I’m Rocky Brancato, founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm. I taught traffic and criminal law at the police academy, and our attorneys handle reckless driving from both directions — beating the charge when it never should have been criminal, and negotiating into it when it is the soft landing a bigger case needs.

How Does Florida Define Reckless Driving?

Section 316.192, Florida Statutes defines reckless driving as driving any vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. Those two words are the entire case. “Willful” means intentional and purposeful; “wanton” means with conscious and intentional indifference to consequences, knowing damage is likely. That is a state of mind the State must prove — not a driving grade.

The distinction that matters most: careless is not reckless. Florida has a separate, noncriminal careless driving infraction for failing to drive prudently. Weaving once, misjudging a gap, drifting in the rain, even causing an accident — none of that is criminal recklessness by itself. In our firm’s experience, a large share of reckless driving charges in Tampa Bay are careless driving cases that got written up a level too high, often because the driving annoyed the officer or ended in a crash. Those cases can be beaten or reduced, because the mental-state element is missing.

One shortcut in the statute: fleeing a law enforcement officer is reckless driving per se — no separate proof of willful or wanton driving needed. If your case involves an alleged failure to stop, that per se rule (and its overlap with the felony fleeing and eluding statute) needs a lawyer’s eyes immediately.

What Are the Penalties for Reckless Driving in Florida?

“Serious bodily injury” has a specific statutory meaning — a condition creating substantial risk of death, serious personal disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of a bodily member or organ — and whether an injury actually meets it is a genuine, medical-records-driven fight that can be the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor. Two more consequences ride along: reckless driving adds points to your driving record for license purposes, and if the court has reasonable cause to believe alcohol or drugs contributed, it must order DUI school and evaluation even though the conviction is not a DUI.

When Does Speeding Become Reckless Driving?

Ordinary speeding is a ticket. But Florida’s appellate courts have made clear that grossly excessive speed, all by itself, can be reckless — the rule they now phrase as “speed alone is not enough, except when it is.” That line comes from Luzardo v. State, 147 So. 3d 1083 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014), and in August 2026 the Sixth District reaffirmed it in Audinot Lugo v. State, No. 6D2025-1884 (Fla. 6th DCA Aug. 14, 2026), a vehicular homicide affirmance built on that principle. Racing is treated the same way: evidence that a driver was racing at the time of a crash is itself a sufficient basis to find reckless operation (Ruiz v. State, 286 So. 3d 338 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019)).

Why does that matter on a page about a misdemeanor? Because recklessness is the doorway to Florida’s worst traffic charges. The same “willful or wanton” element defines vehicular homicide when someone dies — and the Legislature has now added a separate crime of dangerous excessive speeding. If your reckless driving charge involves triple-digit speed, treat it as the serious case it is: today’s misdemeanor fact pattern is tomorrow’s felony evidence if anything goes wrong on the road.

Why Is Reckless Driving the Most Wanted Plea in DUI Court?

Because a “wet reckless” — a DUI reduced to reckless driving with an alcohol-related finding — avoids the mandatory consequences a DUI conviction drags with it: the DUI conviction on your record for life (Florida DUIs cannot be sealed after conviction), mandatory adjudication, insurance consequences, and the escalating penalties any future DUI would build on. Prosecutors agree to it when the State’s DUI proof has problems — a shaky stop, a contestable breath test, weak impairment evidence. That is why the same charge our attorneys fight in one courtroom is the outcome we negotiate for in another: it all depends on which side of the evidence your case sits. If you were offered a reckless reduction in a DUI case, that is usually a signal the State sees weakness — sometimes the right move is taking it, and sometimes it is pushing further.

What Happens in Court — and Can First Offenders Avoid a Record?

A reckless driving charge is prosecuted in criminal court — in Hillsborough County, that means the county courthouse downtown, an arraignment, and a prosecutor from the State Attorney’s Office, not a traffic hearing officer. For qualifying first offenders, that is actually good news, because criminal court comes with resolution tools a traffic ticket never gets. Diversion programs for eligible misdemeanor defendants can end the case with a dismissal after completing conditions — driving school, community service hours — leaving a far cleaner record than any plea. And where diversion is not on the table, Florida judges can withhold adjudication, which avoids a formal conviction and, for many first offenders, preserves eligibility to later seal the record.

Which door is available depends on the county, the prosecutor, your history, and the facts — and the doors close fast once pleas are entered. This is the concrete reason not to resolve a reckless driving case at your first appearance: the difference between “adjudicated guilty” and “dismissed after diversion” lasts the rest of your life, and it is often decided in the first two weeks. Our attorneys know which outcomes are realistically available in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco courtrooms and push the case toward the best one before any plea is on the record.

How Do We Defend Reckless Driving Charges?

We attack the mental-state element first: the State must prove willful or wanton disregard, and most driving — even bad driving — is merely careless. We use the video: cruiser and body-camera footage frequently shows ordinary imperfect driving narrated in dramatic report language, and the gap between the two is reasonable doubt. We litigate “serious bodily injury” with medical records when a felony is charged, because prosecutors routinely stretch that definition. We scrutinize speed evidence — pacing, radar, laser calibration, and the officer’s training — before conceding any number. And when the smarter play is resolution, we negotiate from the statute’s own structure: careless driving, a civil disposition, or terms that protect your record and license. First offenders with clean histories often have far better outcomes available than the arrest suggested.

What Should You Do If You Are Charged with Reckless Driving?

Treat it as the criminal case it is — do not just pay it or walk into court alone. A reckless driving conviction is a permanent criminal record, points on your license, and the first rung on a ladder Florida law climbs quickly. Before your court date: write down everything about the stop while it is fresh, note any dashcam or doorbell footage along the route, and do not discuss the driving with the officer, the other driver, or an insurance adjuster beyond what your policy requires. Then get counsel involved early — in Hillsborough County these cases are often decided in the first conversations with the State Attorney’s Office, where the difference between “willful and wanton” and “careless” is an argument, not a checkbox.

Frequently Asked Questions About Reckless Driving in Florida

Is reckless driving a criminal offense in Florida?

