When a person has been charged with DUI in Georgia, it is considered a favorable outcome to get the DUI reduced to "reckless driving." That being said, please understand that not every case qualifies for a reduction. To qualify the case must merit a reduction because there is either a legal or factual reason for it.
That also being said, clients often ask how a person can plead to reckless driving when the police officer never saw that person drive. A perfect example is when there has been an accident, or the police charge someone with DUI at a roadblock.
In the case of the accident involving an impaired driver, logically there is sufficient recklessness because of the crash. As for a roadside checkpoint, it takes a bit more analysis; however, there is still sufficient evidence to warrant a plea to reckless driving.
In Georgia, Reckless Driving is defined as driving a vehicle with reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property (see O.C.G.A 40-6-390). Nowhere in the statute does it describe a particular kind of driving. Consuming alcohol before driving, even to less than what would need to have caused a person to be fully impaired, is reckless behavior. That is why a person could be considered to have driven with reckless disregard for the safety of others, even if the police officer did not observe them driving.
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