Thing is, that segment of the Beltway (the Toll Road north to the GW Parkway) has been under construction for most of this year. Lane shifts, narrower lanes than usual, ruts in the pavement where the lane markings used to be, inadequate shoulders, etc. They're converting the left shoulder to a part-time lane. Of all the places he could have picked to drive like that, he picked one of the dumbest ones.
I was in court representing a client on another matter once and I saw a judge handling a case where someone was pulled over for going 98 mph on I-66 west of Fair Oaks. The judge wanted to know why the cop didn't issue a reckless driving ticket, just simple speeding, and the cop said (a) it was late at night, (b) there was a full moon and dry weather, (c) there was no road construction and the road was in excellent shape, (d) there was nobody else on the road, and (e) the guy was driving a new Corvette so the cop felt he was just being an idiot to see what it could do rather than endangering himself and others. The judge accepted that. So there is some level of legitimate discretion involved. Werth just happened to pick a really stupid place to do it.
I think the Virginia reckless driving law is a bit of a "gotcha" law because it allows overzealous cops and judges to impose draconian penalties on you if all you do is go 81 mph in a 70-mph zone. While that CAN be quite dangerous in some circumstances (say, it's raining, you're speeding and weaving in and out with no signal and you illegally fail to use your headlights in the rain), I don't think it's INHERENTLY dangerous to go 81 in a 70 zone. But it's hard to say the same about 105 mph on that particular segment of the Beltway. Also, apparently he exited onto the GW Parkway and was going to continue flying along there. I'd argue that's even dumber.
I like Werth, but this was just a stupid thing to do.