Yes — unlike careless driving (a civil infraction), reckless driving is a crime. A first conviction carries up to 90 days in jail, a second up to six months, and versions involving damage, injury, or serious bodily injury climb to a first-degree misdemeanor and then a third-degree felony. Our attorneys treat every reckless charge as a criminal defense case, because that is exactly what it is.

What is the difference between careless and reckless driving?

State of mind. Careless driving is failing to drive in a careful and prudent manner — a ticket. Reckless driving requires willful or wanton disregard for safety — a conscious indifference to consequences. The facts of many charged “reckless” cases only support carelessness, and arguing that distinction is the most common way these charges get reduced or dismissed.

Is going 100 mph automatically reckless driving?

Not automatically — but Florida’s courts hold that grossly excessive speed alone can support recklessness (“speed alone is not enough, except when it is”), and racing is sufficient by itself. Context matters: the road, traffic, weather, and time of day. Triple-digit-speed cases deserve a serious defense, both for the charge itself and because of where recklessness findings can lead if there is ever a crash.

What is a “wet reckless” in Florida?

A DUI reduced by plea to reckless driving, usually with an alcohol-related finding and DUI-school conditions. It avoids a DUI conviction’s mandatory penalties and lifetime record consequences, which is why it is the most sought-after resolution in DUI court. Whether the State offers it depends on the strength of its DUI evidence — which is where the defense work happens. See our full guide to DUI in Florida.

Is reckless driving a felony if someone gets hurt?

It becomes a first-degree misdemeanor if the driving causes damage or minor injury, and a third-degree felony — up to five years — only if it causes “serious bodily injury”: substantial risk of death, serious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of a body part or organ. Whether an injury meets that definition is a litigable medical question, and our firm has contested it with records and experts.

Can a reckless driving charge be reduced or dismissed?

Frequently. The willful-or-wanton element fails on ordinary bad driving, video often contradicts report language, and clean-record first offenders have real leverage. The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. defends these cases across Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties — call (813) 727-7159 before you pay anything or enter a plea.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Hillsborough County Criminal Defense Attorney page.

Related reading: What Is DUI in Florida? · What Is Vehicular Homicide in Florida? · Florida’s New Dangerous Excessive Speeding Crime · What Is Fleeing and Eluding in Florida? · What Is Driving While License Suspended in Florida?

A “Driving Charge” That Follows You Like a Crime — Because It Is One

If you have been cited or arrested for reckless driving in Hillsborough, Pinellas, or Pasco County, you are one signature away from a permanent criminal record over conduct that may have been nothing more than careless. Call the attorneys of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. — founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato — at (813) 727-7159 before your court date. The difference between a crime and a ticket is one legal argument — make sure someone is there to make it.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

I’m Rocky Brancato, founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm. I spent 25 years in Hillsborough County courtrooms — including as Chief Operations Officer of the Public Defender’s Office — and driving-while-suspended charges are among the most common, most underestimated cases our attorneys handle. They look small. They snowball.

How Does Florida Define Driving While License Suspended?

Section 322.34, Florida Statutes splits the offense in two, and everything turns on one word: knowledge.

Driving while your license is canceled, suspended, or revoked without knowledge of the suspension is a noncriminal moving violation under section 322.34(1) — a ticket, handled under chapter 318, with no jail exposure. Driving with knowledge of the suspension is a crime under section 322.34(2), and it escalates with each conviction.

The State can satisfy the knowledge element in three ways: you were previously cited for driving while suspended, you admitted knowing, or the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) gave you proper notice. The statute adds a rebuttable presumption of knowledge when a qualifying judgment or order appears in DHSMV records — but that presumption does not apply when the suspension was for failure to pay a traffic fine or a financial responsibility (insurance) violation, which are precisely the suspensions most people never learn about. Notices go to old addresses. Suspensions post without a letter arriving. Our attorneys win these cases on the knowledge element more than on any other issue.

What Are the Penalties for DWLS in Florida?

Two traps hide in that table. First, a third or subsequent with-knowledge conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail even when it stays a misdemeanor. Second, the felony versions do not require any bad driving at all — a habitual traffic offender rolling through a Publix parking lot commits a five-year felony just by driving.

What Are the Most Common Reasons Florida Licenses Get Suspended?

Most of our clients’ suspensions have nothing to do with dangerous driving. The usual causes: DUI convictions or the administrative suspension that follows a DUI arrest; accumulating too many points; unpaid traffic fines or court costs; failure to maintain insurance (financial responsibility suspensions); failure to appear in court; failure to complete a court-ordered program such as DUI school; and child support delinquencies under section 322.058. The reason matters legally — as noted above, fine-based and insurance-based suspensions do not get the State its knowledge presumption, and under section 322.27(5)(b), a habitual traffic offender designation built on a third DWLS violation can be removed entirely when you provide proof of compliance for the underlying offenses. Fixing the suspension is often the first step in fixing the case.

What Is a Habitual Traffic Offender — and Why Does It Change Everything?

A habitual traffic offender (HTO) is a driver whose DHSMV record shows, within any five-year period, either three convictions from a list of serious offenses — section 322.264 includes DUI, any felony committed with a motor vehicle, driving while license suspended or revoked, failing to stop and render aid after an injury crash, and manslaughter by vehicle — or fifteen convictions for point-assessable moving violations.

The five-year revocation comes from section 322.27(5)(a), and driving during it is a third-degree felony under section 322.34(5) regardless of why the original suspensions happened. Our firm regularly unwinds HTO designations by attacking the underlying convictions — we wrote a separate guide on challenging old convictions that created HTO status.

Do You Have to Pay for the Accident If You Were Driving on a Suspended License?

Not as criminal restitution — because your suspended license did not cause the crash. That is the rule Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal just enforced in Mahoney v. State, No. 5D2025-0804 (Fla. 5th DCA Aug. 14, 2026), and it matters to anyone charged with DWLS after an accident.

