reckless driving

[Seppo]

Can an law officer or lawyer explain to what the nc law means?

20‑140. Reckless driving. (a) Any person who drives any vehicle upon a highway or any public vehicular area carelessly and heedlessly in willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others shall be guilty of reckless driving.
(b) Any person who drives any vehicle upon a highway or any public vehicular area without due caution and circumspection and at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger any person or property shall be guilty of reckless driving.



Is it totally to the discretion of the officer? Because the wording seems rather vague to me.

[C-Foam '68]

Not a LEO or Lawyer here, but pretty much what it's saying is if you're doing anything on the road that could endanger others, whether it be excessive speeding, racing, burning out, drifting, weaving through traffic, etc... then it's careless and reckless. If the officer sees it as being dangerous to others, he'll consider it reckless. So I suppose it's somewhat up to the officer (just as giving any ticket, obviously...), but ultimately it's pretty clear whether or not the other person was putting the safety of others in jeopardy.

[wyndzer]

Officer discretion 98% of the time.

[Eskimo]

Yup, and it's a 4 point, "major violation" ticket that'll stay with you for 5-7 years depending on your insurance company.

It's a nasty ticket for sure... get a good lawyer.

I got one in '99...

[A 2 M]

So if one were to carefully do donuts in the street, without wrecking, does one still get a careless and wreckless? Sounds like BS to me!!!

[Turbo Pig]

Its discretionary and it really should be...

Hey Jon..

Wreckless= w/o a wreck
Reckless = unsafe

[A 2 M]

Now you're just playing with letters......

[Tommygunn]

so if your out in the middle of nowhere and you get a wheel.. how would that put other people in danger? sounds like a bunch of bs.. but of course so is the entire system. as of right this min im taking a online drving course for a reckless driving ticket i got on a 4wd honda wheeler that was stuck in low range.

[RichardCranium]

In the state of VA, if you bark a tire......you are reckless driving. Ask me how I know.....

[Turbo Pig]

Now you're just playing with letters......

http://morningglory2.files.wordpress.com/2006/03/grammarpolice.jpg

[B-rad]

In the state of VA, if you bark a tire......you are reckless driving. Ask me how I know.....

its the same here. if the tire loses traction in ANY way its c&r...so ive been told.....even had a real brilliant one tell me it didnt matter if it was under braking or acceleration.

[footbraker]

so if your out in the middle of nowhere and you get a wheel.. how would that put other people in danger? sounds like a bunch of bs.. but of course so is the entire system. as of right this min im taking a online drving course for a reckless driving ticket i got on a 4wd honda wheeler that was stuck in low range.

so u had the quad out on the road? or on a trail?

[LT1 in a 95 9c1]

Can you get a reckless charge if there's no one else on the road to be endangered?

[B-rad]

Can you get a reckless charge if there's no one else on the road to be endangered?

absolutely.

[Turbo Pig]

its the same here. if the tire loses traction in ANY way its c&r...so ive been told.....even had a real brilliant one tell me it didnt matter if it was under braking or acceleration.

That certainly is not true here, some jerk cops think it is, but they are wrong

[falcon64]

what county were you in when you got it?

[wyndzer]

That certainly is not true here, some jerk cops think it is, but they are wrong

Correct, there are many other charges that can be had though for silly little stuff.

[msydnor]

My experience has been it varies from state to state on how it's enforced. Since I was an Air Force cop, when at various bases I was required to enforce law based on the state I was in. Careless and reckless is a debate that many cops don’t even agree on. For instance, I’ve seen cases where we would issue a C&R based on speed. Especially when I first got here to NC. If you were X amount over the speed limit they would tack on C&R. When I was in Montana, speed alone was not considered C&R. There had to be other factors, i.e actually putting someone or some “thing” (property recources,etc) in danger, or fast enough that you were putting yourself in danger. Example, 30 over on the freeway and no one else around may not be considered C&R, but 30 over in a residential area with people around might.

