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Commonwealth v. Greenberg10/20/2005
t was nearly certain to result in a serious or fatal disaster. Nevertheless, he consciously disregarded this awareness and continued his race for eight-tenths of a mile after running Ms. Pepple off the road. Illegally passing two pick-up trucks, sustaining his reckless and malicious conduct, appellant sped into a dangerous double blind curve where he smashed into the victims.
Unlike Comer, [716 A.2d 593 (Pa. 1998),] the crash here did not ensue immediately after the driver became aware of his life-threatening conduct. To the contrary, appellant had adequate time to calculate and reflect upon the consequences of his reckless conduct, thus rendering the choice to continue it malicious.
Bullick, 830 A.2d at 999.
Id. Unlike Kling, who engaged in extremely dangerous driving behavior even after having close calls with oncoming traffic, there is no evidence Appellant had any difficulties negotiating the road or came close to colliding with other vehicles prior to encountering the curve that caused him to lose control here. As such, and given that Appellant's speed was not so excessive as to itself create a high risk of an accident, which could be imputed to Appellant by default, the evidence of conscious disregard, a key component of the willful and wanton standard, is lacking.
12 Lastly, contrary to the putative intent behind its publication, a passage from the trial court's opinion supports the premise that Appellant was not guilty of reckless driving, but possibly a lesser offense. The trial court states: "it should be noted that the Defendant was 16 years old and had been driving less then two weeks at the time he was cited. A youthful and inexperienced driver would be expected to observe extreme caution on the highway and observe all speed limits." T.C.O. at 1. The trial court cites Appellant's lack of experience at the time the incident occurred and highlights that a driver lacking in experience would be expected to exercise great caution. By failing to exercise the caution befitting his lack of experience, Appellant was certainly negligent. However, given his lack of experience, it is also far more likely that Appellant lacked the cognizance of the danger his driving created.
13 As the caselaw demonstrates, reckless driving requires driving that not only grossly deviates from ordinary prudence but also creates a substantial risk that property damage or personal injury will follow. It is also necessary that the driving reflect a conscious disregard for the danger being created by the reckless driving. It is clear from the strata of offenses set forth in the VC that reckless driving is reserved for driving behavior deviates far more from normal care than that which occurred here. Conceivably, Appellant's driving conduct might support driving at an unsafe speed and/or careless driving, but it clearly cannot rise to the level of willful and wanton disregard.
14 In short, we take notice of the fact that the legislature has created a hierarchy of offenses that correlate to increasingly imprudent behavior. These offenses run the spectrum from strict liability to reckless behavior, which requires willful and wanton driving behavior. While Appellant certainly violated some section of the VC, the Commonwealth's efforts to attach the greatest offense to Appellant's driving behavior would work to obliterate the lines between the offenses in the spectrum.
15 For the above reasons, we reverse the judgment of sentence.
16 Judgment of sentence reversed. Jurisdiction relinquished.
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