In many cases, if you’re caught driving above the posted speed limit, an officer can pull you over and issue a citation. Generally, such offenses are minor misdemeanors, which means they’re punishable by only a fine. In this circumstance, you won’t be jailed for speeding.
However, some situations exist in which speeding (and associated driving behaviors) can be charged as a fourth-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony. This means, depending on your case, you face jail or prison time.
Below are the times when speeding under O.R.C. 4511.21 can lead to imprisonment:
- Third violation within a year or speeding in specific zones: If you have two previous speeding offenses within the past 12 months and an officer stops you again for a violation, you may be charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor. You may also face this charge if you were going over 35 mph in a business district or other places in a municipal corporation or in a school zone when children were present.
Conviction penalties include:
- Up to 30 days in jail and/or
- Up to $250 in fines
- Fourth or subsequent violation within a year: If you’re accused of speeding and you have three or more prior convictions for this offense, you’re looking at a third-degree misdemeanor charge.
Punishments include:
- Up to 60 days in jail and/or
- Up to $500 in fines
In some matters, when a person is speeding, they might engage in other behaviors considered unlawful. If such occurs in your case, you face not only a charge for speeding but also for any other violation you committed. Depending on what you’re accused of doing, you face either a misdemeanor or felony charge.
A few crimes that can be charged in addition to speeding and result incarceration include:
- Fleeing or eluding an officer: If you willfully fail to comply with a police officer’s order or signal, you may be prosecuted under O.R.C. 2921.331.
Generally, the offense is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by:
- Up to 180 days in jail and/or
- Up to $1,000 in fines.
However, if you’re believed to have put people or property at substantial risk of harm, you face a third-degree felony charge.
The penalties include:
- Up to 36 months in prison and/or
- Up to $10,000 in fines
- Aggravated assault: Under O.R.C. 2903.12, causing or attempting to cause physical harm to another by using a deadly weapon is considered aggravated assault. In Ohio, a deadly weapon is anything capable of causing death and adapted or possessed for such use. Thus, a vehicle may fall under this definition.
Aggravated assault is a fourth-degree felony, which carries the following penalties:
- Up to 18 months in jail and/or
- Up to $5,000 in fines
- Endangering others: O.R.C. 2909.06 provides that anyone who knowingly creates a substantial risk of harm to another may be charged with criminal damaging or endangering.
The offense is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by:
- Up to 90 days in jail and/or
- Up to $750 in fines
If you’re facing a misdemeanor or felony charge in Dayton, reach out to Rion, Rion & Rion at (937) 223-9133. We have the experience, skills, and resources to defend you.