Final paper, assignment 9. Ali

Ali Alhaj
Govt 490
Professor Char Roone Miller
Assignment 9
Highway Safety and impact of Reckless Driving
Reckless driving is one of the main causes of road accidents in the world. It is a general traffic and road law offense that covers other violations. Offenders in most cases view this violation as a simple offense leading to an issuance of a ticket. But reckless driving is regarded as a serious crime leading to damage to property, injuries and worst case, have caused loss of lives of both drivers and pedestrians. According to traffic laws in the majority of states in the United States, conviction for reckless driving is a class 1 misdemeanor. Possible penalties incurred due to this offense might result to suspension of driver’s license, fines and imprisonment. In present day, stricter penalties are being forced on offenders violating traffic rules, and regulations. Usual charges and penalties for a reckless driving conviction may include suspension of one’s driver’s license for up to six (6) months and fines up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2500.00). In reckless driving offenses’ worst case scenario leading to damage to property or injuries, judges sentences offender up to twelve (12) months in jail. One should take note that jail sentences and suspensions of license are becoming commonplace due to political pressures and the frequency of fatalities from high speed accidents (Bose Law Firm, 2005) In the State of Virginia, traffic law enforces point demerits on reckless driving offenders where conviction carries 6 points demerits. In Florida, reckless driving carries 4 points demerit and a criminal record on class 1 misdemeanor.
Taking into account the gravity of reckless driving offenses, according to most lawyers handling misdemeanor cases, reckless driving is a crime of opinion. It is hard to prove if the Judge applies the proper standard. There must be a showing of criminal intent, and it is one person's word against another. Some police officers charge a driver with Reckless Driving when a driver was negligent. You simply need more than negligence to satisfy the intent requirement (A.M. Quirantez)

The Law on Reckless Driving
It is proven that the magnitude of the reckless driving according to common traffic laws is a criminal offense. But reckless driving itself is being employed by police officers as a catch-all offense using the general rule on reckless driving as a common violation to most offenders. Reckless Driving- General Rule states that:
Irrespective of the maximum speeds permitted by law, any person who drives a vehicle on any highway recklessly or at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person shall be guilty of reckless driving. (§ 46.2-852-Virginia Code)
The general rule thus encompasses other offenses pertaining to reckless driving. Speed limit is the most common among all offenses. Speeding in excess of 20+ speed limits violates the general rule and a specific article on 46.2-862 and other related articles such as driving too fast for highway and traffic conditions (46.2-861). Reckless driving under these conditions is categorized according to the speed limit on the road a driver is driving on. On roads with subsequent speed limits, driving at or higher than the below “cut-off points” will justify a penalty on reckless driving. The behavior and conduct of endangering life and limb and damaging property are generally categorized by apprehending police officers based upon their discretions as to whether when and how the violation took place. The general rule have brought about several issues regarding the manner of apprehension of police officers, their interpretation of the general rule and the actual perception they considered before charging the offender. In this situation, the driver with his defense must then prove in court that he drove at a speed or in a manner not endangering life, limb, or property of another and that there were no disregard on the consequences of his actions and never displayed an indifference to the safety of life, limb, or property. In order to be acquitted, the action or the violation must be proven un-intentional on the part of the driver.
Other violations resulting to issuance of tickets on reckless driving includes failure to yield in others right of way (46.2-863). This article is directly related to other violations such as passing a stopped, properly equipped school bus (46.2-859), overtaking/passing an emergency vehicle (46.2-829), passing a vehicle at a crest or a grade (46.2-854) passing another vehicle at a railroad grade crossing (46.2-858) failing to give proper signals (46.2-860). Falling short from the mentioned violation, failure to stop or yield while passing another driver’s right of way and other such as those mentioned vehicles may result to reckless driving charges.
Racing is a common violation among teen drivers and other illegal drag racing enthusiast. The law states that any individual who engages in a race between two or more motor vehicles on the highways or on any driveway or premises of a church, school, recreational facility, or business property open to the public is guilty of reckless driving (46.2-865). Illegal drag racing in the US is one of the major causes of car accidents leading to the death of teen age drivers.
Reckless driving offenses also include other serious offenses, Driving While Intoxicated and Driving under the Influence of prohibited drugs and alcohol. These offenses often lead to arbitrary injuries, damage to property and death. The legal consequence and implications of an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or illegal drugs are severe. A conviction for driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated may result in license suspension, steep fines, and imprisonment (18.2-266)

