About once every couple months I get a client who has been pulled over or charged with reckless driving because they squealed their tires within earshot of a cop. The question is always “How is that reckless driving?”.
If you have been pulled over of charged with reckless driving and the officer claims he did so because you squealed your tires there are a couple things to look for.
First of all, cops usually don’t say a driver “squealed” their tires. They usually say the driver’s tires “broke traction” or that they observed the cars wheel “lose traction”.
The reason cops can’t bare to simply say the car’s tires squealed is because squealing tires are generally not enough to charge someone with a crime or even pull them over in Virginia. There has to be somethings more.
The tires have to be smoking, leaving substantial rubber on the road, fish tailing, reckless acceleration, spitting mud and gravel all over, ect. The mere causing of a sound is not enough.
The cops say “breaking traction” because they are trying to convince the judge that the tires did more than make noise, they left the ground. After all, how can you be driving safely if your wheels aren’t on the ground.
This is where a good attorney earns his money. by strict application of the rules of evidence, case law and effective cross examination techniques the attorney may prevent the officer from being able to testify about whether or not the tires ever “lost traction” and limit their testimony to the fact that they only heard a noise.
