Everyone has days where they don’t drive as well as they should. You might be distracted by something upsetting that happened at work or be hurrying home to make dinner for visiting family. Whatever the issue is, most people have times where they make mistakes on the road.
If you get caught driving carelessly, then you may be pulled over by the police. You could be given a moving violation for careless driving and face up to four points on your driving record. There are also potential fines.
What is careless driving?
By law, careless driving happens when a person drives in a way that endangers others or their property. For example, if you are driving and hit the curb, you could be accused of careless driving. If you drive over the center line or in a way that negatively influences the traffic around you, then an officer may cite you with a moving violation. A fine for careless driving is usually up to $500.
Careless driving is not the same as reckless driving. Reckless driving is a criminal offense and is when a person drives in a way that willfully disregards the safety of others. It can lead to jail time and fines.
While a careless driving moving violation is less serious than a reckless driving offense, you will still want to defend yourself. You don’t want to face points on your license, fines and other impacts from a traffic offense when you have an opportunity to defend yourself and potentially have the violation dropped. You’ll certainly want to take time to learn more about careless driving, your options to dispute the violation and the benefits associated with doing so.