Reckless Driving Causing “Serious Injury”
What counts as a violation of Vehicle Code § 23105?
Vehicle Code § 23105 makes it a crime for a driver to cause serious bodily injury to another person as a result of his or her reckless driving.
Vehicle Code § 23105 applies to all of the following injuries:
- (1) A loss of consciousness.
- (2) A concussion.
- (3) A bone fracture.
- (4) A protracted loss or impairment of function of a bodily member or organ.
- (5) A wound requiring extensive suturing.
- (6) A serious disfigurement.
- (7) Brain injury.
- (8) Paralysis.
What is the punishment for a violation of Vehicle Code § 23105?
A person convicted of reckless driving in violation of Vehicle Code § 23105 that proximately causes one or more of the injuries under Vehicle Code § 23105(b)to a person other than the driver, shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to Penal Code 1170(h), or by imprisonment in a 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 that fine and imprisonment.
What defenses are available to Vehicle Code § 23105?
- You were not driving recklessly
- You did not injure another person
- The injury was not a “serious injury”
