Vehicle Code § 23104 VC – Reckless Driving Causing Injury

California Vehicle Code § 23104 VC is the criminal law section that applies if you drive recklessly and, in so doing, injure another person. A conviction is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and fines of up to $1000.00.

The language of the statute reads:

23104. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), whenever reckless driving of a vehicle proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, the person driving the vehicle shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months or by a fine of not less than two hundred twenty dollars ($220) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

Examples

• driving a car at high speeds through a school zone and hurting a motorist in a collision.
• doing doughnuts in an icy parking lot and hitting a pedestrian.
• ignoring a stop sign and rear-ending a vehicle, which causes an injury to the other driver.

Defenses

You can raise a legal defense to contest a charge under this statute. Common defenses include:

• no reckless driving,
• no injury to someone else, and/or
• necessity.

Penalties

Reckless driving causing an injury is a misdemeanor. This is opposed to a California felony or an infraction.

The offense is punishable by:

• custody in county jail for up to six months, and/or
• a maximum fine of $1,000.

A judge can award misdemeanor (or summary) probation in lieu of jail time.

Our California criminal defense attorneys will address the following in this article:

• 1. What are the elements of reckless driving with injury?
• 2. Are there legal defenses?
• 3. What are the penalties for 23104 VC?
• 4. Are there immigration consequences?
• 5. Can I get a conviction expunged?
• 6. Are there related offenses?
• Additional Reading

1. What are the elements of reckless driving with injury?

A prosecutor must prove the following “elements” to prove a charge under Vehicle Code 23104:

1. you drove a vehicle recklessly, and
2. when doing so, you caused injury to another person.¹

Under California’s jury instructions, “reckless driving” is defined as:

• intentionally driving with,
• wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.²

You act with “wanton disregard for safety” when:

1. you are aware that your actions present a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm, and
2. you intentionally ignore that risk.³

Note that you do not have to intend to cause injury to be guilty of this crime.⁴

Example: Michelle is driving fast on a highway while weaving in and out of traffic. She realizes she is driving somewhat dangerous and could cause an accident, but she doesn’t care. Michelle soon hits another car and injures that vehicle’s driver.

Here, Michelle is guilty of reckless driving causing injury. She was aware that her driving created a risk of harm, but she ignored it and caused an injury in doing so.

Also note that if:

• you plead guilty to this offense, the guilty plea is only valid if,
• the facts of the case do indeed show that a person did suffer an injury.⁵

2. Are there legal defenses?

Here at Shouse Law Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with traffic offenses such as reckless driving causing injury. In our experience, the following three defenses have been very effective in getting charges reduced or dismissed.

Your Driving Was Not Reckless

We have had many cases where it turned out the police were plain wrong about our clients’ driving being reckless. Sometimes they simply ticketed the incorrect driver, or sometimes their radar gun was faulty. In any case, we rely on the following evidence to show that you were not driving with wanton disregard for others’ safety:

• the police’s dashcam video
• traffic-mounted surveillance video
• your GPS records
• eyewitness accounts

No One Else Was Injured

Police can be quick to presume someone was injured in a traffic incident when in fact:

• no injury occurred,
• the “victim” lied about being injured, and/or
• any injury predated the incident.

In these cases, we rely heavily on any available video evidence, eyewitness accounts, and also medical records. If necessary, we can hire a medical expert to testify that the injury at issue could not have been caused by your driving.

Your Driving Arose Out of Necessity

A necessity defense is when you:

• try to avoid guilt,
• by showing that you had a sufficiently good reason to commit the crime.

People sometimes refer to this defense as “guilty with an explanation.” In the context of VC 23104, we can try to show that you committed the crime since you had no other choice. Perhaps, for example:

• you were dodging a falling tree breach,
• another driver was about to swerve into you, or
• your brakes or steering failed, and you were trying to regain control of the car

If we can get the prosecutors to see that you acted reasonably under the circumstances – and that any other reasonable person in your position would have acted the same way – they may agree to drop the charges.

3. What are the penalties for 23104 VC?

A violation of 23104 VC is a misdemeanor.

The offense is punishable by:

• custody in county jail for up to six months, and/or
• a maximum fine of $1,000.⁶

4. Are there immigration consequences?

A conviction under these laws does not have any adverse immigration consequences.

Sometimes, a California conviction can lead to a non-citizen being:

• deported, or
• marked as inadmissible.

An example is when you get convicted of an aggravated felony.

VC 23104 violations, though, do not have this effect.

5. Can I get a conviction expunged?

You can get an expungement for a conviction under this statute.

This is true provided that you successfully complete:

• probation, or
• your jail term (whichever was imposed).

6. Are there related offenses?

Reckless Driving – VC 23103

Vehicle Code 23103 VC is the California statute that defines the offense of “reckless driving.” You commit this crime if:

1. you drove a vehicle on a highway or in an off-street parking facility, and
2. you drove with wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.

You do not have to cause any injury to be convicted under this statute.

Reckless Driving Resulting in Specific Serious Injury – VC 23105

Vehicle Code 23105 VC is the California statute that makes it a crime to:

1. drive recklessly, and
2. cause a “certain injury” to another person when doing so.

These “certain injuries,” include things like:

• a loss of consciousness,
• a concussion, or
• a bone fracture.

Speed Contests – VC 23109

California Vehicle Code 23109 VC makes it a crime to participate in a speed contest willfully.

A “speed contest” is when you:

• race your vehicle,
• against another car or against a clock or other timing device.

Unlike VC 23104, you do not have to cause any injury to be guilty under this statute.

Additional Resources

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Deportation and Driving: Felony DUI and Reckless Driving as Crimes of Violence following Leocal v. Ashcroft – Journal of Crime & Criminology.
• Criminal Law: Reckless Driving Is Not a Lesser Included Offense of Driving While under the Influence of Alcohol – Washburn Law Journal.
• Reckless and Careless Driving: Is There a Difference? – The Journal of Criminal Law.
• Sociodemographic, behavioral, and substance use correlates of reckless driving in the United States: Findings from a national Sample – Journal of Psychiatric Research.
  
• Death on the Highway: Reckless Driving as Murder – Oregon Law Review.

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