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Article 380.1 of the Criminal Code punishes anyone who drives a motor vehicle or moped with manifest recklessness and specifically endangers the life or safety of others with imprisonment of six months to two years and deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles and mopeds for a period of more than one and up to six years.
According to the Supreme Court, reckless conduct represents a blatant and abnormal disregard for traffic regulations, clearly discernible by the average citizen.
It’s important to keep in mind the distinction between the criminal offense and the corresponding administrative offense. Reckless driving is also classified as a very serious administrative offense in Article 65.5.e) of the Traffic Law.
From the moment you have been charged with reckless driving and summoned to a speedy trial or, as a suspect, in a preliminary investigation, it is essential to contact a law firm specializing in reckless driving . Given his extensive experience and training in road safety offenses, as an expert reckless driving lawyer in Barcelona , Sugrañes will inform you of all the necessary steps to ensure the best criminal defense throughout the entire process.
We are a law firm specializing in reckless driving offenses in Barcelona . Based on our experience, we can affirm that if you are accused or investigated for a reckless driving offense, it is essential to have the defense of a lawyer specializing in reckless driving offenses in Barcelona. The outcome of the criminal proceedings will largely depend on this.
In this sense, given his experience and specialization in reckless driving offenses , Joaquín Sugrañes has managed to achieve highly beneficial results for his clients.
For this violation to become a criminal offense, according to our jurisprudence, the recklessness must be patent, clear, and obvious. Recklessness, which constitutes the crime and is distinct from an administrative offense, is that which creates a real, verifiable danger to the life or physical integrity of identified or specific persons, other than the reckless driver.
The crime of reckless driving is a crime involving a specific danger to the life or integrity of persons. This means that reckless driving, which merely creates an abstract danger, would not be sufficient to constitute the offense, and consequently, the act would not be criminally punishable. In such a case, the appropriate action would be the corresponding administrative sanction for the conduct. On the other hand, if such driving actually creates a specific risk or danger, both for third parties not in the vehicle and for the driver’s passengers, the conduct would fall within the offense category of Article 380 of the Criminal Code, and, in the event of a conviction, the penalties of imprisonment and deprivation of the right to drive contemplated in the aforementioned provision could be imposed.
For example, driving a moped through an industrial estate in the early hours of the morning at excessive speed and without respecting stop signs, but without specifically endangering the physical integrity of any person, does not constitute a crime of reckless driving (SAP-Valencia 336/2014, rapporteur Camarena Grau); nor does driving on a regional highway at excessive speed (260 km/h) without any specific danger arising (SAP-Burgos 12 March 2007, rapporteur Redondo Argüelles).
Driving a moped at excessive speed, in the wrong direction, and disregarding pedestrians’ right of way while fleeing from the police, forcing them to quickly move aside to avoid being hit, would be included in the offense under Article 380 of the Criminal Code; or driving at high speed while intoxicated, making sudden lane changes without signaling, zigzagging, and forcing several vehicles to take evasive maneuvers, ultimately colliding with another vehicle.
In addition to the above, it should be noted that, in order to facilitate the application of the crime of reckless driving, the second section of article 380 of the Criminal Code establishes the following: “For the purposes of this provision, driving shall be deemed manifestly reckless when the circumstances provided for in the first section and the second paragraph of the second section of the previous article concur.”
This means that driving with manifest recklessness will be presumed when driving at a speed exceeding the legal limit by 60 km/h on urban roads or 80 km/h on interurban roads, and with an exhaled alcohol level exceeding 0.60 mg/l or a blood alcohol level exceeding 1.2 g/l. In other words, both of the aforementioned circumstances (excessive speed driving and high blood or exhaled alcohol levels) must occur simultaneously. If only one of the above occurs, the presumption of reckless driving will not apply.
It is essential to have a strong criminal defense to prevent cases that should actually be administratively sanctioned from ending up being criminally punishable by imposing a prison sentence.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against our client for the offense of refusing to submit to breathalyzer tests and driving under the influence of alcohol. Thus, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of eight months in prison and a twelve-month fine for both offenses. As a lawyer specializing in drunk driving offenses […]
This crime is regulated in article 384 of the Penal Code
Crime classified in article 383 of the Penal Code
This crime is contemplated in article 381 of the Penal Code
Article 381.1 of the Criminal Code punishes any person who, with manifest disregard for the lives of others, engages in the conduct described in Article 380 of the same code, that is, driving a motor vehicle or moped with manifest recklessness. What do we mean by reckless driving? According to the Supreme Court, reckless conduct […]
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