[Tommygunn]

so u had the quad out on the road? or on a trail?

road...with gamewarden not far behind

[supera]

buddy got a C&R a couple of months ago. He was on New Hope in the middle of the night (no traffic around) and took off from the light and he spun a little. Cop happened to be coming up behind them from a side street right when they did it. Cop gave him a C&R...he didnt even get over 30 probably. He was not endangering anyone...no one was on the road!!!

So yes, around here you can get C&R for anything and it is the cops disrection and that is bullshit. Sorry Brian...i understand that discretionary can be good because other charges are not all inclusive but there are too many instances that i know that C&R is given for basically nothing.

[Seppo]

Officer discretion 98% of the time.

That is what I figured. Being discretionary, I would imagine a good lawyer could get one off of it.

It's a nasty ticket for sure... get a good lawyer.

I was "let off" with a warning. But there was a sizable delay in when the officer pulled me. So I'm assuming he did not really see what I did, just mostly heard it. I never broke the speed limit, and never barked a tire. I did accelerate, then decelerated via braking and downshifting to turn. It was a tad aggressive, but nothing I would deem reckless.


what county were you in when you got it?
Wake County

[supera]

That is what I figured. Being discretionary, I would imagine a good lawyer could get one off of it.


ive had a C&R reduced to "illegal movement" or some crap...you should have heard the lady at my insurance when i called months later and she was looking up my account. "illegal movement, what is that!!!??" I told her "dont ask"

[Eskimo]

I was in Chatham County when I got mine, and the only person I could have hurt was myself. (1am on a 4-lane divided road) During the whole stop, 1 or 2 cars passed us, total.

The ticket was written up as 101 in a 55.. That was him "cutting me a break".. I didn't hire the best lawyer I guess, since mine was only reduced to a C&R (no license suspension, clean record before that).. Yeah, it could have been worse.

Sounds like you got pulled because you made some engine noise.. jesus h. christ. That was a lame reason to pull you. That wouldn't have stood a chance in court.

Now I know that there are plenty of cops whose ears would have perked up and probably would have gone to look for street racing or something, but to even pull you was a lame move.

[Redneckvtek]

i had a sherrif tell me that he wanted to give me a c&r and a "exhaust level" ticket the other night.. in my driveway...


(i live down a private road with about 20 other houses on it).. we paid for the road, we get to make the speed limit and rules.. I do burnouts on it allll the time.

[Stangsgrl]

I got C&R and speeding in VA for going 82 in 65 on I-95.

[Tommygunn]

I got C&R and speeding in VA for going 82 in 65 on I-95.

i hate VA bad its crazy for this very reason. wut is it with va and speeders? seems like they just hate everyone that speeds and wants them out of their state.

[Turbo Pig]

Va is a state that requires C&R be added on for anything over 80 mph I believe...

In NC, you can not get a ticket for a certain thing and have C&R tacked on for that exact reason... FYI... If an officer pulls you over for 95 in a 65, by law (even though few cops know this to be honest) you can not get a speeding ticket for 30 over and a C&R ticket in which the reason for the C&R charge was for doing 30 over... You have to issue one ticket or the other... Now if the C&R is because you were doing 30 over, changing lanes, and in a congested area, that will stick because there are other factor which make it careless...

I have the argument with cops all the time and tell them that C&R is not just some charge that you should throw around... It's serious and should only be used in extreme cases... I have been a cop for nearly 12 years and I bet I have only charged C&R about 10 times... Its just not something I do... If there are charges which handled the way you are driving, then I use those charges, thats why they are on the books... In fact the last C&R charge I issued was nearly 9 months ago... The guy passed me (i was in a marked patrol with a light bar) at 122 mph in a 65 mph and he was weaving in and out of traffic and cutting people off....

[msydnor]

In fact the last C&R charge I issued was nearly 9 months ago... The guy passed me (i was in a marked patrol with a light bar) at 122 mph in a 65 mph and he was weaving in and out of traffic and cutting people off....

Damn man you're a dick. :rolleye:

[Cannon]

i got a C&R last night so about these lawyers anybody got the phone numbers? and i definatly had it coming didnt really endanger anybody as the road was empty and the cop just saw the smoke when he came over the hill. probably dangerous to make a smoke cloud that big in the road. but i wouldnt really expect to get away with what i did because it was just so damn intentional.