Reckless Driving, Speed Contest, Fake ID - CA

[fbob]

I'm located in LA county, California. No previous charges/tickets/etc.

I got arrested (and put in jail for a night before I was bailed out) for three misdemeanors - Reckless driving with bodily injury, speed contest, and i got charged with a False identification at booking. It was stupid I know, I've learned my lesson and I feel really bad for what I did.

Now, I've only gone through a couple pre-trials where they kept postponing the trials. What am i looking at here? My lawyer doesnt tell me much (he thinks it's best not to). Some people have told me definite county jail time (some say 30 days, others say a year), while others have said a boatload of community service. I'm honestly scared to crap of what this will do to my life but I know I've gotta face the music.

I appreciate all and any input.

[CdwJava]

The mandatory minimum time to be served for a first offense reckless driving with injury pursuant to CVC 23104 would be 30 days. That is the LEAST amount of time you would serve.

With the offenses you face, you can expect to do up to a year in county jail, lose your license, pay a lot of fines and restitution, get sentenced to probation for a few years plus possible community service, and expect to be sued in civil court by the person you injured (and for all their medical bills and related lost wages and damages).

As part of your community service or mandatory counseling you might have to spend some time in the local morgue so you can see first hand the result of speeding vehicles. I've seen it - it ain't pretty. You will be fortunate in that you might see them in a more controlled environment ... try scraping the remains off the pavement and shoveling them into a body bag.

I hope you learn from this. Next time you might kill someone ... if it was only YOUR life at risk, I would not have as big a problem with it. When you endanger others, I have a HUGE problem.

- Carl

[fbob]

Well, I wake up every morning wishing it was just me on that road that day. 30 days to a year sounds pretty frightening. Fortunately, the victim is doing good with no permanent injuries. And the community service thing with the morgue visits sounds like it'd do me some good. All in all, I'm just hoping that I won't get jail time. Is there any chance of that?

BTW, After the incident, I've gotten a stable job and I'm getting promoted soon. Does that help at all?

Oh and one other thing, what sorta plea bargin would I be looking at?

[CdwJava]

Given the offenses you listed, I'd say there is little to no chance of avoiding jail time. My guess is that the best plea deal you can hope for is one that has you serve only a month or two in custody.

These are things you need to discuss with your attorney. Only your attorney can tell you what you might expect in the way of an offer from the DA, or what your local court might sentence you to if convicted or you plead guilty. Keep in mind that they do not HAVE to deal - they COULD go to trial. If that happens, you could get spanked for the full term. You likely have very few cards to play in this game.

- Carl

[patstew]

Originally Posted by fbob

What am i looking at here? My lawyer doesnt tell me much (he thinks it's best not to).

Wow. I'd get another attorney.

[cepe10]

Originally Posted by CdwJava

As part of your community service or mandatory counseling you might have to spend some time in the local morgue so you can see first hand the result of speeding vehicles. - Carl

Actually speed doesn't kill at all - the difference in speed between two objects kills. Thus the reason NASCAR drivers can go 200+ miles per hour in heavy traffic with very few fatalities. I just got done with a speed study on I-70. Guess what? 96% of the vehicles were above the posted speed limit. That remaining 4% were were some of the worst drivers and worst vehicles on the road. 41% of the vehicles were tractor trailers and most of them were over the posted speed limits for cars (their own speed limit being 5 mph slower). No one is safer driving slowly. They are safer driving with the prevailing flow of traffic. If you want to be scraped off the road - impede the flow of fully loaded dump trucks by all means.

[The Occultist]

Originally Posted by cepe10

Actually speed doesn't kill at all - the difference in speed between two objects kills. Thus the reason NASCAR drivers can go 200+ miles per hour in heavy traffic with very few fatalities. I just got done with a speed study on I-70. Guess what? 96% of the vehicles were above the posted speed limit. That remaining 4% were were some of the worst drivers and worst vehicles on the road. 41% of the vehicles were tractor trailers and most of them were over the posted speed limits for cars (their own speed limit being 5 mph slower). No one is safer driving slowly. They are safer driving with the prevailing flow of traffic. If you want to be scraped off the road - impede the flow of fully loaded dump trucks by all means.

You're only correct to a point. My whole point, the only point I've ever had, is that EVERYBODY should go the speed limit. That way I get my way (speed limit enforced), and you get yours (everybody going with the flow of traffic)

[cepe10]

Originally Posted by The Occultist

You're only correct to a point. My whole point, the only point I've ever had, is that EVERYBODY should go the speed limit. That way I get my way (speed limit enforced), and you get yours (everybody going with the flow of traffic)

Well if the law enforcement and insurance company lobbyists would quit pressing for the artificially low limits (and variable limits were introduced) then we would have something...

