Reckless Driving, a Shortcut to Disaster
Video Transcribed:
So what is a serious violation in regards to a CDL? Hello, I’m Ty Smith, an OKC lawyer with Wirth Law. And this one is going out, especially to individuals that hold CDLs, commercial driving licenses, and licenses to drive and operate CMVs, also known as commercial motor vehicles. As you may or may not be aware, there are certain violations that will merit more than just the punishment that the state is going to levy against you. If you, say, speed, going 15 over, in addition to the fine and punishment the state might levy against you, you’re also going to have the Feds on you because a CDL is a federally regulated licensure. You’re going to have more than just the state to answer to.
So I already started off with that one. Of course, speeding 15 over, that’s an example of a serious violation. You also have if you are convicted of reckless driving, if you have a traffic offense that results in a collision, that results in the death of someone, that’s serious, obviously. If you do an erratic or unsafe lane change, that’s serious. If you follow too close, that’s a serious one. That one is very common actually. If you fail to obtain or maintain a CDL, that’s a serious violation. Failure to physically possess it when you’re pulled over, that’s a serious violation. Failure to have the proper class of CDL or proper endorsement, or if you have a CDL, but you’re driving the wrong type of commercial motor vehicle for that licensure, there are serious violations.
And to round it all out, essentially, if you’re using a cell phone while you’re operating a commercial motor vehicle, that’s probably going to be a serious violation. Now, if you have a Bluetooth headset, probably not. But if you are physically using your hands to operate a phone while you are driving, that’s going to be a serious violation. Okay? Now, let’s say you pick up one of these. What are you looking at? What’s a potential punishment for this? Well, your first one is going to be a freebie, meaning nothing is going to happen to your licensure. You’ll just have to pay the fine that the state’s going to levy against you. But if you pick up a second one within three years of that first one, there’s going to be a 60-day suspension of your license. Doesn’t stop there though. Let’s say you pick up a third within three years. So you have three within three years of each other, and you’re going to be suspended for 120 days.
Now, those two can’t run concurrently, meaning you can’t go, “Well, I spent…” Your 60-day timer can’t run at the same time as your 120-day timer. 60 days has to run, then the 120 days will start. Okay? This is why I encourage people not to just take any of these as a don’t… Just because the first one’s free doesn’t mean that you should just take it on the chin, okay? You need to hire an attorney for this stuff because these are serious violations and this is seriously a threat to your livelihood. So if you would like to speak to an Oklahoma CDL criminal defense attorney about a matter like this, or really any matter involving criminal law or family law, I handle those things. You can find me in the Oklahoma City area, or excuse me, theoklahomacityattorney.com, or you can call my office at (405) 888-5400 and I’d be glad to speak with you.