Statistics Causes and Implications
Most car accidents are results of reckless driving, fast or inattentive driving, or driving under the influence of alcohol. Many drivers who suffer the consequences brought about by this imprudence on the road do not concentrate while driving, which could prove to be very dangerous on highways or residential streets. Reckless driving has claimed millions of lives around the world. Car accidents caused by reckless driving can result in extensive injuries such as spinal cord injuries, kneecap injuries, broken bones, and shock related minor injuries. It can even result in death due to head injuries or shock. Knee injuries most of the time never heal and can be terminal in cases of severe damage to the knee during the accident. Noted data indicates almost 1.2 million people worldwide are killed in car accidents majority of these are caused by reckless driving and DWI/DUI (WHO, 2004). In the United States, deaths in car accidents increased from 40,716 per year in 1994 to 42,636 per year in 2004 (FARS, 2005)
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, 16,653 people died in alcohol-related crashes in 2000, an increase of more than 800 deaths from 1999. This represented the largest percentage increase on record. By some estimates, about two out of every five Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. These tragic statistics dramatically illustrate that DUI is a serious problem (J.W.Greene, 2003).
Teenagers, according to the statistics, cause most car accidents in the US. This is brought about by the high population of teen driver beginning to legally drive at the age of 16. Inexperience coupled with reckless driving due to irresponsible behavior and a lack of respect for the safety precautions are the main causes for such a high number of teenage car accidents. There are 1.6 million crashes involving teen drivers annually in the United States. About two out of every three U.S. teens killed in a car crash in 2003 were male. According to recently released statistics, about 10 U.S. teens ages 16 to 19 die in teen-driven car accidents every day. And even though teens make up only 6.7 percent of all motorists in the United States, they account for 14 percent of the fatal crashes. Officials say teens' inexperience and recklessness on the road have a lot to do with the deadly statistics (Weekly Reader Corp, 2005).
Reckless driving along with other violations of road law sums up to a lot of distressful outcomes, leading to injuries, damage of property and grief and despair among family members who lost a loved one in a car accident.

Impact of Reckless Driving
Reckless driving violation can bring about negative impact on an individuals career, security clearance and most of the time insurance cause. Perennial violation can severely devastate a person’s criminal record thus limiting his or her freedom on a lot of benefits. Insurance companies usual deter multiple violations of reckless driving thus in most cases dropping off the policy holder due to the criminal conviction of class 1 misdemeanor. Reckless driving can delay and hinder the processing of security clearance brought about by the agency’s evaluation of irresponsibility towards the offender. In most cases criminal records are used as basis to reject security clearance applications. Since reckless driving is a criminal violation, immigrants seeking for US citizenship who at one time or the other were convicted of this offense usually experience difficulty in processing their papers and document. Reckless driving violation brings about a negative impact on the governments process by elongating the time for the government to conduct your background check. Lastly, most common for commercial drivers committing the offense results to the suspension of their driver’s license for a specific period of time.
One must remember that reckless driving is a criminal offense. A person who violates this law and gets convicted by means of a ticket is not at all a simple matter. Reckless driving does not only incur negative implications to the offender but can also result to a lot of mishaps and accidents that would affect a lot of people.

Bibliography
Bose Law Firm, PLLC (2005) Reckless Driving- Virgina Code § 46.2-852, 46.2-863, 46.2-862, 46.2-861, 46.2-859, 46.2-829, 46.2-854 46.2-858, 46.2-860. 46.2-865, 18.2-266 (2005); Last Accessed June 10, 2007; Website: http://www.vatrafficlaw.com/reckless.html
Atty. Albert M Quirantez (2003) Reckless Driving (2003) ; Last Accessed June 10th 2007; Website: www.ticketlawyers.com
Weekly Reader Corp(2005) Thompson Gale Group (2005) Road to Ruin-Car Crashes are Top Teen Killers; Last Accessed June 14, 2007 ; Website: www.findarticles.com
Jeffrey W. Greene (2003) FBI, 2003, Thompson Gale Group (2003) Battling DUI: A comparative analysis of checkpoints and saturation patrols - driving under the influence; Last Accessed June 19 2007 ; Website: www.findarticles.com
FARS (2005) Key Annual Statistic on Car Accidents-United States (2005) Last Accessed June 20th 2007;

Wikipedia Encyclopedia (2005) Car Accidents (2005) Last Accessed June 22, 2007; Website: www.wikipedia.org