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Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-205

Reckless driving

Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case State v. Burns (1999)

Most recently applied in Miller v. Maddox (August 2017)

Acts 1955, ch. 329, § 57; T.C.A., § 59-858; Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 112; 2007, ch. 308, § 1; 2008, ch. 986, § 1; 2012, ch. 1048, § 1; 2013, ch. 154, §§ 55, 56.

How often courts cite this section

199020002010201720
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) Any person who drives any vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property commits reckless driving.

(2) A person commits an offense of reckless driving who drives a motorcycle with the front tire raised off the ground in willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property on any public street, highway, alley, parking lot, or driveway, or on the premises of any shopping center, trailer park, apartment house complex, or any other premises that are generally frequented by the public at large; provided, that the offense of reckless driving for driving a motorcycle with the front tire raised off the ground shall not be applicable to persons riding in a parade, at a speed not to exceed thirty miles per hour (30 mph), if the person is eighteen (18) years of age or older.

(3) Any motor vehicle operator who knowingly ignores a clearly visible and adequate flood warning sign or barricade and drives into a road area that is actually flooded commits reckless driving. In addition to the penalties imposed pursuant to subsection (d), the court may order the operator to pay restitution to defray the taxpayer cost of any rescue efforts related to such violation.

(4) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section, which must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, that the operator's driving through the flood warning sign or barricade was necessitated by a bona fide emergency.

(5) This subsection (c) shall not apply to an emergency vehicle. “Emergency vehicle” means a vehicle of a governmental department or public service corporation when responding to any emergency, or any vehicle of a police or fire department, or any ambulance.

(6) A violation of this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

(7) In addition to the penalty authorized by subdivision (d)(1), the court shall assess a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00) to be collected as provided in § 55-10-412(b) and distributed as provided in § 55-10-412(c).

Current official text: Tennessee Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Tennessee statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.