Michigan Reckless-Careless Driving Attorney

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Michigan Traffic Offenses 

If you have been charged with either Reckless or Careless Driving in Michigan, it's important to know what the prosecution must prove. If charged with either offense, most jurisdictions will offer a plea to a lesser charge, but if the prosecution cannot prove the charge, why should you plea? You should not plea to either offense if facing a weak case, because both crimes carry substantial driving sanctions for your Michigan license.  If charged with reckless or careless driving, and you are not offered a plea then you should most certainly challenge the charge.

Click here to learn how to take a growth mindset to a traffic offense case in Michigan

These two offenses can have a major impact on your driver's license, and could sink you financially.  As your attorney, we will work to defeat the case or have the matter dismissed.  As a former prosecutor, I will also engage in negotiations with the prosecuting attorney, and get you the best possible plea deal as a backup plan.  I will provide you options, and we will decide the best path together as a team.  

Michigan Reckless Driving 
To found guilty of this offense, the prosecution must show that you were driving a car on a road open to the public or generally accessible to cars, including a parking lot, and you drove the car in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.  "Willful or wanton disregard" means more than simple carelessness but does not require proof of an intent to cause harm. It means knowingly disregarding the possible risks to the safety of people or property.

This offense is a 93-day misdemeanor and carries many of the same license implications, fines and costs of a drunk driving offense.  If convicted of this offense, six points would be added to your license.

The prosecution will attempt to prove this charge with testimony of your driving including speed, along with the the road conditions.  If there is evidence of intoxication, the prosecution will be allowed to introduce this evidence; the jury may factor this into the decision whether there was a "willful or wanton disregard" for the safety or persons or property, but this alone is not enough for a conviction.

One way to defeat a reckless driving charge is to show an error in judgment on the part of the charged driver to explain the erratic driving,  which creates reasonable doubt as "willful or wanton disregard".  Let's say you're observed switching lanes, which causes an accident, and you're charged with reckless driving - well if the other car was in your blind spot, then this may be merely negligence on your part, not willful disregard.

Michigan 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.

If you're charged with any of the following offenses, you should speak to an attorney before pleading responsible.  There could be points added to your license, and your license could be suspended or revoked.    Proceed with caution.  

Child Restraint Violation 
Disobey Stop Sign 
Disobey Traffic Control Device
Disobey Traffic Signal 
Drove on Private Property- Avoid Traffic Signal 
Drove Wrong Way on One Way Street 
Equipment Violation/ Defective Equipment 
Expired Plate 
Failure to Signal 
Failure to Yield 
Failure to Stop within Assured Clear Distance 
Failure to Stop for School Bus 
Failure to Maintain Minimum Speed 
Following Too Close 
Impeding/Blockading Moving Traffic    
Improper or Prohibited Passing 
Improper Lane Usage 
Improper Turn 
No Valid Plate 
Seat Belt Violation (driver or passenger) 
Use of Hand Held Cellular Phone     

Parking Violations
Improper/Prohibited Parking or Parked Fire Lane 
No Parking 3 a.m. to 6 a.m./Tow Away Zone 
Parking in Handicapped Only Zone 

Speeding Violations
1-5 MPH Over Limit 
6-10 MPH Over Limit 
11-15 MPH Over Limit 
16-20 MPH Over Limit 
21-25 MPH Over Limit 
26-30 MPH Over Limit 
31 + MPH Over Limit 

If you have been charged with either Reckless or Careless Driving, it's important to know what the prosecution must prove. If charged with either offense, most jurisdictions will offer a plea to a lesser charge, but if the prosecution cannot prove the charge, why should you plea? You should not plea to either offense if facing a weak case, because both crimes carry substantial driving sanctions for your Michigan driver’s license license.  If charged with reckless or careless driving, and you are not offered a plea then you should most certainly challenge the charge.  These two offenses can have a major impact on your driver's license, and could sink you financially.  

Like any other offense, a client charged with either offense is proactive from day one.  It’s important to explore what caused these alleged offenses to occur, and to address any concerns.  I’ve worked with clients who have fallen asleep at the wheel or had a medical emergency, but were still charged with these offenses.  Beyond showing the prosecutor and judge what happened, it’s also about addressing the question: will it happen again?

Along with addressing underlying issues, there’s also an opportunity to show a prosecutor and judge that the client has learned from the incident, and moving forward will be a better and safer driver.  This usually means exploring driver improvement/safe driving courses, which can not only make you a better driver, but shows the prosecutor and judge that you proactively sought this out, and you’re generally as concerned as they are about the alleged bad driving.  

With all “erratic” driving offenses in Michigan, you need to overcome the “asshole factor”.  As a former prosecutor, anytime I handled a case of someone charged with driving “erratically” on the highway, I reflected on my own experience of being annoyed by a driver, who I thought was driving like an asshole.  I was not exactly willing to cut this person a break, because I made a general assumption about their case.  

From being in the position of stereotyping these drivers, I created a proactive plan for my clients to overcome that assumption.  If back in my day as a prosecutor, an attorney came to me and showed the client had no prior driving offenses, this was an isolated incident, and the client has already addressed any concerns about poor driving by proactively completing a driver improvement class, I would be willing to dismiss and/or reduce charges.  Nobody ever did that, so I do it now, and it works.  

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Here are more specific breakdowns of the two offenses, and what a prosecutor must prove in court:

Reckless Driving
To found guilty of this offense, the prosecution must show that you were driving a car on a road open to the public or generally accessible to cars, including a parking lot, and you drove the car in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.  "Willful or wanton disregard" means more than simple carelessness but does not require proof of an intent to cause harm. It means knowingly disregarding the possible risks to the safety of people or property.

This offense is a 90-day misdemeanor and carries many of the same license implications, fines and costs of a drunk driving offense.  If convicted of this offense, six points would be added to your license.

The prosecution will attempt to prove this charge with testimony of your driving including speed, along with the the road conditions.  If there is evidence of intoxication, the prosecution will be allowed to introduce this evidence; the jury may factor this into the decision whether there was a "willful or wanton disregard" for the safety or persons or property, but this alone is not enough for a conviction.

One way to defeat a reckless driving charge is to show an error in judgment on the part of the charged driver to explain the erratic driving,  which creates reasonable doubt as "willful or wanton disregard".  Let's say you're observed switching lanes, which causes an accident, and you're charged with reckless driving - well if the other car was in your blind spot, then this may be merely negligence on your part, not willful disregard.

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.

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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.