Angela Mahoney was convicted of driving while her license was suspended after a crash in Duval County, and the trial court ordered her to pay restitution for the accident damage. The Fifth District reversed and vacated the restitution order. Under section 775.089, Florida Statutes, restitution requires a loss that is causally connected to the offense and bears a significant relationship to it — and the Florida Supreme Court held in Schuette v. State, 822 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 2002), approving Cheek v. State, 700 So. 2d 731 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), that a suspended license is not causally related to a crash. The crime is driving without a valid license; the collision is a separate event.

Two practical notes from our attorneys. First, Mahoney also confirms this error is fundamental — it can be corrected on appeal even when no one objected at sentencing, so a restitution order already entered in a DWLS case may still be attackable. Second, this rule is about criminal restitution only: the other driver can still pursue a civil claim, and your insurer still matters. One judge on the Mahoney panel wrote separately to urge the Florida Supreme Court to loosen the causation rule, so our firm is watching this issue — but as of today, the law is clear, and we hold sentencing courts to it.

How Do We Defend DWLS Charges?

By attacking the case at four pressure points. First, knowledge: if the notice went to an old address, the suspension was fine-based or insurance-based, or the DHSMV paper trail is sloppy, the criminal charge can collapse into a civil infraction — or nothing. Second, identity: officers write these tickets fast, and our attorneys have had a DWLS charge dismissed when body camera footage showed a different driver entirely. Third, the underlying suspension: reinstating the license or providing proof of compliance before the court date changes the negotiating posture completely, and in third-DWLS HTO cases it can remove the designation itself under section 322.27(5)(b). Fourth, the priors: felony enhancement requires qualifying prior convictions, and DHSMV records are not as reliable as prosecutors assume — our firm has won a not-guilty verdict at trial by making the State try to prove its record evidence.

Real Results in DWLS Cases

Our firm’s results in these cases show how much room there is to fight what looks like a paperwork charge. In a felony DWLS case built on habitual traffic offender status, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict after we challenged the reliability of the DHSMV records. In another case, the charge was dismissed immediately after body camera footage showed the State had charged the wrong person. And where a client faced both a failure-to-appear and a DWLS charge, both were dismissed after we discovered the court date had been changed without notice to him — he was released on his own recognizance. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, but they illustrate where these cases crack.

What Should You Do If You Are Charged with DWLS?

Move before your court date — this is the rare criminal charge where the week before arraignment can decide the outcome. Pull your complete DHSMV record, identify why the license is suspended, and fix what can be fixed: pay the old fine, reinstate the insurance, complete the program, clear the child-support issue. A defendant who walks into a Hillsborough County courtroom with a valid license and proof of compliance is in a different case than one who walks in still suspended. Then let counsel fight the knowledge element and the priors. Do not just pay the ticket to make it go away — as the warning above explains, that “conviction” may be the third strike that makes you a habitual traffic offender.

Frequently Asked Questions About DWLS in Florida

Is driving on a suspended license a felony in Florida?

It can be. A third or subsequent conviction is a third-degree felony when the current or most recent prior violation involved a suspension for DUI, test refusal, a traffic offense causing death or serious bodily injury, or fleeing — and any driving while designated a habitual traffic offender is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years. Our attorneys always examine whether the State can actually prove the qualifying priors.

What if I did not know my license was suspended?

Then the offense is a noncriminal moving violation, not a crime. Knowledge is an element the State must prove, and the statutory presumption of knowledge does not apply to suspensions for unpaid fines or insurance lapses — the most common kinds. If your notice went to an old address, tell your lawyer immediately; in our experience the knowledge element is the most winnable issue in DWLS cases.

Can I be ordered to pay for the accident if I was driving while suspended?

Not as criminal restitution. In Mahoney v. State (Fla. 5th DCA Aug. 14, 2026), the court vacated a restitution order for accident damage because a suspended license is not causally related to a crash — a rule the Florida Supreme Court set in Schuette v. State in 2002. A civil claim by the other driver is a separate matter. If a court has already ordered accident restitution in your DWLS case, The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. can evaluate whether the order is attackable — this error can be raised even after sentencing.

Can I get a hardship license if my license is suspended?

Often, yes — Florida allows hardship or business-purpose-only licenses for many suspension types through the DHSMV and, for habitual traffic offenders, after a minimum period of the revocation has run. The right move depends on why you are suspended, and it is usually worth doing before your criminal court date. Our attorneys routinely walk clients through reinstatement as part of the defense.

What happens if I am caught driving as a habitual traffic offender?

You face a third-degree felony under section 322.34(5) — up to five years in prison — even if the driving itself was flawless. But HTO designations are more fragile than they look: if the designation rests on a third DWLS violation, proof of compliance for the underlying offenses can remove it, and attacking one of the three underlying convictions can dissolve the whole classification. That is exactly the work our firm’s habitual traffic offender defense focuses on.

Can a DWLS charge be dismissed?

Yes — through the knowledge element, identity problems, defective DHSMV records, or by resolving the underlying suspension and negotiating from strength. The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. has won dismissals and a not-guilty verdict in DWLS cases in Hillsborough County. Call (813) 727-7159 before your court date; the earlier we start, the more of these options stay open.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Hillsborough County Criminal Defense Attorney page.

Related reading: What Is Driving Without a License in Florida? · What Is DUI in Florida? · What Happens After a DUI Arrest in Hillsborough County? · Tampa Habitual Traffic Offender Defense · What Is Fleeing and Eluding in Florida? · What Is Leaving the Scene of an Accident in Florida?

A Suspended-License Charge Is Small — Until It Isn’t

If you have been cited or arrested for driving while license suspended in Hillsborough, Pinellas, or Pasco County, what you do before your first court date matters more than in almost any other criminal case — and simply paying the ticket can be the worst move available. Call the attorneys of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. — founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato — at (813) 727-7159 before you pay anything or enter any plea. Three of these tickets is a felony waiting to happen; one phone call is how it stops.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

I’m Rocky Brancato, founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm. With more than 25 years in Hillsborough County courtrooms, I’ve watched “paperwork” charges like this one quietly stack into mandatory jail — and today our attorneys resolve no-valid-license cases before they become the reason a client can’t pass a background check.

