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Manassas Reckless Driving by Vehicle not Under Control

Even if you lose control of your vehicle, you can still be charged with reckless driving. This could mean that your brakes are faulty, or there had been a mechanical error that you previously did not know about, or that it is simply not being driven in a proper manner.

However, it is important to remember that while it is a defensible case, reckless driving is still a criminal charge, and if convicted, it will stay on your criminal record permanently. This is why it is important to hire legal representation for your case. An experienced Manassas reckless driving attorney will be familiar with all of the laws surrounding these charges, and will know how to argue them in court and anticipate what actions the prosecution will take.

What it Means When a Vehicle is Not Under Control

Reckless driving by driving a vehicle not under control generally refers to driving with faulty brakes or operating a vehicle that you’re not properly controlling, which could constitute negligence. Common ways that this is charged in Manassas are when someone swerves to avoid something on the road and then loses control of their vehicle or something else causes them to lose control of their vehicle. Another way is if your brakes fail or your brake lights fail and then you cause an accident.

Evidence in a Reckless by Vehicle Not Under Control Case

The types of evidence Manassas prosecution will use in a reckless driving by vehicle not under control case go to show that the defendant’s vehicle was not under the defendant’s control or that his brakes are not working properly. Both of these situations are really difficult to prove without statements from the defendant admitting such, without the officer himself having witnessed the incident, or without a strong civilian witness.

A lawyer can help cross examine the officer and demonstrate either that the loss of control of the vehicle was not the fault of the driver or that the brakes were working fine and it was an unpredictable incident that the driver had no warning of.

Legal Excuses for an Out-of-Control Vehicle in Manassas

There are a multitude of reasons why someone could lose control of their vehicle through no fault of their own. For example, if there is an object on the road unexpectedly which causes the driver to maneuver to avoid hitting it and then because of this, he loses control, then that would be a legal excuse.

Likewise, if the driver goes over a patch of spilt oil or something else that shouldn’t be in the road, and it causes his vehicle to lose control, then this is another reason that he lost control without being at fault. A legal excuse for faulty brakes would be if the driver didn’t have any warning that the brakes were going to fail or were faulty, they weren’t negligent and it was just a freak occurrence that could have happened to anybody in the same circumstances.

Fault of Mechanics

This could be a possibility in defending a Manassas reckless driving by vehicle not under control case, but that would require a lot of proof. Generally, mechanics have no intention to allow vehicles to go out on the road with faulty brakes or some other defect. They want to make their money, so they inform drivers that their vehicle should be brought in for repairs or if there’s anything wrong with them.

It’s not likely that a mechanic will find an issue and then disregard it or not mention it, but if the defendant can prove this is the case, there’s a strong likelihood that it would be a defense that the court would accept.

Brake Failure

Faulty brakes mean that your vehicle can pose a hazard on the highway for other drivers because of the unreliability of your brakes functioning properly when necessary. If you have properly cared for your vehicle by having it inspected routinely and taking it in for maintenance on a regular basis, then there’s no reason that there should be anything wrong with your brakes.

Safety Inspection of the Vehicle

Safety inspections that are required to be up to date on every vehicle have a requirement of working brakes. If someone’s vehicle passed the safety inspection, they have reason to believe that their brakes were functioning properly. If they were charged with a reckless driving due to faulty brake and they failed the vehicle inspection for this reason, then that would be enough cause to show that the driver was aware of his faulty brakes and should be found guilty.

How This Charge Differs from Other Reckless Driving Charges

In court these charges are different because reckless driving by speed is charged for the behavior that occurred at the scene of incident, whereas driving with a vehicle not under your control or with faulty brakes can often be more focused on the behavior that happened before the driver ever got behind the wheel. That is, if the driver was ignoring his faulty brakes then he’s guilty before he even drives that car.

How a Lawyer Can Help With These Charges

Pretrial steps an attorney can take include gathering of all the evidence to show that you were on the ball with having your vehicle routinely inspected and maintained and that any required repairs that you are made aware of are promptly taken care of. An experienced lawyer can also explain to you what needs to be proven by the officer and can help you understand how to refute an officer’s claims. A lawyer can help you understand exactly what you’re up against and can help put together a strong defense for you.

Any conviction of reckless driving can affect a commercial driver’s license. For purposes of commercial driver’s licenses, reckless driving is a serious violation that can lead to disqualification if you accumulate too many in a short period of time. Generally, within three years is the time-frame where someone who accumulates two to three convictions is looking at a two to four month disqualification of their commercial driver’s license. When someone’s CDL license is disqualified, they’re not allowed to drive a commercial vehicle. This is something that commercial driver’s license holder should consider, because if their job depends on them being able to drive a commercial vehicle they may lose their job.

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