What You Need To Know About Reckless Driving
What do you need to know about reckless driving? As the old adage goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.” This quote can be applied in all aspects of life, and being a car owner is no exception. Hitting off the road with your vehicle requires you to practice certain rules that help you to mitigate any danger that might come ahead. However, in the Philippines, having a sense of responsibility seems to be quite difficult to attain. Reckless driving has been one of the most violated traffic laws in the country. While this term might be a bit superficial to talk about, very few people truly know what “reckless driving” means according to the constitution.
What is reckless driving?
According to the Department of Justice, reckless driving is punishable by law. A reckless driver can be defined as a person that operates a motor vehicle without practicing reasonable caution.
Practicing without reasonable caution means:
- Failure of not considering the width, traffic, grades, crossing, curvatures, visibility, and other conditions of the highway and the conditions of the atmosphere and weather;
- Putting the property, safety or rights of any person in danger;
- Causing excessive or unreasonable damage to the highway.
In other words, reckless driving is a person that uses a vehicle while violating traffic rules, putting the risk of harming others, and not paying full attention, focus, and skill required of every driver.
Different Types of Reckless Driving
Here are some of the most common types of reckless driving that every car owner must be aware of:
Overspeeding
As the law dictates, there are certain maximum allowable speeds for different types of roads depending on their width, the flow of traffic, and whether they pass through high-risk zones or not.
Here are the descriptions of proper speed as prescribed by the law:
- A speed that is careful and prudent, not greater or less than what is reasonable and considering traffic, road, and other existing conditions;
- A speed that will not endanger the life, the limb, and property of any person;
- A speed that will permit a driver to bring his vehicle to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead.
Drunk driving
A driver under the influence of liquor could easily lose focus and alertness of the upcoming obstacles on the road. As a result, he/she could put other people and properties at risk. Moreover, the act of drunk driving is directly against the law as it was stated in Section 53 of R.A. 4136. The violation is known to be even greater than reckless driving itself.
Distracted driving
Distracted driving refers to the act of operating a motor vehicle while attending various activities that could cause distraction. One of the major causes of road accidents today, distracted driving is considered a part of being reckless driving as it diverts the attention of the driver away from the road, resulting in higher odds of committing poor and dangerous driving decisions.
Penalties of reckless driving
Anyone caught doing reckless driving will pay a fine of PHP 1,200. Drunk driving is punishable by a penalty ranging from PHP 2,000 to PHP 5,000, or a three to six months’ worth of imprisonment. As for distracted driving, fines can range from PHP 5,000 to a whopping PHP 20,000, with the possibility of suspending the driver’s license of the offender.
Final thoughts
The penalties and punishments associated with reckless driving can be pretty hard to bear, but being involved in an accident is far worse. You don’t want to found yourself in either of these situations so always make sure to keep all of this information in your mind every time you hit the road.
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