What Does Florida’s Driver License Law Actually Require?

A valid license in hand for every drive on a public road. Under section 322.03, Florida Statutes, a person may not drive any motor vehicle on a Florida highway without a valid driver license issued under chapter 322 — and “highway” in practice means virtually any public street. The statute also sweeps in three situations people rarely think of as “driving without a license”:

1. The long-expired license. A license expired for more than six months puts you inside the criminal statute, not the ticket statute.
2. The missing endorsement. Operating a motorcycle without a license that specifically authorizes motorcycle operation violates the section even if your regular license is perfectly valid. (Autocycles — enclosed three-wheelers — are the statutory exception.)
3. The commercial gap. A Florida resident who needs a commercial driver license cannot lawfully drive a commercial vehicle without a valid Florida CDL — a first-degree misdemeanor in most configurations, though a CDL expired 30 days or less is only a nonmoving violation.

What Are the Penalties for Driving Without a License in Florida?

They escalate quickly with repetition — and the third one comes with mandatory jail:

The mandatory 10-day floor is the trap in this statute. No-valid-license charges are often treated casually — resolved at arraignment with a quick plea to “get it over with” — and each casual plea becomes a prior. By the third, the judge has no discretion to keep the driver out of jail. Our attorneys see clients every year whose real problem is not the current charge but the two convictions they collected without counsel.

Can the Charge Be Dismissed If I Actually Had a Valid License?

Yes — the statute says so expressly. Under section 322.03(7), a person charged with driving without a license may not be convicted if, before or at their court appearance, they produce a driver license that was valid at the time of the arrest. This covers the driver who simply did not have the card on them, the driver whose valid out-of-state license was not in the officer’s system, and the driver whose renewal had processed but not printed.

If that is your situation, do not plead to anything — gather the proof and present it. Our attorneys handle these by documentation rather than litigation: a certified driving record, the physical license, and a short filing usually end the case at or before the first hearing.

How Is Driving Without a License Different From Driving While License Suspended?

They are different crimes under different statutes, and the difference matters enormously to your record. Driving without a license (section 322.03) means you never obtained a valid Florida license — or let one lapse more than six months. Driving while license suspended, or DWLS (section 322.34, Florida Statutes), means the State gave you a driving privilege and then took it away — and you drove anyway, knowing it.

The knowledge element is the busiest battleground in DWLS cases — it is covered in the section below and in depth in our full article on driving while license suspended in Florida.

The two statutes also converge at the worst possible place: a driver who racks up qualifying convictions under either can end up a habitual traffic offender, and driving after that designation is a felony. The path from “paperwork problem” to felony is shorter than almost anyone believes.

How Does a License Charge Become a Felony?

Through the habitual traffic offender designation, and it happens quietly. Section 322.34 makes driving after being designated a habitual traffic offender a third-degree felony — up to five years in prison — and the designation itself is administrative. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles applies it when a driver accumulates a qualifying set of convictions within a five-year window, and the revocation that follows runs for five years.

The mechanics matter because the designation is triggered by convictions the driver often collected without counsel, one $200 plea at a time. Nobody is arrested for becoming a habitual traffic offender; the notice arrives by mail, and a driver who does not read it — or who never updated their address with the Department — keeps driving with no idea their status has changed. The next stop is a felony arrest.

That is the single strongest argument for taking a first no-valid-license or suspended-license charge seriously: the cheap disposition today is what builds the felony exposure tomorrow. Our attorneys pull the certified driving record in every license case precisely to see where the client sits on that path — and, where a prior conviction was entered without a proper plea colloquy or without counsel, whether the predicate can be attacked before it counts.

Where Does the Knowledge Requirement Fit?

It is the dividing line between the two statutes, and it is worth understanding precisely. Driving without ever having been licensed under section 322.03 is a status offense — the State proves you drove and you had no valid license, and that is the case. Driving while suspended under section 322.34 requires the State to prove you knew about the suspension.

Florida makes that knowledge relatively easy to establish: the statute creates a rebuttable presumption of knowledge from the Department’s records showing a judgment or order of suspension, and knowledge is satisfied if the driver was previously cited, admits knowledge, or received proper notice. But a presumption is rebuttable, which means it can be met with evidence — a suspension notice mailed to an address the client had moved from years earlier, a suspension entered while the client was hospitalized or incarcerated, a clerical suspension the client cured and reasonably believed was resolved.

And courts are not limited to the statutory presumptions when weighing knowledge. In Howard v. State, No. 3D23-1737 (Fla. 3d DCA Apr. 2, 2025), the Third District affirmed a conviction for driving under “revocation equivalent status,” noting that in any proceeding under section 322.34 a court may consider evidence beyond that specified in the statute to find the driver knowingly violated it. (Read the opinion.) The practical read: the State has multiple routes to knowledge, so the defense has to know which route it is using before deciding how to answer it.

What About Out-of-State and Foreign Licenses?

A valid license from another U.S. state generally authorizes driving in Florida — the statute’s requirement is a valid license, and chapter 322 recognizes nonresident privileges. The problems arise at the edges: a driver who has become a Florida resident and kept driving on the old state’s license past the statutory window for obtaining a Florida one; a license that the issuing state has quietly suspended (which surfaces in the officer’s computer as no valid privilege); and licenses that are expired, altered, or unverifiable at the roadside. Where the roadside picture and the legal picture differ — and they often do — the documented truth wins in court, which is why we start every one of these cases by pulling the complete multi-state driving record.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Hillsborough County criminal defense page.

How Do Our Attorneys Defend No-Valid-License Charges?

By closing the case in a way that protects the future, not just the present. The statutory dismissal for a valid-at-arrest license is the first check. The second is the stop itself: a no-valid-license charge almost always begins with a traffic stop, and if the stop was unlawful, everything found afterward — including the driver’s status — is subject to suppression; our article on how long a traffic stop can last in Florida explains the limits officers must respect. The third is charge positioning: where dismissal is not available, converting a criminal conviction into a civil disposition, or securing a withhold of adjudication, keeps the count from becoming prior number one — or the third strike that mandates jail.

