When you make a mistake behind the wheel of your car in Texas, it can lead to a serious charge and serious consequences. From traffic violations to DWI charges and beyond, a conviction for a vehicular crime can derail your plans – and potentially your future.
The more serious the charge, the more serious the fines and penalties you will face, which makes having a better understanding of vehicular charges in Texas a good place to start. And if you are already facing a charge, look to an experienced Round Rock criminal defense attorney for the professional guidance you need.
Factors that Can Affect Your Case
Every vehicular charge is specific to the circumstances involved, and factors like the following all play a serious role:
Whether or not the charge is your first
If you are considered a habitual offender
Whether or not drugs or alcohol were involved
The degree to which you were intoxicated
Whether there was an accident involved and whether the accident caused property damage, caused someone else to be injured, or caused someone else to lose their life
The more aggravating factors that apply the steeper the penalties and fines you will face.
Reckless Driving
Reckless driving in Texas refers to throwing caution to the wind and driving recklessly – even though you are aware of the associated risks and know that you are putting other people in danger. While you may not plan on hurting anyone, failing to take the precautions necessary to protect others on the road and driving with abandon amounts to recklessness.
When we drive, we all assume an immense responsibility for the safety of others. Recklessly ignoring this responsibility can lead to serious crashes and serious charges.
If you drive your car in a manner that willfully disregards the property or safety of others, you can be charged with reckless driving, and each of the following examples suffices:
Driving at excessive speeds
Weaving in and out of traffic without considering the risk it poses
Attempting to evade law enforcement
Racing other drivers on a public highway
Ignoring traffic lights, signs, and signals
Following other motorists far too closely
Being seriously distracted behind the wheel, such as by texting
A reckless driving charge begins as a Class B misdemeanor, and the fines and penalties faced include the following:
A fine of up to $200
A jail sentence of up to 30 days
A potential driver’s license suspension
If your reckless driving causes an accident in which someone is hurt, the penalties you experience can be considerably higher.
Driving while Intoxicated
The charge of driving while intoxicated (DWI) relates to driving while over the legal limit of .08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or while intoxicated by drugs.
However, even if you test under the .08 percent threshold in Texas, you can still be charged with DWI if the police determine that – according to their observations – your driving was impaired due to alcohol consumption.
Fines and Penalties
The basic penalties that apply to a first DWI charge, which is generally a Class B misdemeanor, include:
Fines of up to $2,000
A sentence of up to 180 days in a county jail
A mandatory driver’s license suspension of from 90 days to a year
While there is a minimum mandatory three-day stint in jail recommended for all first-time DWI convictions, many judges throughout the state are willing to consider probation as long as there was not an injury-causing accident involved. If the DWI charge is not your first or there are aggravating factors, you can expect more serious fines and penalties.
Social Consequences
There is also the matter of social consequences to consider. Even if the DWI charge is your first, a conviction – because it is a matter of public information – can lead to all the following:
A tarnished reputation
Difficulty finding a job
Difficulty renting a place to live or being approved for a home loan
Fewer opportunities for furthering your education and expanding your career
Loss of professional licensure
If you have been charged with DWI, don’t hesitate to contact a knowledgeable Round Rock criminal defense attorney to help.
Intoxication Vehicular Manslaughter
If you are charged with driving while intoxicated by drugs or alcohol that leads to a fatal accident, you can face intoxication vehicular manslaughter charges. This is a separate charge from vehicular manslaughter that is based on recklessness because the fact of being intoxicated fulfills the recklessness requirement.
This means that if the state can prove you were intoxicated, they are not required to prove further recklessness.
The charge is a second-degree felony that carries fines of up to $10,000 and a prison sentence of from 2 to 20 years. Additional requirements include:
A minimum of 240 hours of community service, which can extend all the way to 800 hours of community service
A mandatory intoxication manslaughter probation period after you have served your prison sentence and paid your fines
Vehicular manslaughter is a lesser charge, and pleading down to vehicular manslaughter from intoxication vehicular manslaughter is sometimes a possibility. Often this relates to proving that your intoxication was not the direct cause of the fatal accident.
Each of the following factors can enhance the intoxication vehicular manslaughter charge against you, which means even more serious penalties and fines:
If your BAC at the time of the accident was .15 percent or higher
If you have a prior DWI, intoxication vehicular assault, or intoxication vehicular manslaughter conviction on your record
If you had a minor in your car with you at the time of the accident
If you had an open container of alcohol in your vehicle at the time of the accident
If the person you injured was a police officer or a first responder
Leaving the Scene of an Accident
Every motorist involved in a traffic accident in Texas is required to stop and—at a bare minimum—exchange the necessary information with the other driver. If the accident causes more than minimal damage to the vehicles or leaves someone injured, the drivers are required to stop and wait until the authorities arrive.
