Former Michigan Prosecutor | Jonathan Andrew Paul
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What should I do if charged with Careless Driving in Michigan? Should I call an attorney about my ticket?

9/2/2021

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​Careless Driving
Careless Driving requires the prosecution to prove you drove in a careless, imprudent or negligent manner.  Reckless requires you intentionally drove in a certain manner, whereas Careless doesn’t look to your willful disregard but rather the results of your driving.

Careless driving carries the possibility of three points on your license, but it is not a misdemeanor, and carries no possible jail time.  The fines, costs and license implications are less severe than Reckless Driving.

A careless driving case has a lower burden for the prosecution.  Depending on the facts in your case, it's possible that the other driver was at fault, or your driving decision was out of necessity such as to avoid another car, a pot hole or any other reasonable explanation.

​We can apply The New Rules of Criminal Defense by making a decision to compete in a strategic manner, and acknowledge that careless, reckless and leaving the scene of an accident are serious allegations.  Some people assume because it's a "traffic ticket" that its somehow not a criminal charge or something that should be treated that way.

Leaving the scene and reckless driving are both misdemeanors which will give you a criminal record, carry 6 points and Reckless driving will suspend you license for multiple months, worse than a standard DUI.  

People get into traffic incidents for different reasons, and it's natural to blame the other driver, the road conditions or minimize what you did; to take this approach would be a fixed mindset and the client is stuck in the box of being the victim; that somehow being charged with a crime they are owed something or should benefit in some way.  

From the stakeholders in the case, this is not true, and when a case begins to take that type of mindset is not going to yield the best results.  To adopt a growth mindset, assess the situation as someone outside the box and realize that the offense is a whole lot bigger than just you.  

We need to change the culture around the case and adopt core values; the prosecutor, judge and probation take their own worst experience on the road with another driver and put that on you as the person charged; it's human nature to not give you the benefit of the doubt. 

Complex change on this type of case is not easy, but if we can turn the stakeholders into shareholders who will support working toward our goals then we have achieved our goal. A client balance sheet is key in these type of offenses; it answers the question "what's in your wallet" as in how have you lived the last X years on earth and as a driver.  Are you someone with a clean record or someone with a list of traffic offenses?

Are you will to adopt the client value chain and build assets on your case; do you understand the importance of the time value of money, and how doing things in the present have more impact than the future? If we are able to create measurable progress and results, we are able to reset, rebrand and earn rewards for your case. 

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Representing clients faced with DUI/drunk driving, retail fraud, possession of marijuana, domestic violence, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, fake ID, open container  and other misdemeanor and felony charges. 

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