Most car accidents happen because people drive negligently. They’re not trying to do anything dangerous—they’re just making mistakes.
For example, say that a parent is driving with children in the car. They get distracted trying to hand a drink or a snack to one of the children in the backseat, so they don’t see a stop sign. The driver runs the stop sign and T-bones another car. They’ve just made a mistake because of their distraction, and their negligence means that they are liable for injuries to those in the other vehicle.
Reckless driving is a step above negligence. How is this defined in Colorado?
A willful disregard for safety
Generally speaking, reckless driving is defined as a “wanton or willful disregard for the safety of persons or property.”
In other words, the driver is deliberately doing things that they know are unsafe, and they are intentionally increasing the odds of an accident. That driver may still argue that they just made a negligent mistake, but their actions show that they were being reckless beforehand.
For example, say that the parent who ran the stop sign was also driving 100 miles an hour at the time. This is nearly double the speed limit if they’re on a highway with a 55 mph limit, so they are intentionally and knowingly driving in a way that puts others around them in danger. If they hadn’t been driving recklessly, they may not have run the stop sign and caused the accident at all.
Understanding the difference between recklessness and negligence is just one aspect of a car accident. Those involved need to understand what legal steps to take.