Failure to do so can lead to a hit-and-run charge—or a charge of leaving the scene of an accident. A hit-and-run charge can apply in any of the following circumstances:
Falling to immediately stop your vehicle at the scene of the accident – or stopping as close to the accident as possible – without obstructing traffic unnecessarily
Failing to immediately return to the scene of the accident if traffic’s flow prevented you from stopping at the scene
Failing to remain at the scene of the accident until you have exchanged your name, contact information, driver’s license number, car registration, and insurance info with the other driver
Failing to provide the other person with reasonable assistance if they were injured in the course of the accident
If the accident involves property damage only, you can face a jail sentence of up to six months and fines of up to $2,000 for leaving the scene of an accident. However, if you leave the scene of an accident that leaves someone else injured or dead, you can face a felony charge that carries 5 to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.
Your future is too important to leave to chance. Reach out to a Round Rock criminal defense attorney now.
Vehicular Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide
If your recklessness behind the wheel causes someone else to lose their life, you can face a serious criminal charge in Texas. The State of Texas distinguishes between criminally negligent homicide and vehicular manslaughter, and the difference lies in the level of culpability assigned.
Criminally Negligent Homicide
The criminal negligence necessary to support a criminally negligent homicide charge refers to the defendant’s failure to exercise the reasonable level of care that other reasonable motorists employ behind the wheel and causing a fatal accident as a result.
While the defendant may not have intended to harm anyone, their criminally negligent actions, nevertheless, caused someone else to lose their life. If the vehicular charge is criminally negligent homicide, it is generally a state jail felony, which carries the following penalties:
Fines of up to $10,000
A sentence in a state jail facility of from 6 months to 2 years
Vehicular Manslaughter
Recklessness behind the wheel that leads to someone else’s death can lead to a charge of vehicular manslaughter. The charge of recklessness refers to knowing that what you are doing is exceptionally dangerous and that it puts others at extreme risk but continuing to do it anyway.
Driving while intoxicated can be elevated to vehicular manslaughter if the accident you cause proves fatal. Vehicular manslaughter charges are typically second-degree felonies that carry the following penalties:
Fines of up to $10,000
A prison sentence of from 2 to 20 years
Drag Racing
It is against the law in Texas to race on a public highway, which is commonly referred to as drag racing. Drag racing, specifically, refers to either of the following:
When two or more vehicles start at a set point and drive side by side at increasing speeds in order to compete in terms of speed or in terms of outdistancing one another
When one or more vehicles travel a specific course for the purpose of comparing each vehicle’s power of acceleration or relative speed
Race in this context refers to one or more vehicles engaging in any of the following activities:
Outdistancing or gaining on another vehicle
Preventing another vehicle from passing
Arriving at a set destination before another vehicle does
Testing a motorist’s endurance or physical stamina over the course of a long-distance driving route
The law prohibits all the following on Texas roads:
Racing another motorist
Having a speed competition or contest with another motorist
Having a contest regarding acceleration with another motorist
Engaging in any test of physical endurance in relation to the operation of vehicles with another motorist
Exhibiting a vehicle’s speed or acceleration as a matter of show or to set a record
Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon
When a vehicle is used to purposefully harm someone else, it qualifies as a deadly weapon in the State of Texas, and the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – including a vehicle – is an exceptionally serious charge that carries exceptionally stiff penalties.
Simple Assault
Simple assault refers to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing someone else to be injured, threatening to injure someone else, or coming into contact with someone else in a manner that you know or should know they will consider provocative or offensive.
Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon
If the assault involves a deadly weapon, such as a vehicle, the charge is elevated to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and it can apply even if the victim is not harmed. A deadly weapon is anything that can cause serious injury or death, and a car certainly qualifies.
Although vehicles, in and of themselves, are not classified as deadly weapons, they can be when they are used in this capacity.
The charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a second-degree felony, and a conviction carries the following penalties:
A prison sentence of from 2 to 20 years
Fines of up to $10,000
Seek the Skilled Legal Counsel of an Experienced Round Rock Criminal Defense Attorney Today
Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a formidable Round Rock criminal defense attorney who has successfully defended a wide range of clients facing vehicular charges and is here for you too.
Because bringing your strongest defense is paramount, don’t put off contacting or calling us at 254-781-4222 to schedule a free consultation and learn more about what we can do to help you today.
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