In most instances, a speed limit based on the 85th percentile reflects the expectations of the largest proportion of drivers; is found by most to be a safe and comfortable limit; facilitates speed enforcement; and offers the greatest chance of achieving some uniformity in speeds on a given road. When motorists drive at a relatively uniform speed, tailgating, lane changing, and overtaking are reduced. As a result, collisions are less likely to occur.

[url]http://www.sha.state.md.us/safety/oots/trafficsignalsandlaws/speedlimits2.asp[/url]

[The Occultist]

Then stop telling the people on this board about that, because that won't help anybody win a case. Instead, you should be pushing this information to your legislatures, and urging everybody else to do so as well. Until the speed limits are changed, we are required to abide by the limits that you feel are too low.

[CdwJava]

I'm still trying to figure out what a "law enforcement lobbyist" is.

Our reps tend to lobby for stiffer penalties for certain laws, and on labor issues, but not for lower speed limits. I can see them advocating for laws that would allow government to modify speeds for safety purposes, or even to increase penalties, but to go to the legislature and ask for lower speeds??

And if the insurance companies are doing this then it must mean that they are having to pay a great deal of money for speed-related collisions. If high speeds and higher speed roadways resulted in fewer collisions, this would benefit them and they would push for this.

Oh well ... as you say, the laws are what they are right now. That is what we have to deal with - not panacea pie-in-the-sky solutions that are not law.

- Carl

[cepe10]

Originally Posted by The Occultist

Then stop telling the people on this board about that, because that won't help anybody win a case. Instead, you should be pushing this information to your legislatures, and urging everybody else to do so as well. Until the speed limits are changed, we are required to abide by the limits that you feel are too low.

I have a 100 page document in front of me with 20 or so lines on each page each describing transportation article violations for MD DC/CR 90 rev 10/2006). The sad fact is they most are ignored by enforcement (such as TA 21.303e driver increasing speed when overtaken by passing vehicle) the rest are enforced selectively in the most arbitrary and capricious manner possible. The fact is that the intent of the law is what was meant to be regulated – therefore it is not really a legislative issue but rather the law enforcement agencies picking and choosing what they want to enforce and how they choose to enforce the laws – such as writing speeding tickets for drivers traveling under the 85% speed – when that conflicts with target enforcement guidance that has been established by MDSHA.

[The Occultist]

Another portion of your logic I don't agree with, Cepe, is that raising the speed limits will solve problems. People will continue to speed no matter what the speed limit is. If you raise the limit in an area, people aren't gonna think, "Oh, they raised the limit, I guess I'll go the speed limit, now." No, they're gonna start going 15mph above that new limit. At least with lower limits we help reduce the potential of too many people driving at speeds that really are unsafe for the road.

[cepe10]

Originally Posted by The Occultist

Another portion of your logic I don't agree with, Cepe, is that raising the speed limits will solve problems. People will continue to speed no matter what the speed limit is. If you raise the limit in an area, people aren't gonna think, "Oh, they raised the limit, I guess I'll go the speed limit, now." No, they're gonna start going 15mph above that new limit. At least with lower limits we help reduce the potential of too many people driving at speeds that really are unsafe for the road.

That's a common misconception. After reviewing all the studies out and doing a few hundred speed studies yourself you will see it is just not true...


Will crashes increase if the speed limit is raised?
Probably not. Research has shown that the posted speed limit has little effect on the speeds at which most motorists drive. Raising the speed limit does not significantly raise the speeds at which motorists drive, and lowering the limit generally does not appreciably decrease their speeds. However, the more motorists learn from their experiences that speed limits are set at speeds that they consider safe and reasonable the greater the chances that the motorists will heed them. Speed limits significantly lower than the 85th percentile speed are ignored by many drivers and difficult to enforced

In most instances, a speed limit based on the 85th percentile reflects the expectations of the largest proportion of drivers; is found by most to be

a safe and comfortable limit; facilitates speed enforcement; and offers the greatest chance of achieving some uniformity in speeds on a given road. When motorists drive at a relatively uniform speed, tailgating, lane changing, and overtaking are reduced. As a result, collisions are less likely to occur.

Those who drive much faster or slower than most of the drivers around them place themselves and others at considerable risk of a collision. When the posted limit is reasonable, enforcement can be targeted to the relatively small percentage that exceeds the speed limit.









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