You could go to jail for reckless driving in Muskogee, Oklahoma. If you are used to cruising around Muskogee at well over the speed limit, you could find yourself paying some fines or going to jail for endangering others or their property.
Possible Scenarios
Do you talk on your mobile device or text friends while driving? Driving while chatting with others on your mobile device could end up with you pulled over in Muskogee.
If you are taking medications that make you drowsy or affect your concentration, avoid getting behind the wheel. If you are spotted by law enforcement driving under the influence of medications that affect your attention, you could be charged with reckless driving in Muskogee.
Typically, a reckless driving charge is brought against drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol or other controlled substances. A DUI charge may be reduced to the lesser charge of reckless driving, which a misdemeanor in Oklahoma.
Consequences May Be Severe
Reckless driving in Muskogee is driving in a careless manner that gives no regard to the safety of property and persons. Okla. Stat. tit. 47 § 11-901
Oklahoma laws forbid driving if the driver is not able to give due regard to the safety of others or their property. For instance, if a driver usually wears spectacles, but for some reason decides to drive without them, he or she may be charged with reckless driving if caught.
If a driver gets into an accident where there are fatalities, he or she could be charged with negligent homicide. Okla. Stat. tit. 47 § 11-904
That you did not have your spectacles and could not see well or that you were taking medication that caused distraction are not defenses when involved in an accident or facing a charge of reckless driving in Oklahoma.
Elements of Reckless Driving in Muskogee
To be convicted of this crime, the state must prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, the following aspects of the crime.
- Driving
- a motor vehicle
- in a careless or wanton manner
- without regard for the safety of people or property;
- that violated lawful speed limits;
- that failed to attain or exceeded the speed that a careful and prudent person would have considered reasonable and proper having due regard for the traffic, surface, and width of the highway, and other conditions; or
- that exceeded the speed that a careful and prudent person would have considered reasonable and proper to stop within the assured clear distance ahead.
Penalties for Reckless Driving in Muskogee
Penalties for reckless driving in Muskogee are rather harsh for what may appear to be a simple matter. A first offender faces between 5 and 90 days in jail, fine between $100 and $500, or both.
Second and subsequent convictions can land someone behind bars for 10 to 180 days and cost him or her a fine between $150 and $1,000.
Also, your driver’s license could be suspended or revoked.
Low-cost Consultation: Muskogee Traffic Ticket Lawyer
Only experienced traffic ticket lawyers in Muskogee OK can work to build a strong defense for you. What may look like insignificant issues to an inexperienced attorney may, in the end, determine the outcome of your reckless driving case.
Details matter when piecing together the evidence for your defense. Our Muskogee attorneys will stand up for you against bogus criminal charges or negotiate a better outcome if you did indeed commit a crime.
Our attorneys are skilled and experienced and know how to present in court the details that can make a significant effect on the result of the criminal case.
Call a Muskogee traffic ticket lawyer at 918-884-7774 today and get answers to your questions. You may also schedule a low-cost, confidential consultation.