Reckless driving is a criminal offense that carries serious consequences, including jail time and hefty fines. Because it’s a criminal offense, being convicted of reckless driving means you’d have a criminal record. That can impact your career, education opportunities, relationships, and all other aspects of your life.
If you’ve been charged with reckless driving in Florida, the most important step you can take is to hire criminal defense attorneys to fight for your freedom and future.
At Cruz Law, we have years of experience aggressively defending clients who face felonies and misdemeanors. Learn more about what reckless driving is and why it’s essential that you fight the charges.
Understanding Reckless Driving in Florida
Reckless driving is defined as operating a motor vehicle with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of others. To be charged with this criminal offense, you must have acted with intentional indifference to the consequences your conduct would have and with the understanding that damage could occur to people and property.
Sometimes, people confuse reckless driving with careless driving. What you have to remember is that careless driving involves negligence, but reckless driving doesn’t. Your actions must have been intentional in order to be charged with the latter. It can include a variety of behaviors, such as:
- Failure to yield
- Excessive speeding
- Tailgating
- Rapid lane changes
- Abrupt braking
The problem is that reckless driving tends to be a catch-all term because it’s not clearly defined. Lots of other actions besides those above might fit into the definition of driving recklessly, which gives law enforcement officers a lot of leeway. People are often unfairly charged with reckless driving in Florida.
Something to remember is that excessive speed on its own isn’t enough to earn you a reckless driving charge. Even if you traveled above the speed limit and had to hit the brakes to avoid a collision, you’d not technically have acted with wanton disregard for the safety of others. Excessive speed has to be combined with other factors, such as driving through a residential area where children are present.
Of course, there may be exceptions to this. If you were traveling at a grossly excessive speed, for example, that could be enough to earn you reckless driving charges.
Although you may think it’s a relatively minor offense, the state has very strict laws in place when it comes to reckless driving cases. It’s considered a second-degree misdemeanor, which means you could face jail time, probation, and fines.
Consequences of a Reckless Driving Conviction
Being convicted of reckless driving for the first time can put you at risk of consequences such as spending 90 days in jail, being on probation for six months, and having to pay up to $500 in fines. Being convicted of a second offense of reckless driving means facing up to six months of jail, a year of probation, and $1,000 in fines.
The penalties get even more serious if reckless driving results in property damage or bodily injury. If the property was damaged or there were injuries that weren’t serious, the offense becomes a first-degree misdemeanor. It carries penalties of as much as a year behind bars followed by a year of probation and $1,000 in fines.
However, if reckless driving leads to a serious bodily injury, the offense becomes a third-degree felony. Third-degree felonies are punishable with up to five years in jail and fines that could be as much as $5,000.
Although it can seem like a minor detail when compared to the other penalties, a reckless driving conviction also means getting four points on your license.
That may not seem like much, but if you get 12 points in a year, you could face a license suspension of up to 30 days. If you’re convicted of reckless driving three times in one year, you could lose your license permanently.
Consequences of Having a Criminal Record
One of the most significant reckless driving penalties is ending up with a criminal record. Having a criminal record can affect your entire life. You may face social stigma from being seen as a criminal, resulting in reputational damage and potentially affecting your relationships.
A criminal conviction can also cause you to have trouble finding employment. The majority of employers perform background checks, and most will not want to hire people with a record. You could also lose any professional certifications you have, making it impossible to work in a number of fields.
It won’t just be difficult to find a job but to find housing, too. Landlords will likely perform background checks before renting a property, so your permanent record could prevent you from finding a place to live near your job. You also might not be eligible to receive federal housing.
A person convicted of reckless driving won’t be able to possess firearms in Florida. You could face issues with immigration as well, if you have a visa or a green card.
Strategies for Fighting Reckless Driving Charges
To be able to fight a reckless driving charge in Florida, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney. A lawyer will assess your case and put together the right strategies to help you beat your charges. Because of the serious consequences of reckless driving, you should always hire an experienced lawyer to represent you.
The two main strategies your lawyer can pursue to avoid a conviction for reckless driving are to plead for a lesser charge, like careless driving, or to argue that you were neither carelessly nor recklessly driving. The exact circumstances of your case will dictate what they decide on.
Potential Defenses Against Reckless Driving Charges
To help you avoid serious repercussions, your lawyer will choose the right defense strategy. Let’s look at some of the most common defenses in reckless driving cases.
Claiming Careless Driving
Because the definition of reckless driving isn’t clear, your criminal defense attorney can argue that the conduct that led to the charges was actually careless and not reckless. To do this, your lawyer can claim that you didn’t have the willful and wanton disregard for others that is necessary to be charged with reckless driving.
Another option is to state that you were distracted. Distracted driving doesn’t meet the requirements needed to claim reckless driving because, again, intentional indifference is not present.
Challenging the Officer’s Observations
The police officer who stops you plays a significant role because their observations are what determines the charge. Just like anyone else, police officers can make mistakes.
If there was poor visibility, the officer may have misinterpreted your behavior, or they might not have gotten the full picture of what was happening around you on the road. Your lawyer can bring doubt into what the law enforcement officer saw, and that could result in getting your charges reduced or dropped.
Challenging the Prosecution’s Evidence
In cases involving speed, the prosecution may rely on evidence from radar guns and other similar equipment. A useful defense strategy is to question the reliability of the equipment and point out that it often records incorrect speeds.
If the prosecution’s case depends on witness testimonies, your lawyer will do everything possible to demonstrate that what they saw is not reliable evidence.
Claiming an Emergency
This defense admits that you were driving recklessly but that you did so because of a medical emergency or because your life was in danger. It’s important to understand, however, that what you might deem an emergency may not fit the court’s definition of one.
Demonstrating You Weren’t the Driver
If someone was driving your car and claimed they were you, you could end up with a charge you have nothing to do with. If that’s the case, your lawyer will work to demonstrate that you were not behind the wheel.
In instances when the prosecution is unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were the person driving, the charges are dropped.
Claiming a Vehicle Malfunction
You shouldn’t have to face legal issues if your motor vehicle doesn’t work as it should. If the brakes failed, a tire burst or any other mechanical error occurred, you could have reacted unpredictably to maintain control of the vehicle. Your lawyer can rely on expert witness testimonies to show that this was the case.
Why You Should Fight Your Charges
It can be frightening to be charged with reckless driving, but the last thing you should do is accept what you’re accused of. The penalties of a conviction are very serious and could impact your future and even your freedom.
A conviction for reckless driving means having a criminal record. This record is available to the public, so future employers or landlords can easily have access to it. If you have professional certifications you depend on, a criminal conviction will impact them, potentially leaving you without a way to work.
You can also face housing issues if landlords refuse to accept your applications because of your record.
By fighting your charges, you could have reckless driving reduced to careless driving or simple speeding charges. In some instances, you may even walk away without any charges at all. Always choose to fight for your rights.
Hire Experienced Criminal Defense Attorneys
If you face reckless driving charges, you need representation to challenge the charges. At Cruz Law, we have decades of experience defending the people of Florida who are at risk of being convicted of crimes. We can provide the support you deserve as you go through the legal system.
Don’t give up and accept the charges. Contact us at Cruz Law so that we can help you fight for your future.
