Analysis: 10 mph 'cushion' for speeding is not a myth

Shortly before 2 on a clear June afternoon a year ago, a 27-year-old man on a Suzuki motorcycle blew past a police radar unit on Interstate 64 near Indian River Road.

At 146 mph.

That was 91 mph over the posted speed limit. You're guilty of reckless driving in Virginia for exceeding 80 mph, period.

That zippy trip cost the motorcyclist 10 days in jail - a Virginia Beach General District Court judge suspended the rest of a one-year sentence - and a $600 fine. His license was restricted for six months to driving to and from work or transporting his child, according to online court records.

It also made him the fastest-known Hampton Roads speeder convicted in 2010, according to state court data.

His was the extreme example. But a Virginian-Pilot analysis of thousands of speeding-related convictions in the seven local cities last year showed that one in four involved charges of exceeding the speed limit by 20 mph or more. Ninety were accused of doing 100 mph or better.

And in virtually all cases, drivers' tickets were for running at least 10 mph over the limit.

The summer vacation season winding up this Labor Day weekend is a busy time on roads. That makes it a common time for drivers to theorize about so-called "cushions" they believe police allow the heavy-footed among them: 5 mph, 7 mph, even 10 mph over the posted limit before they need to worry about being stopped or ticketed.

Police representatives emphatically dispute that such a "cushion" exists. Officer Chris Amos, a Norfolk Police Department spokesman, had a typical response: "If you're speeding, you're speeding."

But the state data showed that just three of every 1,000 convicted speeders last year were tagged with driving less than 10 mph over the limit.

Anthony Montagna III, a Norfolk lawyer who for 18 years has spent most of his working days defending drivers in area traffic courts, said he's never seen anyone convicted of speeding by less than 5 mph. He said he's heard informal talk about a 10 mph cushion.

George Neskis of Norfolk, a 26-year legal veteran of area courts, said he couldn't remember seeing a case for speeding less than 10 mph over the limit.

"That is, if anything, reflective of - in a metropolitan area - police caught up in catching bigger fish," he said.

Even police say that's not surprising.

"Technically, if you're going a mile over, you're speeding," Officer Amos said. "Will you get stopped? Probably, no."

Nor, Amos added, for 2, 3 or 4 mph over, most likely. But "30 in a 25, and kids everywhere?... Each case is unique."

Others agreed with him that police officers have discretion, and many factors come into play: How fast? Have there been complaints? Are children playing in the street? Is it raining? How heavy is traffic - is it safe to stop someone? Is the officer on her way to something more urgent, like a bank robbery?

"Everyone sets their own number for what they'll pull someone over for," said Officer Gus Mojica, a former spokesman for the Chesapeake Police Department.

Neskis said a state trooper who stopped him in western Virginia told him he had violated the trooper's "personal limit" of 5 mph over the posted speed. Neskis joked that his law practice would get more business if police in South Hampton Roads used the same standard. The trooper let him go with a warning.

Speed enforcement is a big part of State Police safety efforts, said Corinne Geller, a department spokeswoman - "troopers see the result... they're the ones delivering the death messages" - but limited resources force them to set priorities.

"You're going to go after those posing the greatest threat to the greatest number of people," Geller said. "You're going to go after those driving the most aggressively."

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles reported speed as the fourth-biggest cause of crashes each year since 2009 behind, in varying order, not having the right of way; failing to maintain control; and following too closely.

In that time it has been the second-biggest cause of fatal crashes, behind failing to maintain control. Speeding contributed to 30 percent of Virginia's fatal crashes in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Pilot analyzed 41,837 records culled from Virginia Supreme Court data of circuit and general district court cases concluded in 2010. A handful of records were incomplete, contained typographical errors, or didn't list the offending speed. The data also didn't include Virginia Beach Circuit Court cases filed after July 30, 2009, which weren't in the state's database; speeding convictions appealed from the general district courts are tried in the circuit courts.

The analysis considered three general speeding statutes: basic speeding, speeding in residential or business areas usually posted 25 mph, and reckless driving by speeding 20 or more mph above the speed limit or by exceeding 80 mph anywhere.

Almost one in five of the convictions were on amended charges, almost all for lesser offenses - most often, a reduced speed or "defective equipment." Commonly seen were offending speeds lowered to 19 mph over or less, which could reduce reckless-driving charges to mere speeding, or to 9 mph over, which would result in fewer demerit points against drivers' licenses under Virginia DMV rules.

In addition to those points, convicted speeders typically received fines, although the more egregious violators - like our man on the 146-mph Suzuki - also faced jail, commonly a few days with months of suspended time left hanging over their heads. The data didn't provide fine amounts, but the law generally calls for $6 per mph over the limit.

Finally, speed also got drivers in trouble another way. Area courts in 2010 recorded 123 convictions for impeding traffic - driving too slowly.

Pilot writers Meghan Hoyer and Kristin Davis contributed to this report.

Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-5221, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com