.