Traffic Matters
Short answer: reckless driving in Tennessee is a Class B misdemeanor, not a ticket. It carries up to six months in jail and a $500 fine, adds six points to your license, and leaves a criminal record, but unlike a DUI it can be expunged. Our flat fee for a reckless driving charge is $500 in Shelby County General Sessions at 201 Poplar, $750 in the Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville and Millington courts, and from $750 in the outlying counties. Call (901) 324-5000 or text 901-412-2973 with a photo of the citation before your court date.
In Tennessee, reckless driving is not just a traffic ticket — it is a criminal charge that can put a misdemeanor on your permanent record. And in many cases, whether you are facing that charge at all comes down to a single officer’s judgment call on the side of the road. At Brooks Law Firm, we defend reckless driving charges throughout Memphis and Tennessee, and we know how to turn the very discretion that produced the charge into a defense.
Reckless driving also plays a central role in DUI practice: it is often the negotiated outcome our Memphis DUI lawyers pursue when a DUI charge has proof problems, because unlike a DUI, a reckless driving conviction may later be eligible for expungement. It also appears alongside aggravated speeding cases and leaving-the-scene allegations arising from the same incident.
What Reckless Driving Means in Tennessee
Under Tennessee Code § 55-10-205, a person commits reckless driving by operating any vehicle “in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” That is the entire core definition. “Willful” means intentional or purposeful; “wanton” means acting with conscious disregard of a known risk. The statute also specifically covers driving a motorcycle with the front wheel raised off the ground (a wheelie) and knowingly driving around a flood barricade into a flooded roadway.
Reckless driving is a Class B misdemeanor. A conviction can mean up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500, plus court costs and additional assessments; the full picture, with the points schedule, the twelve-point rule, expungement timing and how the charge compares with reckless endangerment, is on our Tennessee reckless driving penalties page. It also adds six points to your Tennessee driving record, and two reckless driving convictions within a 12-month period can trigger a one-year license suspension. Accumulating 12 points in a year can lead to a suspension on its own. (Reckless driving is also the charge a DUI is sometimes reduced to in a plea — a so-called “wet reckless.”)
A Charge Built on Officer Discretion
Here is what makes reckless driving unique: the statute never defines what specific conduct counts. It does not list a speed. It does not describe a maneuver. It simply asks whether the driving showed “willful or wanton disregard” — and that judgment is left almost entirely to the officer at the scene. The same conduct can be written as a minor traffic citation by one officer and as a criminal charge by another, depending on the road, the weather, the traffic, and frankly the officer’s mood that day. That discretion shows up again and again:
Speeding
Tennessee sets no magic number at which speeding automatically becomes reckless driving. Twenty or twenty-five miles per hour over the limit might be charged as reckless — or it might be written as a simple speeding ticket. One is a criminal misdemeanor; the other is an ordinary traffic violation with no criminal record. Which one you get often depends entirely on the officer’s discretion, not on any fixed legal line.
Changing Lanes
Weaving through traffic, an abrupt lane change, or passing too closely can be cited as a minor improper-lane-change or failure-to-maintain-lane infraction — or an officer can elevate the very same movement to reckless driving. Whether a lane change was “aggressive” or simply a normal reaction to traffic is a subjective call, and officers do not always draw that line the same way.
Emergency Vehicles
Tennessee’s Move Over Law requires drivers to slow down and, when safe, move over for stopped emergency and utility vehicles, and to yield to active emergency vehicles. Failing to do so can be written as a move-over or failure-to-yield violation — but an officer who views the same conduct as dangerous can escalate it to reckless driving instead. The gap between “didn’t move over in time” and “drove recklessly” is, once again, a matter of officer judgment.
Construction Zones
Work zones carry heightened scrutiny and enhanced penalties, and fines for speeding are often doubled when workers are present. Driving through a construction zone with narrowed lanes, workers, or equipment nearby gives an officer wide latitude to treat ordinary speeding or a lane shift as reckless driving. What would be a routine citation on an open highway can become a criminal charge in a marked work zone — because the officer decided it should be.
Why That Discretion Cuts Both Ways
The subjectivity that makes reckless driving easy to charge also makes it hard to prove. Because there is no objective standard, the State’s case usually rests on one officer’s opinion about your state of mind — that you acted “willfully” or “wantonly.” An opinion is not the same as proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We press on exactly that weakness:
- No proof of a guilty mental state. The State must show willful or wanton disregard — not merely that you were speeding or made a mistake. Ordinary carelessness is not reckless driving.
- Context the officer left out. Traffic conditions, road layout, weather, and the reason for your driving often reframe conduct that looked “reckless” in a citation.
- Inconsistent standards. When the same behavior is a ticket for one driver and a crime for another, that inconsistency is fertile ground for reasonable doubt.
- The evidence itself. Radar and pacing can be challenged, and dashcam or bodycam footage frequently shows far less than the report claims.
