Yes. In nearly every state, reckless driving does go on your criminal record, because it is charged as a misdemeanor rather than a simple traffic infraction. That criminal record entry is permanent unless a court later grants expungement or sealing. The conviction also lands separately on your driving record, where it drives up insurance rates and points for a period of years.
Why Reckless Driving Counts as a Crime, Not a Ticket
A speeding ticket or a rolled stop sign is a traffic infraction. You pay a fine, and it stays out of the criminal system. Reckless driving is different. In the vast majority of states, it is prosecuted as a criminal misdemeanor, which means a court appearance, possible jail time, and a permanent entry on your criminal record.
Penalties are all over the map. First-offense fines range from as low as $25 in some states to $1,000 or more in others, and jail sentences for a first offense can run from a few days up to a year. Repeat offenses bring steeper fines and longer jail terms, and several states tack on a driver’s license suspension.1Justia. Reckless Driving Laws: 50-State Survey
When reckless driving causes serious bodily injury or death, many states elevate it to a felony. The threshold varies, but the pattern is consistent: hurt someone badly enough while driving recklessly and you are looking at a felony record, with prison time measured in years and far heavier long-term consequences.1Justia. Reckless Driving Laws: 50-State Survey
Criminal Record and Driving Record Are Two Different Things
A reckless driving conviction shows up on two separate records maintained by two different systems. Confusing them is the reason people are surprised years later when the entry still surfaces.
Your criminal record is the log of your interactions with the criminal justice system: arrests, charges, and convictions for misdemeanors and felonies. It is compiled by law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal level, and it appears in background checks run by employers, landlords, licensing boards, and financial institutions. A misdemeanor reckless driving conviction sits there indefinitely.
Your driving record is a separate document kept by your state’s motor vehicle agency. It tracks moving violations, license suspensions, accidents, and demerit points. Reckless driving adds points to your license, with the number varying widely by state — some assess as few as two, others assign six, eight, or more.1Justia. Reckless Driving Laws: 50-State Survey Accumulate too many points in a short window and you may face an administrative license suspension on top of whatever the court ordered.
How Long the Conviction Stays
The criminal record is the one that catches people out. A misdemeanor reckless driving conviction is permanent. It does not fall off after a set number of years the way a traffic violation might. Without a successful expungement or sealing, it stays part of your public record for life and can appear on every background check you go through.
The driving record works differently. Most states keep a reckless driving conviction on your motor vehicle record for somewhere between five and eleven years, depending on the jurisdiction. During that window it drives your insurance premiums, affects your eligibility to operate commercial vehicles, and shows up for any employer who pulls your driving history. After the state-specific retention period ends, the entry drops off your driving record. The criminal record entry does not.
Keeping It Off the Record in the First Place
The most effective way to keep reckless driving off your criminal record is to negotiate it down before a conviction happens. Prosecutors have discretion to reduce the charge to a lesser offense, such as improper driving or a speeding violation. If the charge drops to a non-criminal infraction, there is no misdemeanor conviction, and nothing goes on your criminal record.
Whether a prosecutor will agree depends on the facts. A charge based on going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit with no accident and no prior record is a much easier negotiation than one involving a collision, injuries, or alcohol. A first offense with a clean driving history is often a strong candidate for a plea to a lesser charge.
One variant to know about: in DUI cases, prosecutors sometimes offer a plea to “wet reckless,” meaning reckless driving with alcohol involvement. A wet reckless carries lighter penalties than a DUI, but it is still a criminal misdemeanor. It appears on your record, shows up in background checks, and can be used as a prior offense if you are charged with DUI later. Better than a DUI conviction, but not the same as reducing the charge to a non-criminal infraction.
What the Record Actually Costs You
Employment and Background Checks
A reckless driving conviction on your criminal record surfaces during standard background checks used by employers, professional licensing boards, landlords, and financial institutions. If an application asks whether you have ever been convicted of a crime, the answer is yes, and failing to disclose is almost always worse than disclosing upfront.
The impact is sharpest in jobs that involve driving. Corporate insurance policies typically have strict rules for employees who operate company vehicles, and a recent reckless driving conviction can disqualify a candidate outright. Federal law does provide some limits: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance directs employers to weigh the nature of the offense, how much time has passed, and how the offense relates to the job before rejecting an applicant based on criminal history.2U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII Over half of all states also have “ban the box” or fair chance hiring laws that push the criminal history question later in the hiring process rather than eliminating it.
Professional licensing boards in fields like nursing, law, finance, and education ask about criminal history and may require explanation or documentation. A single misdemeanor is rarely an automatic disqualifier, but it creates a hurdle.
Insurance Premiums
Insurers treat reckless driving as a major offense. Rate hikes commonly fall in the range of 50% to 90% or more, depending on the insurer, location, and prior driving history. The surcharge typically persists for as long as the conviction stays on your driving record. If you are paying $1,500 a year and your rate jumps 70%, that is roughly $5,250 in additional premiums over five years. Some insurers may decline to renew your policy at all, pushing you into the higher-cost high-risk market.
Travel to Canada
Canada is the destination that catches U.S. travelers off guard. Under Canadian immigration law, a foreign national can be deemed inadmissible based on a criminal conviction that would constitute an indictable offense if committed in Canada. Because Canada treats the equivalent offense of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle as an indictable offense, a U.S. reckless driving conviction can trigger inadmissibility at the border.3Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act Section 36 A Temporary Resident Permit can allow entry for a specific purpose, and longer-term relief is possible through criminal rehabilitation after enough time has passed, but neither is guaranteed and border agents have significant discretion.
U.S. Immigration Proceedings
For non-citizens applying for green cards, naturalization, or other benefits, a reckless driving conviction can raise the question of whether it counts as a “crime involving moral turpitude” that triggers inadmissibility or deportability. Reckless driving does not automatically qualify. The classification depends on the specific facts: whether there was intent, whether alcohol was involved, whether anyone was injured, and how the state statute defines the offense. Convictions involving injury or alcohol draw the closest scrutiny.
Military Enlistment
Each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces screens applicants for criminal history, and reckless driving generally falls into the misconduct category that requires a waiver before enlistment can proceed.4U.S. Army Recruiting Command. Conduct Waivers A single misdemeanor is usually waiverable. Multiple misdemeanors get harder, and a felony reckless driving conviction can bar enlistment entirely. If you are considering military service with a charge pending, reducing it to a non-criminal infraction can meaningfully change your eligibility.
Getting a Conviction Off Your Record Later
If you have already been convicted, expungement or record sealing offers a possible path. Expungement destroys or erases the record; sealing makes it inaccessible to the general public. Either one can substantially improve your prospects for employment, housing, and licensing.
Eligibility rules vary. Most states require that you have completed every part of your sentence — fines paid, probation served, community service finished — before you can file. Many states also impose a waiting period after sentence completion, commonly one to five years, before you can petition the court.
The process is not automatic. You file a formal petition with the court and, in most cases, pay a filing fee that ranges from nothing to several hundred dollars depending on the jurisdiction. The court then weighs the seriousness of the original offense, your behavior since the conviction, and any subsequent criminal history.
Not every state allows expungement of reckless driving convictions, and some limit it to first offenses or misdemeanor-level cases only. If your state does not offer expungement for your situation, the conviction stays on your permanent public record. An attorney who handles expungements in your jurisdiction is the most reliable way to find out whether you qualify and to file the petition correctly.