And in every case, the practical fix runs alongside the legal one: get licensed. A client who walks into court with a fresh, valid Florida license and a plan has a categorically better negotiating position than one who does not. We routinely map the licensing path — written and road tests, documentation, and clearing any out-of-state holds — as part of the representation.

What Should You Do After a No-Valid-License Charge?

Treat it as a criminal case, because it is one. Before your court date: pull your complete driving record, locate any license that was valid on the arrest date, and — if you have prior convictions under this statute — count them carefully, because the difference between a second and third conviction is the difference between negotiable and mandatory jail. Do not plead at arraignment just to end the day; a $200 fine today can be the predicate for 10 mandatory days next year.

If you have never been licensed, start the process immediately. If the obstacle is an old suspension in another state or unpaid fees, those are usually solvable problems — and solving them changes both the charge and the outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions About Driving Without a License in Florida

Is driving without a license a criminal offense in Florida?

Yes — it is a misdemeanor, not a civil infraction: second-degree for a first conviction, first-degree for a second, and first-degree with a 10-day mandatory jail minimum for a third or subsequent conviction under section 322.03. The attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm treat every one of these as a record-protection case, because the convictions compound.

Can a no-valid-license charge be dismissed?

Yes, if you had a license that was valid on the date of the arrest and produce it to the court — section 322.03(7) forbids conviction in that circumstance. Dismissals are also won by attacking the traffic stop or negotiating a civil disposition. Bring every scrap of licensing paperwork to your first consultation.

What if my license is just expired?

An expiration of six months or less is handled as a noncriminal matter; more than six months puts you inside the criminal statute. Renewing immediately — before court — is both the fix and the mitigation.

What is the difference between driving without a license and DWLS?

No-valid-license means you never had (or long ago lost by expiration) a valid license; DWLS means the State suspended or revoked a privilege you had, and you drove knowing it. DWLS is the more dangerous statute long-term because repeat offenses climb to felonies and habitual-offender revocations. If your record mixes both, have counsel audit it — misclassified priors are common and correctable.

Do I need a license to ride a moped or scooter in Florida?

To operate a moped on public roads you must be at least 16 and hold at least a regular Class E license, though mopeds do not require a motorcycle endorsement. Motorcycles — and many of the larger “scooters” that legally qualify as motorcycles — require the endorsement. The dividing lines are technical, engine-size-based, and worth checking before you ride, because the missing-endorsement version of this charge is prosecuted under the same criminal statute.

Will this charge affect my immigration case or job?

A criminal conviction of any level can surface in background checks and collateral proceedings, which is one more reason not to plead casually. The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. coordinates with clients’ immigration and employment counsel where needed and structures dispositions with those consequences in view.

If you or a family member has been charged with driving without a valid license anywhere in Tampa Bay, the attorneys of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. — founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato — can usually resolve it before it becomes a permanent problem. Call (813) 727-7159 before your arraignment date: the least expensive time to fix a license case is before the first plea, not after the third conviction.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

I’m Rocky Brancato, founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm. I spent years in the Major Crimes Unit of the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office handling cases where a moment on the road became a life-changing charge — and today our attorneys defend hit-and-run allegations at every level, from a scraped bumper in a parking lot to a fatal crash on the interstate.

What Does Florida Law Require You to Do After a Crash?

Stop, stay, identify yourself, and help. Under section 316.062, Florida Statutes, a driver involved in any crash causing injury, death, or damage to an attended vehicle or property must give their name, address, and vehicle registration number, show their license on request, and render “reasonable assistance” to anyone injured — including arranging transportation to a hospital if treatment is apparently necessary. If no officer is present, the driver must report the crash to the nearest police authority.

The charging statutes sit on top of those duties. Section 316.061 covers crashes with property damage only. Section 316.027 covers crashes involving injury or death — and that is where the felonies, the mandatory prison time, and most of our firm’s hit-and-run work live.

What Are the Penalties for Leaving the Scene in Florida?

The penalty ladder climbs with the harm the crash caused — not the harm you intended, and not who was at fault:

Three features of the statute deserve emphasis. First, the four-year mandatory minimum for a fatal hit-and-run applies whether or not the driver was impaired — and a separate provision imposes the same four-year floor on a driver who left a fatal crash while DUI. Second, the court must order restitution to the victim unless it finds clear and compelling reasons not to. Third, a driver arrested for a fatal leaving-the-scene charge who has certain prior convictions is held in custody until first appearance — no immediate bond.

What Must the State Prove? The Knowledge Element That Decides These Cases

The State must prove you actually knew a crash happened. That is not a defense lawyer’s spin — it is a holding of the Florida Supreme Court. In State v. Dorsett, 158 So. 3d 557 (Fla. 2015), a driver in a heavy pickup — windows up, air conditioner running, radio at full volume — never stopped after a teenager fell from a skateboard into the truck’s undercarriage. He told police he had no idea he had hit anyone. The Supreme Court held that a “willful” failure to stop can exist only if the driver had actual knowledge of the crash, and that the State must prove that knowledge beyond a reasonable doubt. (Read the opinion.)

The knowledge rules run on two tracks, and the difference matters:

1. Knowledge of the crash itself — actual knowledge required. A driver who genuinely did not perceive an impact did not “willfully” leave. Vehicle size, road noise, weather, the point of impact, and the size of what was struck all bear on this.
2. Knowledge of the injury — actual or constructive. For the felony tiers, the State must show the driver knew of the injury or reasonably should have known from the nature of the crash. A violent nighttime collision speaks for itself; a light touch in a parking lot may not.

Because knowledge is rarely provable directly, both sides fight over circumstances: damage photographs, event data recorder downloads, surveillance video, and what the driver did next. That is exactly the evidence our attorneys move to preserve in week one.

What Did a 2026 Tampa Bay Decision Say About Leaving to “Report” the Crash?

