3 Reasons You Shouldn't Ignore a Careless Driving Ticket

When it comes to road rules, two things are the major cause of accidents – reckless driving and careless driving. If a driver fails to address certain important factors for road safety, it could either result in reckless or careless driving.

However, distinguishing between careless and reckless driving can be tricky. To make it clearer, let’s look at the difference between careless driving and reckless driving.

The Difference Between Careless Driving And Reckless Driving

Most people think there is no difference between the two because, in the real sense, there are many similarities between them. This is because both reckless driving and careless driving involve inappropriate acts which can lead to fatal accidents, license suspension, demerit points on drivers’ licenses, and huge fines.

Nevertheless, there are distinctions between reckless driving and careless driving in the eyes of the relevant authority in charge of road safety. Reckless driving is tagged as a criminal offense that could lead to costly fines, demerit points on the license, and may have a jail sentence. On the other hand, careless driving is a civil traffic violation that can come with a huge fine and demerit points on your license.

Why does the law see reckless driving as a criminal offense? Because it is considered as deliberately or consciously overlooking the safety of lives and property. Whereas, careless driving is often seen as an unintentional act.

Careless Driving – What You Should Know

As stated earlier, careless driving is a civil violation of traffic rules and is charged when drivers disregard the traffic rules. A lot of factors can lead to careless driving. Below are some of the factors:

• Speeding
• Texting and driving (This would be considered as a major offense only if it leads to an accident)
• Abruptly stepping on the brake
• Risky overtaking
• Swerving into the wrong lane
• Ignoring road signs and traffic lights
• Failing to take heed of the road

Since different factors can result in careless driving, the charges are dependent on the violation you make. The driver’s intention (judged by the magistrate) will also play a role in the charges. Going through the list of behavior that could lead to careless driving, it is clear that it is not a criminal offense. Nonetheless, the charges that come with it can be costly. As for a driver that works with a company that has fleets of vehicles, if the driver is charged with careless driving, the penalties and fines would be a burden for both the company and the driver.

4 Reasons Why You Should Never Ignore Your Careless Driving Ticket

As a driver, when you receive a traffic ticket, you have two options. You can either admit it and make a payment or escalate the matter by heading to a traffic court to counter the citation. Failure to take any action could lead to several outcomes that could either be minor or severe, depending on the violated traffic rules.

Usually, the consequences for disregarding traffic tickets are minor, which involves things like paying fines and other fees. Nevertheless, the more time it takes to respond to the ticket, the greater the fines and penalties. Below are 4 reasons why you should never ignore your careless driving ticket.

#1 – It Could Lead To License Suspension

Ignoring your careless driving ticket for a certain amount of time or not responding to it in the specific states could result in the suspension of your driver’s license. The suspension could be imposed by the state-specific Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) or through the court. Because careless driving could be caused by different factors (as stated above), the suspension period may vary for different violations. For some traffic violations, your license will be suspended even without ignoring payment. In most cases, there is a deadline given to you to make payment. If the deadline elapses and you don't make the payment, further consequences may be taken.

#2 – It Could Lead To A Warrant Of Arrest

Failure to respond on time to a payment for a ticket may result in the issue of a warrant of arrest by the police. Apart from not paying for a driving ticket on time, some severe cases may lead to the direct arrest of the person. Every ticket has a deadline. Once the deadline passes and you are yet to make payment, a warrant of arrest may be issued by the local authority for further violations. What would happen if a person faces an arrest? It could lead to jail time, community payback, or community service.

#3 – Your ticket could go to collections

This is something you probably want to avoid by all means because you will need to spend some good money to get out of the mess. This reason applies to civil traffic tickets such as careless driving, speeding, failure to pay attention, and the likes. Once your ticket is in collections, the only way to get it out is by paying the whole ticket off. Paying off the ticket weighs more than it sounds because you will have to spend almost three times the price of the ticket. At this point, your driver’s license has already been suspended.

Ignoring your driving ticket is not worth it because the consequences that come with it are grievous. If you have been cited for careless driving and a ticket is issued, there is a way to go about it and, in most cases, you may not need to pay any fines or face penalties.

How To Solve a Careless Driving Ticket With Ease?

If you receive a citation for careless driving, do not fret over it because there is a solution that can dismiss the ticket. All you have to do is to get in touch with My Ticket RX for a free consultation. We will represent you in court and possibly have the ticket completely dismissed.