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Commonwealth v. Bullick8/4/2003
fact that there currently exists two offenses covering culpably dangerous driving behavior supports the conclusion that one is a "greater" offense, and the other a "lesser" offense. Of course, the mere titling of the offenses suggests that the lesser offense is careless driving and the greater reckless driving. A review of the elements supports this conclusion.
14 The mens rea for reckless driving is "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property." While this specific designation is not defined in the Vehicle Code, we concluded in Commonwealth v. Cathey, 645 A.2d 250, 253 (Pa. Super. 1994) that the "willful or wanton disregard" mens rea required for reckless driving, 75 Pa.C.S § 3736 was synonymous with the mens rea of "conscious disregard," as described in Commonwealth v. Wood, 475 A.2d 834 (1984). Conscious disregard, and by incorporation, "willful or wanton disregard" was characterized in Wood using language taken directly from the definitions of criminal culpability in the Crimes Code: "The mens rea required for recklessly endangering is recklessness - described in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 302(b)(3) as 'conscious disregard' of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, whereas the mens rea for [careless driving] is 'careless disregard.'" Id. at 836 (emphasis supplied). Thus, it follows that "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property" is synonymous with recklessness as it is defined in the Crimes Code, and as the title "reckless driving" implies. Moreover, it follows that satisfying this element requires a greater degree of criminal culpability than mere carelessness. Forrey also indicates as much. We stated there while referencing the elimination of the willful and wanton element:
... in so doing it is clear that the legislature did not intend to increase a driver's responsibility for ordinary negligence by reclassifying mere negligence as reckless driving. What was contemplated in the language 'carelessly disregarding the rights or safety of others, or in a manner so as to endanger any person or property' was to set the minimal requisite of the statutory offense of reckless driving at less than wilful and wanton conduct on the one hand and, on the other, something more than ordinary negligence or the mere absence of care under the circumstances.
Forrey, 92 A.2d at 234.
15 The above quotations demonstrate that the primary difference between the different mens rea requirements is conscious disregard versus careless disregard. While as terms of art they definitely connote a different standard, pinning down the precise difference in culpability implied by the usage of the two terms is not as easy. In Commonwealth v. O'Hanlon, 653 A.2d 616 (Pa. 1995), the Supreme Court reversed a conviction for aggravated assault because it found that aggravated assault, by utilizing a similar recklessness standard, required a higher level of culpability than mere negligence or carelessness. The Court opined that such a showing must exhibit "an element of deliberation or conscious disregard of danger...." Id. at 618.
16 In a similar vein, in Commonwealth v. Comer, 716 A.2d 593 (Pa. 1998), the Court held that a defendant who struck two pedestrians while speeding did not possess the necessary mens rea of recklessness to sustain a conviction for aggravated assault. The Court discussed the recklessness element quoting 18 Pa.C.S. § 302(b)(3):
A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct.
Id. at 597. Elaborating upon this factor the Court contrasted the ca
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