If you live in an area where people spend a significant amount of time on the road, then the chances of committing some kind of driving offense is higher. One of the most common ways that driving may result in someone facing a huge ticket or jail time is through reckless driving. By definition, reckless driving is when someone has willful disregard for their actions risking the safety of property or those around them. Reckless driving is usually considered a misdemeanor offense, potentially resulting in very serious consequences.

What are the consequences for reckless driving?

Being proactive and speaking with an attorney right after a reckless driving charge is key to minimizing the severity of the repercussions endured. Based on the circumstances of the reckless driving incident, your attorney can develop a strategy to come to your defense. The consequences that someone can face due to a reckless driving charge include:

• Thousands of dollars in fines
• 90 days in county jail 
• 2 points added to the driving record

Another consequence could be having to pay compensation to those who were hurt or experienced damage to their property as a result of the reckless driving. Anyone who was charged with reckless driving, and especially where personal injury and property damage was a factor, are strongly advised to get legal counsel immediately. 

What strategies could be used in my defense?

Facing a charge for reckless driving can be terrifying, particularly if you are worried about serving jail time. However, remember that you are innocent until proven guilty. The party that has filed action against you for reckless driving has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that you did, in fact, commit the offense, while knowingly putting others at risk for harm. Here are examples of strategies that your attorney may use in your defense:

• You weren’t the one driving at the time. The prosecution has to show that you were the person operating the vehicle. Your attorney may use this strategy if he or she thinks that the prosecution doesn’t have strong evidence against you, and that the case is likely to be dropped because of it. 

• It was necessary that you were driving with urgency. Your attorney can show that the reason you were driving the way that you were was because of an emergency, such as an imminent threat to you or a loved one. 

• The equipment used to track your speed was faulty. The officer who used a tool to track your speed may not have calibrated it properly before use, or was not permitted to use that equipment within the area you were pulled over. Law enforcement will have to show that they had recently calibrated the tool and that the officer was trained to use it. 

• There was a lack of proper signage. If there wasn’t sufficient signage for the rules of the road, then you may not have known you were violating a law. 

Contact a lawyer, like a criminal defense lawyer from the Law Firm of Frederick J. Brynn, P.C., to begin creating your defense today.