Reckless Driving Lawyer
Los Angeles

Reckless driving is a misdemeanor. If you’ve been cited, call our reckless driving lawyers in Los Angeles immediately. Fines are heavy and jail time could be included.

Reckless driving occurs when a driver operates a vehicle without regard for anyone or anything around the moving vehicle’s proximity.  Reckless driving is considered a misdemeanor offense in Los Angeles.  This means that the citing officer can issue a ticket or go further and take the driver into physical custody, depending on the situation and the officer’s independent judgment.

Reckless driving consists of unnecessarily sharp turns, as well as other dangerous maneuvers that put the safety of innocent people at risk.  In addition, the combination of traffic violations for swerving, too many lane changes, and speeding could land a driver with a reckless driving charge.  If convicted, the driver will have the misdemeanor charge on their record and it will appear anytime a background check is performed.

Most of the time, law enforcement keeps their eyes open for possible signs of a DUI when they are citing a driver for driving recklessly.  Often, reckless driving tickets are, indeed, also driving under the influence.  When coupled, the penalty is even more severe.

The punishment for reckless driving is quite heavy.  A driver could spend 5 to 90 days in jail.  Fines could be levied in the range of $500 to $5,000.  If the reckless driving resulted in a personal injury to another person besides the driver, imprisonment could be from a minimum of 30 days to six months, and the fines could be a $1,000 to $10,000.  In addition, the vehicle used during the incident may also be impounded for 30 days and the driver’s license suspended for one month. In some cases, when the insurance company finds out about the reckless driving violation, the insurance policy is cancelled and the driver is made to pay higher premiums.