Is reckless driving a felony?

Reckless driving generally means driving in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of people or property. Texas, California, Florida and Pennsylvania all use that wording.^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7}

New York defines it as driving in a way that unreasonably interferes with the use of the public highway or parking lot, or unreasonably endangers its users. Virginia's general rule covers driving recklessly, or at a speed or in a manner that endangers the life, limb or property of any person. North Carolina covers driving carelessly and heedlessly in willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others.

Some states make certain speeding and racing automatically reckless driving. In Virginia, driving 20 miles per hour or more over the limit, or over 85 miles per hour, is reckless driving, and so is racing.^3,8,9

In Florida, fleeing a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle is reckless driving per se. Virginia also makes exhibition driving, such as spinning in a circle near a group of people, reckless driving. See our speeding page for how speed alone is treated.

Reckless driving with no injury is a misdemeanor in most of the states checked, including Texas, California, New York, Illinois, North Carolina and Virginia. Florida punishes a first conviction with up to 90 days in jail or a fine.^{1,2,3,5,7,10,11,12,13}

Texas, New York, Illinois, North Carolina and Virginia label it a misdemeanor in the statute: Class A in Illinois, Class 2 in North Carolina and Class 1 in Virginia. California's penalty is county jail or a fine, which makes it a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17. Repeat convictions generally raise the sentence rather than making it a felony. In New York, a second conviction within 18 months can bring up to 90 days in jail.

Pennsylvania and Ohio treat ordinary reckless driving as a lesser offense. In Pennsylvania it is a summary offense with a $200 fine, and in Ohio it is a minor misdemeanor.^4,14

Ohio raises the grade to a fourth-degree misdemeanor if the person was convicted of one predicate traffic offense within the last year, and to a third-degree misdemeanor if convicted of two or more.

Serious injury is the main thing that turns reckless driving into a felony. Florida makes reckless driving that causes serious bodily injury a third-degree felony, Illinois makes reckless driving that causes great bodily harm a Class 4 felony, and California lets it be charged as a felony for listed injuries.^{3,10,12,15,16}

Illinois calls it aggravated reckless driving when it causes great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement, and makes bodily harm to a child or school crossing guard a Class 4 felony. California's section 23105 lists loss of consciousness, a concussion, a bone fracture, a wound needing extensive suturing, brain injury and paralysis, among others, and allows a felony jail sentence under section 1170(h) as an alternative to 30 days to six months in county jail or a fine. Under California Penal Code section 17, a crime punishable under 1170(h) is a felony.

Where reckless driving itself has no felony grade, a crash can still bring a felony under a different law. Ohio's vehicular assault, for recklessly causing serious physical harm, is a fourth-degree felony, and Pennsylvania's homicide by vehicle is a third-degree felony.^1,7,17,18,19

Pennsylvania's homicide by vehicle covers recklessly or with gross negligence causing a death while violating a traffic law. Texas's reckless driving section is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $200 and up to 30 days in jail, with no felony grade. North Carolina's reckless driving law has none either: for offenses on or after Dec. 1, 2025, reckless driving that causes serious injury is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and one that causes serious bodily injury is a Class A1 misdemeanor.

Virginia makes reckless driving a Class 6 felony in one situation: the driver's license was suspended or revoked for a moving violation and the reckless driving was the sole and proximate cause of another person's death. Race or exhibition driving that seriously injures or kills someone is also a felony.^{3,11,13,14,20}

For racing or exhibition driving done in a gross, wanton and culpable way, serious bodily injury to an uninvolved person is a Class 6 felony, and causing a death is punishable by 1 to 20 years. Prior convictions alone do not make reckless driving a felony in the states checked: New York, Florida and Ohio add jail time or raise the misdemeanor level instead.

Texas

Texas: reckless driving is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $200, up to 30 days in county jail, or both. The reckless driving section has no felony grade.¹

The law applies to highways and public places, and to private parking areas provided for customers or patrons of a business. Texas Transportation Code section 545.401.

Florida

Florida: reckless driving is punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $25 to $500 fine for a first conviction. If it damages property or hurts someone it is a first-degree misdemeanor, and if it causes serious bodily injury it is a third-degree felony.³

A second or later conviction is punishable by up to 6 months in jail or a $50 to $1,000 fine. Florida Statutes section 316.192.

California

California: reckless driving is punishable by 5 to 90 days in county jail, a fine of $145 to $1,000, or both. If it injures someone other than the driver, jail is 30 days to six months, and for listed serious injuries it can be punished as a felony.^2,10,15,16

Reckless driving that causes great bodily injury to someone other than the driver, by a person with a prior conviction for reckless driving or certain other driving crimes, can be punished under Penal Code section 1170(h). Vehicle Code sections 23103, 23104 and 23105.

New York

New York: reckless driving is a misdemeanor. A first conviction carries a fine of up to $300 or up to 30 days in jail, or both, and the fine cannot be less than $100.^5,11

A second conviction within 18 months carries up to $525 or up to 90 days, and a third within 18 months up to $1,125 or up to 180 days. Vehicle and Traffic Law sections 1212 and 1801.

Illinois

Illinois: reckless driving is a Class A misdemeanor. Aggravated reckless driving, causing great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement, is a Class 4 felony.¹²

Reckless driving that causes bodily harm to a child or a school crossing guard on duty is a Class 4 felony, and causing great bodily harm to a child or crossing guard is a Class 3 felony. 625 ILCS 5/11-503.

Ohio

Ohio: reckless operation is a minor misdemeanor, or a fourth-degree misdemeanor if the person has one predicate traffic conviction within a year. Recklessly causing serious physical harm to someone is vehicular assault, a fourth-degree felony.^14,17

Vehicular assault is a third-degree felony if the driver's license was suspended at the time, if the person has a prior vehicular assault or traffic-related homicide, manslaughter or assault conviction, or if the driver also committed certain hit-skip offenses in the same course of conduct. Ohio Revised Code sections 4511.20 and 2903.08.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: reckless driving is a summary offense with a $200 fine. Causing a death by recklessly or with gross negligence violating a traffic law is homicide by vehicle, a third-degree felony.^4,18

75 Pa.C.S. sections 3736 and 3732.

Virginia

Virginia: reckless driving is a Class 1 misdemeanor. It is a Class 6 felony if the driver was driving without a valid license because of a suspension or revocation for a moving violation and caused another person's death.¹³

Code of Virginia section 46.2-868.