Quick answer: Reckless driving in Maryland is 6 points, up to 60 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. It carries jail exposure, so you cannot pay it — you’re going to court. And since 1 October 2025, you no longer have to have driven dangerously at all: 30 mph or more over the posted limit is reckless driving by definition.
I’m David Waranch. I’m in the District Court in Rockville regularly, and reckless driving is one of the charges I see most — and one of the most winnable, once you understand which kind of reckless driving you’ve been charged with.
There Are Now Two Ways to Be Charged
This is the thing almost every page on the internet gets wrong, because it changed recently.
The Sergeant Patrick Kepp Act amended Md. Code, Transp. § 21-901.1 with effect from 1 October 2025. Reckless driving is now either:
| Conduct-based | Speed-based (new) | |
|---|---|---|
| What the State must prove | You drove with wanton or wilful disregard for the safety of persons or property | You drove at least 30 mph above the posted limit. That’s all. |
| Is it arguable? | Very. It’s a judgment about your state of mind and the whole picture | No. It’s arithmetic |
| So the defence is… | Attack the characterisation | Attack the number |
Both carry the same penalty: 6 points, up to 60 days, up to $1,000.
But they are defended in entirely different ways, and the first thing I do is work out which one you’re facing.
If You Were Charged on Speed Alone
Here’s the good news hidden inside the bad news.
If the reckless charge rests purely on the speed reading — no accident, no weaving, no aggressive manoeuvre, just a number — then the number is the entire case.
Take the number apart, and the reckless charge has nothing left to stand on. It doesn’t get reduced. It collapses — into an ordinary speeding ticket, which is points and a fine rather than a criminal record and jail exposure.
And speed readings come apart more often than people think: calibration records, the tuning fork, the officer’s certification, which car was actually in the beam. If you were clocked at 31 over, the difference between 30 and 29 is the difference between a jailable charge and a ticket. Here’s how radar readings are actually challenged.
If You Were Charged on Conduct
“Wanton or wilful disregard” is a high bar, and it is a judgment — which means it is arguable in a way that a speed reading isn’t.
Careless is not reckless. Impatient is not reckless. A single bad lane change on a busy afternoon is not, without more, a wanton and wilful disregard for human safety — and officers reach for the reckless charge more readily than the statute really allows.
Which brings us to the outcome that matters most.
The Real Goal: Negligent Driving
Reckless driving has a younger sibling in the same statute: negligent driving — driving in a careless or imprudent manner that endangers property or people.
| Reckless | Negligent | |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 6 | 2 |
| Jail | Up to 60 days | — |
| Fine | Up to $1,000 | Up to $750 |
Six points to two. That is a very large difference in a driver’s life — and getting a reckless charge amended down to negligent driving is, in a great many cases, the realistic and correct outcome.
It doesn’t happen by turning up and apologising. It happens because someone has read the file, found the weakness, and made the argument.
You Cannot Pay This One
Reckless driving carries possible imprisonment. That has two consequences most people don’t realise:
- There’s no preset fine to pay. This isn’t a citation you can settle online. The court will send you a date.
- A “guilty with an explanation” hearing isn’t available to you. Under § 26-204(b)(2)(iii), a waiver hearing can’t be requested for an offence punishable by incarceration. You’re having a trial.
Which, honestly, is good news. A trial is where the calibration records get requested, the officer gets questioned, and the case gets tested.
Where Your Case Will Be Heard
District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County — Rockville
191 E. Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD 20850
301-563-8800
Most Rockville reckless driving charges come off I-270, Rockville Pike, Route 355 and Veirs Mill Road. I appear in that courthouse regularly and I know how it runs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 30 mph over automatically reckless driving in Maryland?
Yes — since 1 October 2025. The Kepp Act made driving at least 30 mph above the posted limit reckless driving by definition. No dangerous manoeuvre required, no accident required. Any page telling you otherwise is out of date.
Will I go to jail for reckless driving?
The maximum is 60 days. For a first offence with no accident and no injuries, jail is not the usual outcome — but it is genuinely on the table, and that’s why this can’t be treated like a speeding ticket.
Can reckless driving be reduced?
Frequently — most often to negligent driving, which takes it from 6 points to 2 and removes the jail exposure. Where the charge rests on a speed reading alone, breaking the reading can collapse it to an ordinary speeding ticket.
How many points is reckless driving?
Six. Eight points suspends a Maryland licence and twelve revokes it — so a single reckless conviction takes you most of the way to a suspension on its own.
Do I have to appear in Rockville District Court?
Yes. Because reckless driving carries jail exposure it’s a must-appear charge — but I’ll be there with you, and we’ll have prepared.
Send Me the Citation
The first thing I need to know is whether they charged you on conduct or on speed, because everything follows from that. It’s on the citation, and it takes me thirty seconds to tell you.
Toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Free consultation. Hablamos Español.
Related: Rockville speeding tickets · Montgomery County traffic defence · how points work