To each his own, and each rider ride their ride. As for your comment on using your brakes, last time I checked, semi trucks freqently range between 3 and 7 cars in length. if one begins to come into your lane and (mind you, you ARENT in his blind spot) you are to the side of the semi with traffic behind you and to your other side, im not going to risk getting on the brakes hard and hope he either hears me blaring my horn and jumps back into his lane, or the car behind me not paying attentiong to my brake light and running me down. im going to accelerate while hitting my horn. this may not be a viable solution for you, as you say you have a slow bike, but to 90% of the sportbikes out there, its a better approach IMO.

and as with your other stance that someone should slow down and be patient and wait for another hole in traffic to make an exit, that too can and more often than not is more hazardous. chances are, if traffic is heavy enough that you cant get over to your right, the traffic behind you is just as heavy. accelerating momentarily, given enough space and short enough distance to cover to a open spot is availible without hitting your brakes once again hoping people see you is all the better

. im not saying that bikers should or that even I need to accelerate to irresponsible speeds on the highway to make an exit, but simply put, it has been proven time and time again, that travelling slower than all the traffic around you is more dangerous than going with it or faster. Ask anyone who is a commuter. and my point was this, if you MOMENTARILY adjust your speed to accomodate traffic conditions and interactions with other motorists, it would suck to be pulled over and fined that unreasonable amount of money for doing that. Im not talking about people who choose to pull wheelies for miles at a time down 64 at night.

Also, your "holier than thou" attitude wont get you much support. just because you enjoy tooling around town on your 800 gives you the feeling you are looking for being on 2 wheels, doesnt mean its for everyone. There is a time and a place for everything, especially the variances in peoples PERSONAL riding styles.

In addition, jail time is a serious concern in Va beach as reckless can land you there anyways. I personally believe it is ludacris that the lawmakers have upped the fines for these things to such an awful price. to alot of people, 4k IS life for them. If anything, the fines for DUI and possession should be upgraded. and if you dont have the money to pay, what then? your credit score goes in the shitter and they garnish your wadges.. and once again IM NOT TALKING ABOUT RIDERS WHO ARE IN GENERAL IRRESPONSIBLE. im speaking about the average joe sport/cruiser/whatever rider who makes a concious decision based on traffic conditions to accelerate to accomodate.

I also specified in my post that if the rider knew the area well as well as the traffic patterns there. I.E. stop signs and traffic signals. We ALL know that running is dangerous, can get you in BIG trouble, and maybe most importantly WRONG, but that doesnt stop people from doing most ANYTHING nowadays. and with the laws being put in place such as these fines, its not surprising that more people would want to gamble on the side of getting away than bending over and being raped out of their money.

in closing, I also specified that reckless charges are at an officers discretion. whether or not what you were ACTUALLY doing was a reckless act or not has almost nothing to do with it. how do I know? Ive been there. And yes, I had my charges dropped because we had to go through all the hassle of taking photos, and recreating the scene for the judge, it was alot of time and heartache and money spent just to prove myself innocent. either better laws on the definition of reckless driving need to be created, or you are going to have exactly what this thread/ poll shows. more and more usually law abiding citizens seriously considering/ going through with breaking more laws to recieve the lesser of two evils.

stop willingly = fines and jail (va beach)
run and get caught = fines and jail
run and get away = guilty concience and a wakeup call
run and wreck = possible death and or dismemberment

the odds are against you (you being everyone reading this) but inevitably it is left on the shoulders of each and every rider (in this case) to personally asess their situation, what caused the blue lights to come after you, and what you choose to do next.