It closed a door many drivers assume is open. In Paleveda v. State, No. 2D2024-0980 (Fla. 2d DCA Jan. 23, 2026) — a decision from the appellate court covering Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties — a driver convicted of leaving the scene of a fatal crash argued he left intending to report the crash to law enforcement. The Second District affirmed: under section 316.062, a driver cannot lawfully leave the scene, even to report the crash, without first ascertaining the condition of the people involved, and the fact that the victim has died rather than been injured does not change the duties owed. (Read the opinion.)

The practical lesson is stark: the statute’s duties are performed at the scene, in order — stop, check on the people, exchange information, render aid, then report. A driver who skips to the last step has, in the eyes of the law, left.

What Defenses Actually Work in Hit-and-Run Cases?

The strongest defenses map directly onto the elements. Lack of knowledge of the crash — the Dorsett defense — is the leading one, and it is strongest where the physical evidence corroborates it: minimal or hidden vehicle damage, an impact at the rear quarter or undercarriage, highway speed and noise, bad weather. Lack of knowledge of any injury protects against the felony tiers even when the driver knew about some contact. Identity is a genuine issue in a surprising number of cases, because hit-and-run investigations often work backward from a tag number to an owner — and the owner is not always the driver.

One more thing worth knowing: fault for the crash is not an element. You can be completely blameless in the collision and still be charged for leaving. Conversely, being at fault does not prove you knew — the questions are independent, and juries are instructed accordingly.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Hillsborough County criminal defense page.

Why Do Prosecutors Charge Hit-and-Run So Aggressively?

Because the Legislature has told them to. The four-year mandatory minimum for fatal cases was designed to eliminate the perverse incentive for an impaired driver to flee, sober up, and surrender later — fleeing now costs at least as much as the DUI would have. That policy history shapes how these cases are prosecuted in the 13th Judicial Circuit: fatal and serious-injury hit-and-run investigations get traffic homicide investigators, search warrants for vehicles and phones, and media attention, and charging decisions err toward the top of the ladder.

It also means the aggravated versions stack. A driver who flees a crash scene and then fails to stop for the officer who spots the car has converted one bad night into two felonies — the hit-and-run plus aggravated fleeing and eluding, which carries its own mandatory adjudication and, if anyone was seriously hurt, its own three-year mandatory minimum. And where the underlying crash involved impairment, the State often charges the hit-and-run alongside DUI manslaughter — parallel counts with parallel minimums.

How Is Leaving the Scene Different From Vehicular Homicide?

They punish different things, and the distinction drives strategy when both are on the table. Vehicular homicide punishes the driving — a killing caused by reckless operation of a vehicle. Leaving the scene punishes the departure — the willful failure to stop and perform the statutory duties, regardless of how careful or careless the driving was. That is why a driver can be acquitted of the driving charge and convicted of the leaving charge, or the reverse: the two counts stand on different elements, different mental states, and different evidence.

In fatal-crash prosecutions around the 13th Judicial Circuit, the State frequently files both, along with DUI manslaughter where impairment is alleged — Paleveda itself involved all three. Each count carries its own minimums and its own defenses, and a defense that concedes one count to fight another must be built deliberately, not by accident. When our attorneys evaluate a multi-count fatal crash case, the first product is a count-by-count map of what the State can actually prove — because a plea negotiation that treats three counts as one case leaves value on the table.

How Do Police Actually Build a Hit-and-Run Case?

Backward from the car. Most hit-and-run investigations begin with fragments — a partial tag from a witness or doorbell camera, paint transfer on the struck vehicle, debris that carries a part number traceable to a make and model range. Tag readers on major Tampa Bay corridors narrow the window; a BOLO turns up the vehicle; and the registered owner gets a visit. From there the case is usually made or lost in two places: the vehicle inspection (does the damage match the crash, and has it been repaired since?) and the owner interview (does anyone put the owner behind the wheel — including the owner?).

Understanding that sequence tells you what the defense must do, and quickly. The vehicle should be preserved exactly as it is and photographed professionally before any repair — a repair after police contact reads as consciousness of guilt, while untouched, ambiguous damage supports a no-knowledge defense. The interview should not happen without counsel, because identity and knowledge — the two hardest elements for the State — are most often supplied by the driver’s own words. And time matters on defense evidence too: the same doorbell and business cameras that captured fragments for the police may hold exculpatory angles that overwrite within days.

What Should You Do If You Are Accused of Leaving the Scene?

If the crash just happened and you are still able to act, the safest course is to fulfill the statutory duties — return if you can do so safely, or report immediately. An early, voluntary report can be the difference between a defensible misunderstanding and a fleeing narrative.

If police have already contacted you — a knock at the door, a card on the windshield, a call about “your vehicle being involved in an incident” — do not give a statement. Hit-and-run investigations frequently hinge on a single admission (“I thought I hit a curb”) that supplies the knowledge element the physical evidence could not. Politely decline, and call counsel. Our attorneys can accept service of the investigation, preserve the vehicle in its post-crash condition for independent inspection, send preservation letters for area surveillance video before it is overwritten, and — where the facts support it — present the no-knowledge defense to the prosecutor before charges are filed rather than after.

Frequently Asked Questions About Leaving the Scene in Florida

Is leaving the scene of an accident a felony in Florida?

It is a felony whenever the crash injured or killed anyone: third-degree for injury, second-degree for serious bodily injury, first-degree with a four-year mandatory minimum for death. Property-damage-only crashes are second-degree misdemeanors under section 316.061. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm treat even the misdemeanor version seriously, because the same facts often carry civil exposure and license consequences.

What if I did not know I hit someone?

Then under State v. Dorsett the State cannot convict you — actual knowledge of the crash is an essential element the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The believability of a no-knowledge defense depends on the physical evidence: where the vehicle was struck, how loud and fast the environment was, and what the damage looks like. Preserve the vehicle unrepaired and unwashed until it is documented.

Can I be charged if the accident wasn’t my fault?

Yes. Fault is not an element of leaving the scene — the duties to stop, exchange information, and render aid apply to every driver involved in a crash, including the blameless one. The flip side: being charged says nothing about civil liability for the collision itself.

What is the mandatory minimum for a fatal hit-and-run?

