Legal Question in Traffic Law in Arkansas

Careless driving

My son was on his way home from work. He gets off after mid-night, and was followed by a local police officer for some time. After making a stop, and turning onto a different street, the officer pulled him over, and said that he was speeding, and observed him weaving in, and out of traffic. He was on a 4 lane street. When my son asked to see the radar, the officer said he had ''paced'' him. He then wrote my son a ticket for careless driving, making some notes on the side of the ticket(which are not readable on his copy) on conditions leading to the citation. Do we need an attorny, or do we just try to talk to the judge, and try to get it reduced, and go to driving school?


Asked on 10/04/03, 11:46 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Herb Southern The Southern Law Firm

Re: Careless driving

Careless is not wreckless. It is a catch-all for goofing off behind the wheel. Not to downplay the veracity of your son's testimony, my suspicion is that he has a heavy foot and with all of the cycles on the road he was trying to get there a few seconds faster. It is amazing how weaving and pushing the speed limit does not accomplish much, particularly as congested as NWA streets are becoming.

There should be an educational effect to this experience. Perhaps he will become a less impatient driver. If it is his first offence then he can probably take the defensive driving school and be done with it. If it is not his first then perhaps he needs to revisit that "educational" thing again? Sorry, but I don't think he will walk away from this without some penalty or consequence.

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Answered on 10/05/03, 1:17 pm


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