Maine categorizes reckless driving offenses under the terminology "driving to endanger." Conviction of driving to endanger includes both criminal penalties, as well as associated administrative action by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, upon the discretion of the Secretary of State.
As defined in Maine, driving to endanger encompasses any act of criminal negligence involving a motor vehicle that places another driver, passenger, or his or her property in danger. However, Maine also includes an offense of aggravated driving to endanger, which is defined as any act of driving to endanger that actually results in serious bodily injury to any other passenger, driver, or pedestrian.
|
Offense/Violation |
Classification |
Criminal Penalties |
Points Applied to License |
Other Administrative Penalties |
|
Driving to endanger |
Class E crime |
Incarceration not to exceed six months, with fines not to exceed $1,000 |
n/a |
License suspension of at least 30 days, but not more than 180 days. Expect 14% surcharge on any fines paid as well. |
|
Aggravated driving to endanger |
Class C crime |
Incarceration not to exceed five years, with fines not to exceed $5,000 |
n/a |
License suspension of at least 180 days, but not more than two years. Expect 14% surcharge on any fines paid as well. |
As noted above, state law requires the courts to suspend a driver's license for a minimum period, pending the specific driving to endanger charge. Furthermore, these license suspension periods are not subject to relief via work licenses until the minimum suspension period is served. However, noted in the state laws are the exception of a potential alternative sentence involving payment of fines in lieu of other sentencing means.
Although the driving to endanger charge is a serious criminal traffic offense, with the aggravated counts being on the same level as felony driving offenses, most drivers can mitigate the fallout from the charge by initially addressing the criminal case itself. Through legal counsel, drivers can seek to undermine the state's assertion that a driver's actions, which probably violated some traffic laws, were not sufficient grounds for the charge of driving to endanger. Cases are ideally resolved via plea agreements by which a driver's charge is reduced to a less serious non-criminal traffic violation, or if convicted, the sentence involves the alternative sentence mentioned above, preventing incarceration and limiting the fallout related to the driver's license privileges in Maine.
Defending against a driving to endanger charge in Maine is a heavily case-specific consideration, which will require drivers to seek dedicated legal counsel for their specific situation. To learn more about your legal rights and options in a driving to endanger case, consult with a Maine reckless driving lawyer.