V C Section 23103 Reckless Driving Reckless Driving 23103. (a) A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving. (b) A person who drives a vehicle in an offstreet parking facility, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 12500, in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving. (c) Persons convicted of the offense of reckless driving shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than five days nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than one hundred forty-five dollars ($145) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, except as provided in Section 23104 or 23105. Amended Sec. 19, Ch. 739, Stats. 2001. Effective January 1, 2002. Amended Sec. 16, Ch. 682, Stats. 2007. Effective January 1, 2008.

List of laws

List of reckless driving statutes by state - http://public.findlaw.com/traffic-ticket-violation-law/traffic-ticket-a-z/reckless-driving-laws.html
list of speeding laws by state - http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/laws.html

Explanation of Reckless Driving

Vehicle Code section 23103(a) says, "Any person who drives any vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving." Willful implies intent or purpose, while wanton expresses a reckless disregard of consequences. In plain English, Vehicle Code 23103 makes it illegal to voluntarily drive a motor vehicle with an intentional or conscious disregard for the safety of persons or property.

Reckless driving is a misdemeanor.

Speed alone cannot constitute a reckless driving conviction, per California Jury Instruction section 16.841.

California penalties for reckless driving

• VC 22348 says that a first conviction for excessive speed (over 100 miles per hour) results in a $500 fine and loss of driving privileges for 30 days, with the amount fines and length of license suspension increasing with each conviction. A reckless driving conviction under VC 23103 can be punished by up to 90 days in county jail and/or fines up to $1000.

Reckless Driving by Paparazzi

• August 2010 - The two pieces of legislation were approved by the state Senate, which sent the paparazzi bill back to the Assembly to agree on amendments. AB 2479 would impose penalties of up to $5,000 with the possibility of jail time for photographers caught driving in a dangerous manner to get photos or video of celebrities.

Benefits of s plea bargain

A plea bargain is a negotiated settlement of your case that takes place between your California DUI attorney and the prosecutor. The benefit here is that you know what your sentence will be before you plead guilty.

Former Race Car Driver Tries to Evade Police

Former NASCAR driver James Neal still likes to drive fast.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Neal, a small-time racer in the 1980s at the now defunct Ascot Park in Gardena (Calif.), led Orange County sheriffs on a chase from San Clemente to La Jolla on Monday, before a blown engine stopped him.

The chase started oddly enough when authorities attempted to stop Neal for driving his 2003 Chevy Corvette without a front license plate. Seeing the police behind him, Neal gunned it and dared police to keep up with him as he reached speeds of at least 140 mph.

Unfortunately for Neal, his Corvette engine could not sustain such speeds, and it blew up, bringing an end to the chase and landing him in police custody.

Neal pleaded guilty to misdemeanor felony evasion and reckless driving on Tuesday, and was sentenced to a month of jail and probabtion.

Source: http://www.nesn.com/2010/05/former-nascar-driver-arrested-for-reckless-driving.html

What speed is considered reckless driving in California?

• Discussion thread about wreckless driving - http://www.318ti.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-6221.html
  • anything over 25 MPH over the speed limit could get charged as reckless driving. I got pulled over doing 80 in a 55 in my Geo Metro (delivering parts after high school, and yes it was basically floored). And he said I was lucky he wasnt giving me a rekless driving.
    • NOTE: In the Bay Area, you will get run over if you try to drive the 65mph speed limit. Most traffic will be going 10-15 mph faster, and you will be a traffic hazard. So 25 over can be as little as 10mph faster than the flow of traffic. Pleading that you were going with the flow of traffic wont get you out of an over 65 speeding ticket, because state law says no one can go faster than 65.
  • reckless driving for doing a 108 in a 55.The trooper got trooper of the year(made the most money and gave out the most tickets).
  • UK has fixed speed camera and mobile speed units (on almost every road it seems). Hardly any coppers around to book you it's all done via automated systems and you get a nice fixed penalty in the post.
    • as little as 4mph over in a 30zone and you get £60 fine and 3 points. Collect 12 points and they take away your licence (for a short period).
  • reckless driving in california (and most states) is a criminal charge. look at your ticket, if you see "23103/A/VC" written on it you have been charged with reckless driving.
  • VBR ticket. "Violation of basic rule" means he didn't like what you
    were doing, no fighting it in court and they don't need radar. IE too fast for conditions.
  • reckless is 25mph over here in mn
  • police friends of mine can call your speed +/- about 1 MPH standing near the road. Because they both have about a million hours clocking cars with radar guns.
  • No appeal in court: IE: Speed or traffic offence in a construction area. or Speed in a school zone...
  • Claimed training of traffic officers: in order to patrol traffic and clock cars, you have to be trained. you have to take classes, and you have to pass a test of estimating speeds within +- 2 mph. you literally go out with a nother cop...pick a car...yuo guess the speed, and the other cop clocks it to see how close you were. in order to pass, you have to estimate a cars speed within 2mph of the actual speed 50 times in a row. kind of ridiculous if yu ask me...but i guess it is an expert opinion.
  • reckless driving in California is 100+.
  • in Illinois reckless is 30 over the posted limit.
  • http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc23103.htm
  • people cited for excessive speed (Vehicle Code 22348) and reckless driving (Vehicle Code 23103). It turns out that over 80 people were issued citations by CHP for driving in excess of 100 MPH in May and June on freeways in Sacramento and Stockton.
• Wreckless driving arrest for 130mph - http://www.sacramentocriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/2010/08/excessive-speed-and-reckless-d.html