Is a Reckless Driving Conviction an Acceptable Plea Offer to Dismiss a DUI in South Dakota?

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally saturation patrols often lead law enforcement to arrest and charge motorists with DUI despite a low breath test result at the scene.  Not surprisingly, oftentimes the blood alcohol content test result will come back in the same range as the breath test. The question for attorneys becomes: “The prosecutor has offered me Reckless Driving… should I take this deal? “

While most of these cases can be successfully defended at a jury trial in the long run, most defendants are wanting to resolve their case without the stress or expense of an attorney handling the case, trial or no trial.  South Dakota does not suspend or revoke your driving privileges for a Reckless Driving conviction, unless you are convicted twice within one year of Reckless Driving.  If there is no other option, just taking a Reckless Driving conviction may seem the best route to go, but please keep in mind of the following consequences:

If you’re licensed in a state other than South Dakota, a Reckless Driving conviction will be reported to your home licensing state. Almost all states then assess penalties on your license due to the Interstate Compact reporting between the states.  A motor vehicle record (also known as a Driver’s History) will be created as a result of the South Dakota conviction.

(1) There are states which automatically suspend driving privileges as a result of a Reckless Driving conviction. You are encouraged to obtain a legal opinion from a qualified person in your home state before you accept Reckless Driving as a conviction.  States that are known to suspend driving privileges are: Wyoming, Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  The period of time for which your license will be suspended varies from 30 days to at least 6 months.  Both standard driving privileges and commercial driving privileges will be lost.

(2) There are a number of states that “can” or “could” suspend your license for a first offense Reckless Driving conviction communicated to your licensing state, including California, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, Ohio, Nebraska, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, and Oklahoma. Other states appear to only suspend if you have pre-existing driving points or a previous conviction for Reckless Driving. A lot of people accept Reckless Driving without knowing that their license may be suspended back home.

(3) For CDL holders of states that do not mandatorily suspend license privileges, Reckless Driving is a considered a “serious traffic offense” under federal regulations, and two of these kind of offenses within one year will lead to a disqualification of commercial driving privileges.

(4) Insurance rates typically are affected by a Reckless Driving conviction. The typical time period, according to web searches, is 3 to 5 years. However, many factors come into play such as the policies of your auto carrier, other claims you may have filed, the location of your home state, and you’re driving record. Rates can increase anywhere from “19% – 115%”, usually taking effect when your policy renews. Although not as bad as a DUI conviction, the high-risk designation may lead you to do business with a different insurance company.

(5) Finally, Reckless Driving is a Class 1 Misdemeanor in South Dakota. A conviction means you will have a criminal history record for life and may face consequences in your career field depending on employer policies, licensing, etc.

Obviously, Reckless Driving is better than taking a DUI conviction. In South Dakota, a future DUI cannot be enhanced to a second or subsequent offense if you pled or are found guilty of reckless driving.  If you are stuck accepting a Reckless Driving plea offer in exchange for a dismissal of the DUI offense, and you do not have a CDL, you may want to inquire about the use of a mechanism that will withhold a conviction and eventually seal the court file to avoid reporting through the Interstate Compact.  This means nothing from your case follows you back home!  Most of the time obtaining this outcome requires legal counsel as South Dakota courts do not volunteer this option in open court and steps need to be taken.

Additionally, judges in certain venues may tend to reject such requests depending on their judicial discretion and standards; in other words, some courts just feel that people don’t deserve to have their criminal file sealed and that only exceptional circumstances merit sealing of the file. Feel free to inquire whether your case has this option.

In some cases, being convicted of Reckless Driving may be just as bad as a DUI!  All of that depends on your driver history, where your driver’s license is from, and your career implications.  Know your options before your plead.  Before making any decision, call attorney Matt Kinney at 605-961-2945 or reach out online. Our South Dakota office locations include Spearfish, Rapid City and Sturgis.