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S1067................................................by JUDICIARY AND RULES DRIVING - RECKLESS/INATTENTIVE - Amends existing law to revise the punishment for reckless and inattentive driving. 01/31 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 02/01 Rpt prt - to Jud 02/08 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 02/09 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 02/10 3rd rdg - PASSED - 30-1-4 AYES -- Andreason, Brandt, Broadsword, Bunderson, Burkett, Burtenshaw, Coiner, Compton, Darrington, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Langhorst, Little, Lodge, Marley, McGee, McKenzie, Noble, Pearce, Richardson, Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams NAYS -- Corder Absent and excused -- Cameron, Davis, Keough, Malepeai Floor Sponsor - Lodge Title apvd - to House 02/11 House intro - 1st rdg - to Jud 03/10 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 03/11 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 03/15 3rd rdg - PASSED - 57-12-1 AYES -- Anderson, Barraclough, Bastian, Bedke, Bell, Bilbao, Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Bradford, Cannon, Chadderdon, Clark, Collins, Deal, Denney, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(18), Field(23), Harwood, Henbest, Henderson, Jaquet, Jones, Kemp, Lake, LeFavour, Loertscher, Martinez, McGeachin, Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Nielsen, Pasley-Stuart, Pence, Ring, Ringo, Roberts, Rusche, Rydalch, Sali, Sayler, Shepherd(2), Shepherd(8), Shirley, Skippen, Smith(30), Smith(24), Smylie, Snodgrass, Stevenson, Trail, Wills, Mr. Speaker NAYS -- Andrus, Barrett, Bayer, Edmunson, Garrett, Hart(Jacobson), Mathews, McKague, Nonini, Raybould, Schaefer, Wood Absent and excused -- Crow Floor Sponsor - Harwood Title apvd - to Senate 03/16 To enrol 03/17 Rpt enrol - Pres signed 03/18 Sp signed 03/21 To Governor 03/23 Governor signed Session Law Chapter 119 Effective: 07/01/05
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session - 2005IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1067 BY JUDICIARY AND RULES COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; AMENDING SECTION 49-1401, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE 3 THE PUNISHMENT FOR RECKLESS DRIVING AND INATTENTIVE DRIVING. 4 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 5 SECTION 1. That Section 49-1401, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 6 amended to read as follows: 7 49-1401. RECKLESS DRIVING. (1) Any person who drives or is in actual 8 physical control of any vehicle upon a highway, or upon public or private 9 property open to public use, carelessly and heedlessly or without due caution 10 and circumspection, and at a speed or in a manner as to endanger or be likely 11 to endanger any person or property, or who passes when there is a line in his 12 lane indicating a sight distance restriction, shall be guilty of reckless 13 driving and upon conviction shall be punished as provided in subsection (2) of 14 this section. 15 (2) Every personconvicted of reckless driving under this section shall16be punished by imprisonment in the county or municipal jail for a period of17not less than five (5) days nor more than ninety (90) days, or by a fine of18not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) norwho pleads guilty to or is 19 found guilty of reckless driving for the first time is guilty of a misdemeanor 20 and may be sentenced to jail for not more than six (6) months or may be fined 21 not more thanthreefive hundred dollars ($3500), or may be punished by both 22 fine and imprisonment.On a second or subsequent conviction shall be punished23by imprisonment for not less than ten (10) days nor more than six (6) months,24or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) norEvery person who 25 pleads guilty to or is found guilty of reckless driving, who has previously 26 been found guilty of or has pled guilty to reckless driving, or any substan- 27 tially conforming foreign criminal violation within five (5) years, notwith- 28 standing the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s), is guilty of a 29 misdemeanor and may be sentenced to jail for not more than one (1) year or may 30 be fined not more thanthree hundredone thousand dollars ($31,000), or may be 31 punished by both fine and imprisonment. The department shall suspend the dri- 32 ver's license or privileges of any such person as provided in section 49-326, 33 Idaho Code. 34 (3) Inattentive driving shall be considered a lesser offense than reck- 35 less driving and shall be applicable in those circumstances where the conduct 36 of the operator has been inattentive, careless or imprudent, in light of the 37 circumstances then existing, rather than heedless or wanton, or in those cases 38 where the danger to persons or property by the motor vehicle operator's con- 39 duct is slight. Every person convicted of inattentive driving under this sec- 40 tion shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be sentenced to jail for not 41 more than ninety (90) days or may be fined not more than three hundred dollars 42 ($300), or may be punished by both fine and imprisonment.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE RS14730 The purpose of this legislation is to amend the penalty for Reckless and Inattentive Driving, under Idaho Code 49-1401. This legislation addresses the Court of Appeals decision in State v. Parker, Substitute Opinion No. 61, Docket No. 30527, October 19, 2004, in which the Court pointed out ambiguity in this code section with respect to the permissible penalty for inattentive driving. This ambiguity arises from the fact that subsection (3) of I.C. 49- 1401, inattentive driving, is silent regarding the penalty for a conviction. Normally, when a misdemeanor statute does not state a penalty, the court applies I.C. 18-113(1), which sets out a general misdemeanor penalty of six (6) months in jail and/or a three hundred dollar ($300.00) fine. However, in I.C. 49-1401(3), inattentive driving is specifically designated as a lesser offense than reckless driving. The current maximum jail sentence for reckless driving is ninety (90) days. Therefore, when the court applies the general misdemeanor penalty for a conviction of inattentive driving the result is a maximum sentence that is greater than that for a conviction of reckless driving. This amendment prescribes a penalty for inattentive driving of ninety (90) days or a fine of three hundred dollars ($300.00) or both. In addition, this legislation increases the maximum penalty for reckless driving. The increased penalty recognizes that the conduct of individuals who drive in a manner that is careless, headless or without due caution is very serious and potentially dangerous to all citizens who are on the roads in our communities. The current penalty for a first offense of reckless driving is not less than five (5) days nor more than ninety (90) days in jail or a fine of three hundred dollars ($300.00) or both. This amendment increases the penalty for a first offense of reckless driving to a maximum of six (6) months in jail or a fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or both. This proposed amendment also removes the mandatory jail requirement in the current law. The current penalty for a second offense of reckless driving is not less than ten (10) days in jail nor more than six (6) months or a three hundred dollar fine ($300.00) or both. With this amendment, the penalty has been increased to a maximum of one (1) year in jail or a fine of one thousand dollars ($1000.00) or both. Again, the mandatory jail language has been removed from the statute in this amendment. Finally, language requiring a five (5) year time limitation period for applicability of the second offense enhanced penalties has been added to the statute. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact. Contact Name: Heather Reilly Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office Phone: 287-7700 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1067