Reckless Driving Essay

470 Words2 Pages
Careless driving Driving without due care and attention or careless driving is a moving traffic violation. Reckless driving is often defined as a mental state in which the driver displays a wanton disregard for the rules of the road; the driver often misjudges common driving procedures, often causing accidents and other damages. Reckless driving has been studied by psychologists [1] who found that reckless drivers score high in risk-taking personality traits. However, no one cause can be assigned to this state. There are some states, where mental state is not considered, but rather a set of specific violations can be deemed reckless. Excessive speed by itself is sufficient for a reckless driving conviction in some jurisdictions Since the maximum sentence has been set at 5 years imprisonment, the sentence ranges are generally lower for this offence than for the offences of causing death by dangerous driving or causing death by careless driving under the influence, for which the maximum sentence is 14 years imprisonment. However, it is unavoidable that some cases will be on the borderline between dangerous and careless driving, or may involve a number of factors that significantly increase the seriousness of an offence. As a result, the guideline for this offence identifies three levels of seriousness, the range for the highest of which overlaps with ranges for the lowest level of seriousness for causing death by dangerous driving. The three levels of seriousness are defined by the degree of carelessness involved in the standard of driving. The most serious level for this offence is where the offender's driving fell not that far short of dangerous. The least serious group of offences relates to those cases where the level of culpability is low - for example in a case involving an offender who misjudges the speed of another vehicle, or turns without seeing an

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