Hapeville Officer Seriously Injured on Interstate 85

Hapeville Police

Hapeville, Ga. - According to reports, a Hapeville police officer was seriously injured and rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital Trauma Unit after an accident occurred on I-85 today.

Investigators believe that the crash occurred just before 1:00 pm on the side of the interstate near Sylvan Road. A driver in the left lane allegedly lost control of their vehicle and crossed over three lanes of traffic. This resulted in the driver's vehicle striking the officer's patrol car.

As a Georgia DUI Lawyer, I will go through one of the potential theories of this story which officers believe might have occurred. Investigations point to the driver's speed as being a factor and in this scenario, the driver could be facing reckless driving charges along with charges of serious injury by vehicle in Georgia. Read below to better understand the offense of reckless driving in the state of Georgia.

Reckless Driving in Georgia

 Examples of reckless driving in Georgia include (but are not limited to):

• Excessive Speeding
• Tailgating
• Illegal passing
• Weaving in and out of traffic
• Ignoring traffic control devices
• Racing other vehicles on a public roadway

Georgia Law defines reckless driving in O.C.G.A. §40-6-390 as:

(a) Any person who drives any vehicle in reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property commits the offense of reckless driving.

(b) Every person convicted of reckless driving shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or imprisonment not to exceed 12 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, provided that no provision of this Code section shall be construed so as to deprive the court imposing the sentence of the power given by law to stay or suspend the execution of such sentence or to place the defendant on probation.

Therefore, if a driver is found guilty of reckless driving, he or she could face up to a year in jail as well as fines up to $1,000.

Practice Note

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