Reckless Driving in California: Penalties, Points and Insurance

The criminal penalties are moderate. The insurance hit is not: in California, some insurers roughly quadruple the premium after a reckless driving conviction.

What counts as reckless driving

Under Vehicle Code § 23103, it's reckless driving to drive on a highway, or in an off-street parking facility, "in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property."

Criminal penalties

The fine in the statute isn't what you pay. In the Judicial Council's 2026 bail schedule, a first reckless driving offense with a $150 base fine comes to about $609 in total bail once penalty assessments are added, before the court's own fees; reckless driving causing injury under § 23104(a) totals about $1,435. Counties can adjust these amounts. Reckless driving also isn't eligible for traffic school, so you can't hide the points that way.

Separately, the court may suspend your license under § 13200: up to 30 days for a first conviction, 60 days for a second and six months for a third or later.

Points and your DMV record

A reckless driving conviction adds 2 points to your California driving record (Vehicle Code § 12810), the same as a DUI or a hit-and-run, compared with 1 point for most ordinary moving violations. A 2-point conviction stays visible on your record for 7 years (§ 1808).

Those 2 points start the DMV's negligent operator process by themselves:

The DMV can also act regardless of points. Reckless driving that causes bodily injury brings a mandatory one-year revocation (§ 13350), and three convictions for reckless driving or hit-and-run within 12 months bring a three-year revocation (§ 13351). Either way, getting your license back requires proof of insurance, usually an SR-22. A plain reckless driving conviction without a suspension doesn't require an SR-22 by itself. See our California SR-22 guide.

The "wet reckless"

A wet reckless (§ 23103.5) is a plea to reckless driving in place of a DUI charge. The prosecutor has to state on the record whether alcohol or drugs were involved, and if they were, the conviction counts as a prior DUI if you're charged with DUI again within 10 years; the DMV keeps it visible to courts and police for that long. Probation requires an alcohol and drug education program, and at least 60 hours for a repeat within 10 years.

For insurance there's one real advantage. California's rule barring anyone with a DUI from the good-driver discount for 10 years lists the DUI statutes but not a wet reckless, so for that discount it's treated as a 2-point conviction, not a DUI. How individual insurers price it beyond that isn't something we could document.

You also lose the good-driver discount

This is the part of the insurance hit that California law sets directly. Under Proposition 103, every insurer must give a good-driver discount of at least 20% to drivers who have been licensed for three years and have no more than 1 point in the previous three years (Insurance Code §§ 1861.02 and 1861.025). A reckless driving conviction is 2 points, so it takes you out of the discount for three years, on top of whatever surcharge your insurer applies.

Speed contests and sideshows

Street racing and "exhibition of speed" fall under § 23109, not the reckless driving statute. A speed contest carries 24 hours to 90 days in jail and/or a $355 to $1,000 fine, plus 40 hours of community service, and the court may suspend your license for 90 days to 6 months. Laws that took effect on January 1, 2025 define "street takeovers" and sideshows and expand vehicle impounds for them. A 2024 bill that would have added 2 points for driving 26 mph or more over the limit (SB 1509) was vetoed, so it isn't law.

What it does to your insurance rates

Average annual full-coverage premiums (100/300/100 liability, $500 deductibles, for a 40-year-old driver with good credit and a Honda Accord LX) from Insurance.com's California high-risk analysis, updated August 2026. Percentages are our calculation from those figures; the median increase across these insurers is 187%. *USAA is only available to military members, veterans and their families.

The spread is the story: the increase ranges from +77% (Progressive) to +299% (Allstate) for the same driver. After a reckless driving conviction, comparing quotes is worth more than almost anything else you can do.

In Insurance.com's California data, 8 of the 11 insurers above charge exactly the same premium after reckless driving as after a DUI, which suggests they treat both as the same class of major violation. See what a DUI costs, compared across publishers.

Related: SR-22 in California · Car insurance after a DUI in California

More California guides

• Car insurance after a DUI in California
• SR-22 requirements in California
• DUI under 21 in California
• Driving without insurance in California
• Driving with a suspended license in California
• Car insurance for teen drivers in California
• Teen car insurance by age (16, 17 and 18) in California
• Car insurance for senior drivers in California