With all the time we spend on the road in Southern California, the likelihood of committing a driving violation is much higher. One common way that driving puts you at risk of going to prison or facing other stiff penalties is reckless driving. Reckless driving is defined by California Motor Vehicle Code Section 23103 as driving with willful disregard for the safety of life or property. This is a minor crime that can lead to potentially serious consequences. CVC 23103 also defines reckless driving as operating a vehicle in an off-street parking lot with willful disregard for the safety of persons or property. Because of the danger this poses to you and those around you, California law punishes this behavior with fines or imprisonment. If you are convicted of reckless driving, you can be fined up to $2,000 including penalty assessments and sentenced up to 90 days in prison. If convicted, you can also receive two points on your driver's license, so being proactive and discussing your case with an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer from Wallin & Klarich must be a priority. What defenses can a lawyer use in a reckless driving case? The prosecution in a reckless driving case must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the illegal operation in the vehicle (such as excessive speed) was done intentionally and placed people at risk of injury or death. Police officers often use the general rule of thumb that committing three moving violations in quick succession falls within these criteria and is considered reckless driving. Having valid legal defenses provided by an experienced reckless driving attorney is critical, especially because the law itself is so vaguely worded. Here are some things to consider: 1) Not... center of paper... force calibrated equipment recently used to measure velocity. Law enforcement must also have used the equipment correctly and prove that the car they measured was the car they stopped. Without an experienced reckless driving defense attorney, the court may not allow the officer who pulled you over to provide any of this evidence. Our attorneys can bring this challenge to the court's attention. 5) Proper Signage: Since one of the criteria for reckless driving is that you willfully ignored the law, this implies that you knew you were breaking the law. If the reckless driving charge is the result of excessive speed, then there must have been sufficient and correct signals for you to see. We can determine whether this was the case at the time and location of your arrest and help bring evidence of improper or obstructed signage to the court's attention.