Lake County Reckless Driving Tickets Allege Class A Misdemeanor Offenses

Lake County Reckless Driving Tickets Allege Class A Misdemeanor Offenses

A ticket for reckless driving alleges a serious offense. In Illinois, reckless driving is a class A misdemeanor charge. A class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to 364 days in jail and up to a $2500 fine.

To put this in perspective, many Illinois traffic tickets are charged as petty offenses. Illinois petty offense traffic tickets do not carry potential jail sentences. Illinois misdemeanor tickets do.

Illinois has three levels of misdemeanor traffic tickets: class C, class B and class A. Class A misdemeanor traffic tickets carry the greatest possible penalty of all three classes of misdemeanors.

If you're charged with reckless driving in Lake County, your case requires a court appearance.

A reckless driving ticket, being a class A misdemeanor allegation, does not permit you to resolve the matter with a request for court supervision and traffic school online or by mail.

Lake County Reckless Driving Tickets Usually are Based in Part on Allegations of Excessive Speed

Lake County Reckless Driving Tickets Usually are Based in Part on Allegations of Excessive Speed

What are Lake County reckless driving cases often about? The Illinois reckless driving statute, found in the Illinois Vehicle Code, sheds light on this question.

Under Illinois law, "A person commits reckless driving if he or she drives any vehicle with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property."¹

Countless Illinois drivers are charged with speeding, including misdemeanor-level speeding, yet at the same time are not charged with reckless driving.

This is because exceeding the applicable speed limit all by itself may be insufficient to show reckless driving occurred without some additional evidence demonstrating a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.

In my more than twenty-five years of Lake County courtroom experience, Lake County reckless driving cases very often, if not the overwhelming majority of the time, are, indeed, based in part on alleged excessive speeds-- but also are based on some other alleged act of "bad driving."

For instance, a police officer might charge reckless driving by claiming to have observed speeding and improper lane changes, speeding and striking or nearly striking a person or another vehicle, or speeding and the commission of other moving violations.

For this reason, when the police issue a reckless driving ticket, frequently it is charged in conjunction with other traffic citations, such as speeding, improper lane use, failure to signal a change of lanes, fleeing or eluding a police officer, disobeying a traffic control device, running a red light, not stopping at a stop sign, driving the wrong way or failing to yield the right-of-way.

It is, alternatively, entirely possible to be charged with reckless driving where an act of speeding is not alleged.

It is recalled that reckless driving may be charged for allegedly driving in a manner that willfully or wantonly disregards the safety of persons or property-- that is a highly general statement. Within that statement, however, there is no formal requirement of any showing that the applicable speed limit was violated.

As a lawyer who's been handling Lake County reckless driving cases since 1999, I understand and have worked with these issues many times.

I'm always ready to analyze the facts of a reckless driving case, review a driving record, and to seek favorable outcomes for my clients in reckless driving cases.

If you're dealing with a Lake County reckless driving ticket at any of the courthouses located in Mundelein, Park City, Round Lake Beach or Waukegan, I'm available to talk with you about your case.

Lake County Aggravated Reckless Driving is a Felony-Level Offense

Lake County Aggravated Reckless Driving is a Felony-Level Offense

It should be noted that there is another, even more serious type of reckless driving charge in Illinois law. This more serious version of reckless driving is called "aggravated reckless driving."

Aggravated reckless driving is a felony-level offense. Lake County felony reckless driving charges are assigned to the main criminal courthouse in Waukegan and are not resolved in the traffic branch courts of Park City, Mundelein or Round Lake Beach.

Aggravated reckless driving may be charged when reckless driving is alleged in addition to other specific, statutorily-enumerated factors.

These other factors include causing bodily harm, great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement to a child or school crossing guard performing official duties, or causing great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement to anyone.²

Reckless Driving Tickets Can Lead to the Suspension or Revocation of an Illinois Driver's License

Reckless Driving Tickets Can Lead to the Suspension or Revocation of an Illinois Driver's License

There are situations where a reckless driving ticket could lead to a suspension or revocation of an Illinois driver's license.

Drivers under the age of 21 who are convicted of only two moving violations that occurred in a single two-year period are subject to license suspensions by the Office of the Illinois Secretary of State.³

Drivers age 21 and over who are convicted of three moving violations that occurred in a single one-year period are subject to license suspensions on those grounds.⁴ Some people call this Illinois' traffic ticket "three strikes law."

An Illinois driver will suffer the outright revocation of her or his driver's license based on a third conviction for reckless driving committed within 12 months.⁵

Jumping a Vehicle as Reckless Driving Per Se

Jumping a Vehicle as Reckless Driving Per Se

Another portion of the Illinois reckless driving law addresses and outlaws a very specific type of driving.

This section of the Illinois reckless driving statute deems it reckless driving if a person "knowingly drives a vehicle and uses an incline in a roadway, such as a railroad crossing, bridge approach, or hill, to cause the vehicle to become airborne."⁶

So, that Illinois driver who is proven beyond a reasonable doubt to have knowingly employed a ramp in the roadway to have launched his or her vehicle airborne in direct defiance of the earthly bonds of gravity is guilty of reckless driving, it appears, per se.

If you are charged with this form of reckless driving infraction in Lake County, and are seeking an experienced traffic court attorney to be your legal advocate, you may call me and we can talk about a smart and grounded defense.

There are Different Ways to Seek to Avoid a Conviction in a Reckless Driving Case

There are Different Ways to Seek to Avoid a Conviction in a Reckless Driving Case

If you are charged with reckless driving, you have the right to a trial. At trial, the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

The prosecution is required to prove the allegation beyond a reasonable doubt. Any lesser form of proof in a reckless driving trial should lead to a not-guilty verdict and an acquittal of the charge.

Another way of resolving a reckless driving ticket is through negotiation. You may be eligible for court supervision, a disposition that does not result in a conviction for the offense. Other types of negotiations may lead to a dismissal or amendment of the charge to something else.

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Statutory Sources:

1. 625 ILCS 5/11-503(a)(1).   2. 625 ILCS 5/11-503(b-1), (c) and (d).   3. 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(36).   4. 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(2).   5. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)(6).   6. 625 ILCS 5/11-503(a)(2).

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