Four years in prison under section 316.027(2)(c), and the same four-year minimum applies to a driver who left a fatal crash while driving under the influence. The court must also revoke your license for at least three years and order restitution absent clear and compelling reasons.

Can I leave the scene to go find the police?

Not before performing your duties at the scene. In Paleveda v. State (2026), the Second District — the appellate court for Tampa Bay — held that a driver may not leave even to report the crash without first ascertaining the condition of the people involved. Reporting is the last duty, not a substitute for the others.

Will I lose my license for a hit-and-run conviction?

For any conviction under section 316.027 — injury, serious injury, or death — revocation for at least three years is mandatory. Property-damage convictions under section 316.061 do not carry the same mandatory revocation, but points and insurance consequences follow. The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. builds license consequences into every negotiation, because a plea that saves jail time and silently costs three years of driving is not a good plea.

If you or someone you love left the scene of a crash — or is being investigated for one — anywhere in Tampa Bay, the attorneys of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. — founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato — can step in before charges are filed. Call (813) 727-7159 now: the vehicle, the surveillance video, and your silence are the three most valuable assets in a hit-and-run defense, and all three are at their most fragile in the first days.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

I’m Rocky Brancato, founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm. Before founding the firm I served as Chief Operating Officer of the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office and taught at the police academy, where officer pursuit and stop procedures were part of the curriculum — and today our attorneys use that insider knowledge of how pursuits are supposed to be conducted to defend fleeing and eluding charges across Tampa Bay.

What Does Florida’s Fleeing and Eluding Law Actually Prohibit?

Florida’s fleeing and eluding statute, section 316.1935, Florida Statutes, makes it a crime for a driver who knows a law enforcement officer has ordered them to stop to willfully refuse or fail to stop — or, after stopping, to willfully flee in an attempt to elude the officer. Those two words, “knowledge” and “willfully,” carry almost the entire weight of the statute, and they are where our attorneys focus first in every case.

The statute builds upward from that basic offense. Subsection (1) covers any refusal to stop for a known order — a third-degree felony. Subsection (2) covers fleeing from an officer in an authorized patrol vehicle with agency markings prominently displayed and both siren and lights activated — also a third-degree felony, but the version prosecutors usually charge because it is easier to prove the driver knew. Subsection (3) escalates the charge when the driver flees at high speed or with wanton disregard for safety, and subsection (4) — “aggravated fleeing or eluding” — applies when the fleeing happens while leaving the scene of a crash.

What surprises most people is what the statute does not require. It does not require a high-speed chase. It does not require anyone to be hurt. Driving away from a traffic stop at normal speed, or failing to pull over promptly enough while an officer follows with lights on, can be charged as a felony if the State can prove you knew about the order to stop and willfully disregarded it.

What Are the Penalties for Fleeing and Eluding in Florida?

Every tier of fleeing and eluding is a felony, and the penalties climb steeply with speed and harm. Here is the full structure under section 316.1935:

Two collateral consequences apply to every tier. First, the court must revoke your driver license for at least one year and up to five years. Second — and this is the provision that changes everything about how these cases must be defended — section 316.1935(6) says no court may suspend, defer, or withhold adjudication for any violation of the section.

Why Does the No-Withhold Rule Matter So Much?

Because it takes the most common soft landing in Florida criminal court off the table entirely. In many felony cases, a first-time offender can resolve the charge with a withhold of adjudication — they complete probation, they are never “convicted,” and they can honestly say they are not a convicted felon. Section 316.1935(6) forbids that outcome for fleeing and eluding. If you plead to the charge or a jury convicts you, you are adjudicated guilty, period.

That means a plea to the charge as filed — even with no jail time — permanently makes you a convicted felon, with everything that follows: loss of civil rights including firearm rights, a felony record visible to every employer and landlord, and sentencing enhancement exposure on any future case. It also means the entire strategic goal of the defense shifts. In our experience, the fight in a fleeing and eluding case is rarely about probation versus prison on the charge as filed; it is about attacking the elements, the stop, and the evidence hard enough that the State reduces the charge to something that does not carry a mandatory adjudication — or dismisses it.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Hillsborough County criminal defense page.

What Counts as “High Speed” or “Wanton Disregard”?

The statute never defines “high speed” in miles per hour, and “wanton disregard” is a jury question — which makes these the most litigated words in the statute. Florida’s appellate courts define “willful” as conduct that is intentional, knowing, and purposeful, and “wanton” as conduct done with a conscious and intentional indifference to consequences, with knowledge that damage to persons or property is likely. Both definitions were restated in Andriotis v. State, No. 5D23-2160 (Fla. 5th DCA Jan. 3, 2025), a vehicular homicide appeal in which a driver immersed in his phone at highway speed never braked before a fatal rear-end collision — the court affirmed, holding that degree of conscious indifference met the willful-and-wanton standard. (Read the opinion.)

A recent fleeing decision shows how far prosecutors can reach to prove the speed element. In Johnson v. State, No. 1D2024-0912 (Fla. 1st DCA Nov. 5, 2025), a driver fled a stop in Bay County and a trooper’s radar clocked him at 127 miles per hour after the chase crossed into neighboring Jackson County. He argued the out-of-county speed reading was irrelevant to a crime charged in Bay County. The First District disagreed and affirmed: under section 910.05, Florida Statutes, when the acts making up one offense span two or more counties, the case can be tried in any of them, and there is no requirement that every element occur in the charging county. (Read the opinion.) The practical lesson for Tampa Bay drivers: a pursuit that runs from Hillsborough into Pasco or Pinellas County does not split the case — it gives the State a choice of courthouse and lets it use evidence from the entire route.

Did Florida Just Raise the Stakes for Repeat Fleeing Charges?

Yes. In 2025, the Legislature added a fleeing-specific multiplier to the felony sentencing scoresheet. Under section 921.0024, Florida Statutes, if the primary offense being scored is fleeing or attempting to elude — or aggravated fleeing or eluding — and the defendant’s prior record contains one or more violations of section 316.1935, the subtotal sentence points are multiplied by 1.5.

