Careless Driving

Maybe the medication you took for your cold made you so sleepy that you couldn’t pay attention to the road and you drove into a guardrail. The police wrote you a ticket for careless driving.

A moving violation ticket – or two or three — can lead to escalating difficulties like points on your driving record, costly fines, rising insurance premiums and even suspension of your driver’s license. A defense attorney can help you minimize or avoid these problems.

What You Need To Know About Careless Driving

In Pennsylvania, you can be ticketed for careless driving when you drive with “careless disregard for the safety of persons or property.”

Careless driving is a less serious alternative than reckless driving — which is defined in the Commonwealth as driving with intentional or wanton disregard for the safety of others – because in careless driving, the driver did not act intentionally.

Described in very general language in the code, careless driving can cover many kinds of inattentive driving behavior.

If you are found guilty of careless driving, which is a summary offense, three points will be added to your driving record.

If someone was unintentionally injured due to your careless driving, you will be fined $250 and if someone was killed, your fine will be $500. In both cases you may have to spend up to 90 days in jail.

What To Do If The Police Pull You Over

• Turn the ignition off but don’t get out of the car.
• Don’t argue with the police officer or get angry.
• Be polite.

How A Lawyer Will Help

When you are up against a traffic violation, you need an attorney who will stand by you every step of the way, work hard to discredit any evidence – and work with you to determine your best course of action.

Pennsylvania Traffic Violation Law

Traffic violation is described and defined under The Pennsylvania Code under Title 75. Read the code here.