Will a traffic violation show up on my background check?
Speeding tickets and other traffic violations are nearly unavoidable. After all, driving includes juggling several tasks at once, and there is bound to be a time when you make a mistake.
You may not worry about a traffic violation immediately, but when you need a background check for a new job, you might start to worry.
Here’s what you should know about the impact a traffic violation could have on a background check.
It may depend on the job
In Virginia, most traffic violations will not impact your background check. However, a traffic ticket could end up in collections if you do not pay the corresponding fine. While this may not appear on most background checks, there may be specific careers where an employer or a career organization may look at financial records.
Employers run background checks for a variety of reasons. In some cases, they are purely looking for past criminal history. In other cases, an employer may also include your driving history, especially if the position includes driving as part of your potential responsibilities. If this is the case, they may look specifically for traffic violations.
Reckless driving
Although reckless driving is a violation you receive for how you were driving, it is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor, making it a criminal offense. This means that a reckless driving ticket will appear on a criminal background check since it is more than a simple traffic offense.
It is important to take care with facing a reckless driving violation since it could impact your ability to pass a background check. You may need to talk to a skilled professional to determine how to handle a reckless driving ticket.