Howard County Reckless Driving Lawyer

In Maryland, reckless driving is anything, including when a person is going over 90 miles an hour. Basically, a person is showing a willful and wanton disregard for everything that is around the person. The person is willfully putting others in danger because of the way that they drive. It carries a fine not to exceed $1,000, and a person could get no more than two years in jail or in prison. A qualified traffic defense attorney could attempt to mitigate those penalties. If you have been charged with reckless driving, speak with a Howard County reckless driving lawyer that could advocate for you.

How Does Reckless Driving Differ From Speeding

If a person is going 30 miles over the speed limit in a school district, for example, that will be something that would qualify as reckless driving and not speeding, because the person is driving carelessly or 30 miles over the speed limit in an ice storm.
Reckless driving carries a harsher penalty. With reckless driving, it will be $1,000 and no more than two years in prison, but with speeding, a person is looking at $500 and no more than a year.

Paying Reckless Driving Tickets Ahead of Time

Whether reckless driving tickets can be paid ahead of time depends on the type of ticket that the person received. If it is a must appear ticket, the must appear ticket cannot be paid. Other people have must appear tickets for reckless driving and some people do not have must appear tickets, so it depends on the type of ticket that the person receives.

How Prosecutors and Judges Treat Reckless Driving Cases

The way that prosecutors and judges treat reckless driving cases depends on the judge and the prosecutor. Some judges detest speed and if the person is speeding or driving in a reckless manner, they will give the person whatever the penalties will be. If the person sees another judge, that judge may be willing to lower the penalties, but it also depends on how many priors the person has had of this type of situation and how they view the situation of the person.

Necessity of Appearing in Court

An individual may need to appear in court if they have a must appear ticket or if they do not want to pay the fine and risk losing their license. That is 12 points and they can have their license overlooked at some point. If a person receives a must appear ticket, it could be beneficial to retain the services of a Howard County reckless driving lawyer that could advocate for them.

Aspects of Reckless Driving Trials

If a person gets a ticket and the officer does not appear, the case can be dismissed. The person has to go to trial, especially if a person has a must appear where the state will take over the process, which is going to be the same as having the hearing for a ticket and possibly going to trial. If need be, the person can appeal the matter to the circuit court of whatever county the matter occurred in, if the person does not want to have to go to district court.

Penalties

Reckless driving carries a fine of up to $1,000 and no more than two years in prison, and $1,000 fine and prison time is not an easy situation to deal with. It carries fairly more than some other offenses, which carry only a year and a fine of up to $500. A skilled Howard County reckless driving lawyer could attempt to mitigate the penalties that an individual may face.

Role of a Howard County Reckless Driving Attorney

A Howard County reckless driving lawyer’s role is to be an advocate for you. They are supposed to try to find ways to make the punishment as minimal as possible and try to work out situations where you do not have to lose your license or have it suspended. Your attorney could work diligently to ensure that you understand the facts of your case, and to ensure that this does not happen again. If you have been ticketed for reckless driving, speak with a lawyer that can fight for you.