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Reckless Driving Citation

Status: Closed
Assigned To: jallen (Police)
Ticket ID: 35910cec

Good morning,

In 2007 I was cited for "RECKLESS DRIVING W/ DEATH/SERIOUS BODILY INJURY" by the Great Falls Police Department. However, I am unaware of there being any injury or death in my specific case. I am currently in the process of applying for a government job, and was surprised that the citation was not simply "Reckless Driving". I have some questions about the different citations, and was unsure if the Police Department or the Court would be the best person to ask.

I am currently deployed in the US Army, and therefore am unable to call or visit any offices in person, so your assistance would greatly be appreciated. Thank you.

Ticket History

Public
Closed
Updated By: jallen
Assigned To: jallen (Police)

Hello Jared, I did find the case you are referring to under your prior name. The case # is 07-17286, which occurred on 7/4/07. It shows as an injury accident, as you reported pain (refused medical attention). However, the citation written by the officer was simply for reckless driving with no reference to "Death/Serious Injury" (my emphasis).

I sat down with our records manager, Rachel Vallie (406-455-8546; rvallie@greatfallsmt.net), to see if she could offer some insight. She was just as mystified, so she is going to research it some more through Great Falls Municipal Court. She speculated that, since there have been several system changes at Municipal Court since then, and each change involved migration of data and archival of older data, there may have been some standardization and generic wording attached to older data.

Rachel has your email and she will contact you once she knows more.

08/03/2017 - 4:19pm
Closed
Updated By: Visitor
Assigned To: jallen (Police)

I am so sorry that I forgot to mention I have a previous name in which the citation was issued. My current driving record, in which I am reading the citation from, is under my current name which is Jared Adams. However, in 2007 my legal name was Jared Linebaugh. Also, the document in which I am getting all of the citation information is from the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division website, where I requested my own driving record.

This comment tool on your site won't allow me to upload the document itself, so I will just copy in the information from the citation below. Thank you very much for your assistance so far, and I am eagerly awaiting your response.

- SSG Jared Adams

JOR: MT
CMV: N
HAZ: N
UVC: V5125
ACD: M84
SUMMONS NBR: 052C477395
ISS DT: 07/04/2007
CONV DT: 07/11/2007
RECKLESS DRIVING W/ DEATH/SERIOUS BODILY INJURY
AGY: GREAT FALLS PD
CRT: CIT - GREAT FALLS

08/03/2017 - 2:20pm
Public
Closed
Updated By: jallen
Assigned To: jallen (Police)

Dear Jared, I am not seeing this citation in our Great Falls Police Department computer using your name, nor did I find any case involving you with the Great Falls Police Dept. in 2007 at all.

Additionally, the wording does not match Montana's "Reckless Driving" statute. In no part of the Montana reckless driving statute will you find the wording "DEATH/SERIOUS BODILY INJURY." Is there any possibility this citation was incurred in another state?

At least two statues in Montana do contain the wording "creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another"; these are "Criminal Endangerment" and  "Negligent Endangerment."

I have quoted the Montana reckless driving statute below, and I have bolded and underlined the operative wording which we use on most of our reckless driving citations. I'm afraid we cannot help you further without a specific case to refer to:

61-8-301. Reckless driving -- reckless endangerment of highway worker. (1) A person commits the offense of reckless driving if the person:

(a) operates a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property; or

(b) operates a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property while passing, in either direction, a school bus that has stopped and is displaying the visual flashing red signal, as provided in 61-8-351 and 61-9-402. This subsection (1)(b) does not apply to situations described in 61-8-351(6).

(2) A municipality may enact and enforce 61-8-715 and subsection (1) of this section as an ordinance.

(3) A person who is convicted of the offense of reckless driving or of reckless endangerment of a highway worker is subject to the penalties provided in 61-8-715.

(4) (a) A person commits the offense of reckless endangerment of a highway worker if the person purposely, knowingly, or negligently drives a motor vehicle in a highway construction zone in a manner that endangers persons or property or if the person purposely removes, ignores, or intentionally strikes an official traffic control device in a construction zone for reasons other than:

(i) avoidance of an obstacle;

(ii) an emergency; or

(iii) to protect the health and safety of an occupant of the vehicle or of another person.

(b) As used in this section:

(i) "construction zone" has the same meaning as is provided in 61-8-314; and

(ii) "highway worker" means an employee of the department of transportation, a local authority, a utility company, or a private contractor.

07/31/2017 - 5:32pm
New
Assigned To:

Citizen request/question created.

07/28/2017 - 2:47am

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