To understand what that means, you need to know how Florida felony sentencing works. Every felony case gets a Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet: points for the current charge, points for injuries, points for prior record. The total produces a “lowest permissible sentence” — the floor, not the ceiling. A 1.5 multiplier on the subtotal can convert a case that scored out to probation into a case with a mandatory prison floor. A second fleeing charge is therefore not just “another felony” — it is arithmetically a different kind of case, and anyone facing one should understand their scoresheet before evaluating any plea offer. Our attorneys prepare the scoresheet independently in every felony case rather than relying on the State’s math; scoresheet errors are among the most common — and most fixable — sentencing mistakes in the 13th Judicial Circuit.

What Must the State Prove — and Where Do These Cases Fall Apart?

To convict under the commonly charged subsection (2), the State must prove every one of these beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. You were operating a vehicle. Identity is a real issue when the driver is not apprehended immediately — many pursuits end with an abandoned car and an arrest made later on video review or tag registration.
2. A duly authorized officer ordered you to stop.
3. The patrol vehicle was authorized and marked, with agency jurisdictional insignia prominently displayed.
4. Siren and lights were both activated. Lights alone are not enough for a subsection (2) charge; an unmarked car is not enough. Officers’ own dash-camera video frequently answers this question one way or the other.
5. You knew you had been ordered to stop and willfully refused. Willfulness is where real life pushes back: loud music, tinted windows, night driving, a genuine fear of a police impersonator, or a driver slowing down and looking for a safe, lit place to pull over all cut against the claim that the failure to stop was a knowing, purposeful act of defiance.

Every one of those elements is also a checkpoint for the defense. And there is a second front: the stop itself. If the initial attempted stop was unlawful, the suppression fight can strip the State’s case of everything that followed — our analysis of how long police can lawfully detain a driver in our article on how long a traffic stop can last in Florida explains the “mission” rules officers must follow. The lawfulness of police conduct is both a pretrial suppression issue and a matter the jury hears about at trial, so losing a motion does not end the fight.

How Do Our Attorneys Defend Fleeing and Eluding Charges?

We start with the video, because almost every pursuit in Hillsborough County generates dash-camera and body-camera footage, and the footage frequently contradicts the arrest report on the two facts that matter most — whether lights and siren were running, and how the defendant was actually driving. We obtain the CAD (computer-aided dispatch) records to reconstruct the timeline minute by minute, the same way we build timelines in reckless driving cases, because “high speed” and “wanton disregard” are conclusions, and conclusions need measurable facts behind them.

Because adjudication cannot be withheld on any section 316.1935 charge, the negotiating strategy is different from most felonies: the realistic targets are a reduction to an offense that permits a withhold — reckless driving is the most common landing spot — or a dismissal built on an element failure or suppression win. That is also why fleeing charges that accompany a leaving the scene of an accident charge are so dangerous: the combination converts the fleeing count into “aggravated fleeing” under subsection (4), a second-degree felony even when nobody is hurt, with a first-degree felony and a three-year mandatory minimum waiting if anyone is seriously injured.

What Should You Do Right After a Fleeing and Eluding Arrest?

Move quickly, because the most valuable evidence in these cases has a short shelf life. Dash-camera and body-camera video is subject to retention schedules; nearby business surveillance that might show your driving — or show someone else driving — can be overwritten in days. An attorney can send preservation demands immediately, before anything disappears.

Say nothing about the incident to anyone but your lawyer. The knowledge and willfulness elements are exactly the kind of thing an offhand statement (“I saw the lights but I panicked”) can prove for the State when its own evidence could not. If your license has been revoked as part of a conviction in the past, or if you have any prior section 316.1935 history, tell your attorney at the first meeting — the 1.5 multiplier makes prior-record accuracy a front-line issue. And if the pursuit crossed county lines, do not assume the case will stay where it started; as Johnson shows, the State chooses the venue.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fleeing and Eluding in Florida

Is fleeing and eluding always a felony in Florida?

Yes. There is no misdemeanor version of fleeing and eluding — the lowest tier under section 316.1935 is a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison. That is true even for a low-speed failure to stop with no crash and no injuries. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm treat every fleeing charge as the felony fight it is, because the statute gives no other option.

Can the judge withhold adjudication on a fleeing charge?

No. Section 316.1935(6) expressly forbids any court from suspending, deferring, or withholding adjudication for any violation of the section. A plea to the charge as filed always produces a felony conviction, which is why the defense goal is usually a reduced charge or dismissal rather than a favorable sentence on the original charge.

What if I didn’t realize the officer was trying to stop me?

Then the State cannot prove its case — knowledge of the order to stop is an element the prosecution must establish beyond a reasonable doubt. Distance, darkness, traffic noise, tinted windows, and the absence of a siren all bear on what you actually knew. We frequently pair this defense with the video evidence, which shows exactly what was visible and audible from the driver’s position.

What if I was just looking for a safe place to pull over?

Slowing down, activating your hazard lights, and proceeding to a lit or populated area is conduct a jury can see as compliance, not willful fleeing — the statute punishes a willful refusal to stop, not cautious driving. Document everything you remember about why you chose the spot you did. The attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. have used exactly this pattern to attack the willfulness element.

Does it matter that the chase crossed into another county?

Not in the way most people hope. Under section 910.05 and the First District’s 2025 decision in Johnson, a multi-county pursuit can be prosecuted in any county where any part of it happened, and evidence from the whole route — including a radar reading taken two counties away — is admissible. A Hillsborough pursuit that ends in Pasco County is still one case.

Will I lose my driver license?

Yes, if convicted — revocation is mandatory for every tier of the offense, for at least one year and up to five years. The judge has discretion within that range, which is one more reason the details of the driving pattern matter even in a case that cannot be won outright.

If you or someone you love is facing a fleeing and eluding charge anywhere in Tampa Bay, the attorneys of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. — founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato — are ready to move immediately. Call (813) 727-7159 today: pursuit video and dispatch records are governed by short retention schedules, and the window to preserve the evidence that wins these cases is measured in days, not months.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.