Reckless Driving in Florida: Penalties, Points and Insurance

Florida's base penalty is modest, but it escalates fast: damage to someone's property or person turns it into a first-degree misdemeanor, and serious injury into a felony.

What counts as reckless driving

Florida statute 316.192 defines reckless driving as driving "in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property." Fleeing a law enforcement officer in a vehicle is reckless driving automatically.

Criminal penalties

Situation	Penalty
First conviction	Up to 90 days in jail, or a $25 to $500 fine, or both
Second or later conviction	Up to 6 months in jail, or a $50 to $1,000 fine, or both
Causes damage to another person's property or person	First-degree misdemeanor
Causes serious bodily injury	Third-degree felony

A $5 surcharge is added to any fine under this section (§ 316.192(4)).

Points

Florida assigns 4 points to a willful and wanton reckless driving conviction (§ 322.27).

What it does to your insurance rates

Insurer	Clean record	After reckless driving	Change
State Farm	$2,119	$2,276	+7%
Travelers	$2,356	$3,592	+52%
GEICO	$2,214	$3,848	+74%
Progressive	$2,902	$3,950	+36%
Nationwide	$2,150	$4,575	+113%
Allstate	$3,569	$4,671	+31%
National General	$3,103	$4,751	+53%
Mercury Insurance	$3,358	$4,962	+48%
Farmers	$3,261	$8,529	+162%

Average annual full-coverage premiums (100/300/100 liability, $500 deductibles) from Insurance.com's Florida high-risk analysis, updated August 2026. Percentages are our calculation from those figures; the median increase across these insurers is 52%.

The spread is the story: the increase ranges from +7% (State Farm) to +162% (Farmers) 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 Florida data, 6 of the 9 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: FR-44 and SR-22 in Florida · Driving without insurance in Florida