Reckless driving is a somewhat ambiguous term, since there’s no hard and fast rule as to what exactly reckless driving is. Often, it’s up to the officer who pulled you over to determine if the manner in which you were driving was “reckless”, which is essentially subjective. Here are some common reasons people are ticketed with reckless driving and what you can do to avoid paying a ticket.
What Reckless Driving Entails
Reckless driving can take many forms, including but not limited to:
- Excessive speeding. Driving well over the speed limit — often 20 mph over or more — can result in a reckless driving ticket.
- Racing. While this often goes hand in hand with excessive speeding, if the officer determines you were racing another vehicle, the chances are much higher that you will be ticketed for reckless driving.
- Running red lights or stop signs. If you run more than one red light or stop sign in view of an officer, you may be ticketed for both failure to stop and dangerous or reckless driving.
- Intentional failure-to-yield. This can be a difficult one to determine, but if the officer believes you failed to yield to someone — especially a pedestrian — on purpose versus you simply didn’t see them, reckless driving may be added to your charges.
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Many people believe that if you are stopped and arrested for drinking and driving that you’ll simply be charged with a DWI or DUI. However, if the officer also believes you were driving dangerously — and this is often the case — a reckless driving charge may show up too.
- Evasion of police officers. If you attempt to evade a police officer when they are trying to stop you, you’ll be charged with a multitude of offenses and reckless driving is likely to be one of them.
The Importance of Contacting an Atlanta Traffic Ticket Lawyer
Reckless driving is high on the Georgia point system, meaning that being ticketed for this offense could easily cause you to lose your license, especially when paired with other offenses like speeding or failure-to-yield. If you find yourself with a reckless driving ticket, it’s critical that you work with an attorney to attempt to get the charge dismissed. Since the charge is usually based on an officer’s subjective observations, a skilled attorney can increase the chances of a dismissal by providing a solid argument.
Contact the Kimbrel Law Firm today for a consultation at 770-349-9219.