Defenses We Raise
- No willful or wanton conduct. Your driving was ordinary, defensive, or at most a minor lapse — not a conscious disregard for safety.
- Necessity or emergency. A medical emergency or a sudden hazard forced the maneuver.
- Mistaken perception or identity. The officer misjudged your speed, your lane position, or even which vehicle was involved.
- Insufficient evidence. The State cannot prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Reduction to a non-criminal offense. Where dismissal is not realistic, we work to reduce the charge to a standard traffic violation to keep it off your criminal record.
Why It’s Worth Fighting
A reckless driving conviction is a criminal record that shows up on background checks, points that threaten your license, and a near-certain jump in your insurance rates. Many courts will allow a charge to be reduced or dismissed — sometimes after a defensive driving course — so that it never gets reported to the Department of Safety, adds no points, and does not raise your premiums. But that outcome usually takes a lawyer who knows the local courts and prosecutors. It is almost always worth fighting rather than simply paying and pleading guilty.
If You’ve Been Charged
- Do not just pay the ticket. Paying a reckless driving citation can be an admission of guilt to a criminal charge.
- Write down what happened while it is fresh — your speed, the traffic, the weather, and what the officer said.
- Preserve any evidence such as dashcam footage or the names of passengers and witnesses.
- Note your court date and do not miss it.
- Call a defense attorney before your court date to protect your record and your license.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is reckless driving a felony in Tennessee?
No — reckless driving is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500. But it is a criminal conviction, not a mere ticket, and it appears on a background check.
Can a DUI be reduced to reckless driving in Tennessee?
Sometimes. There is no automatic reduction, but where the DUI evidence has problems — the stop, the field sobriety tests, or the chemical proof — prosecutors may agree to resolve the case as reckless driving. Unlike a DUI, that outcome may later be expunged. How that reduction is earned, and what it still costs, is on our DUI reduced to reckless driving page; see also our Memphis DUI defense page.
Will a reckless driving conviction stay on my record?
It goes on your criminal record and driving history, and it can affect insurance. A dismissed or diverted charge can be expunged at once. Unlike a DUI, a reckless driving conviction can be expunged five years after the sentence is completed if the rest of your record qualifies — one more reason the charge is worth handling carefully the first time.
Can you go to jail for reckless driving in Tennessee?
In theory, yes: the maximum is six months. In practice a first offense with no crash, no injury and no prior record almost never results in jail. The realistic outcomes are a dismissal, an amendment to a non-criminal moving violation, diversion, or a conviction with a fine and probation. Jail becomes a real possibility with a crash, an injury, a very high speed, a prior record, or a companion charge such as DUI or evading arrest.
How long does reckless driving stay on your record in Tennessee?
A conviction stays on your criminal record until it is expunged, which the statute allows five years after the sentence is completed if the rest of your record qualifies. A dismissed or diverted charge can be expunged right away. On the driving record, the six points count toward the twelve-point rule for twelve months, and insurers typically look back three years.
How many points is reckless driving in Tennessee?
Six, assessed on conviction, the same as speeding 36 to 45 miles per hour over the limit. Twelve points in any twelve-month period brings a notice of proposed suspension from the Department of Safety. A charge that is dismissed or amended to a non-moving violation adds no points.
Is 20 over reckless driving in Tennessee?
Not automatically. Tennessee sets no speed at which speeding becomes reckless driving. Twenty over can be written as a speeding ticket or as reckless driving at the officer’s discretion, and so can thirty over. Speed alone, without something more about the road, the traffic or the way the car was driven, is a weak basis for proving willful or wanton disregard, which is why speed-only reckless charges are so often amended to a plain speeding violation.
Which is worse, reckless driving or reckless endangerment?
Reckless endangerment, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-103. It is a Class A misdemeanor rather than Class B, it carries eight points rather than six, and with a deadly weapon, which can include a car, it becomes a Class E felony punishable by one to six years. If your citation or warrant says endangerment, call before the court date; the defense is built differently.
How much does a reckless driving lawyer cost in Memphis?
At Brooks Law Firm, a flat $500 in Shelby County General Sessions at 201 Poplar, $750 in the Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville and Millington courts, and from $750 in Fayette, Tipton, Haywood and Lauderdale counties, confirmed after we see the citation. Court costs and any fine are paid to the court and are separate. Reckless driving charged alongside a DUI is handled as part of the DUI case.
Talk to a Memphis Criminal Defense Attorney
If you have been charged with reckless driving in Memphis or anywhere in Tennessee, contact Brooks Law Firm for a confidential consultation. Call our office at 901-324-5000, or call or text the criminal defense line at 901-412-2973 for texts and voicemails. Our office is located at 2299 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104, in Midtown Memphis.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change, and the charges, penalties, and defenses that apply to any case depend on its specific facts. No outcome is guaranteed. Please consult a licensed attorney about your particular situation.