Including operating a motor vehicle at a speed of 100 miles per hour or more and 35 miles per hour over the posted speed limit under the crime of reckless driving.
Impact
If enacted, SB113 would directly amend K.S.A. 8-254 and 8-1566, which pertain to the revocation of driving privileges and the definitions surrounding reckless driving. By incorporating stricter definitions related to excessive speeding, the legislation aims to discourage dangerous driving practices. Consequently, the bill is likely to affect the number of reckless driving infractions reported, contributing to improved traffic safety standards across the state.
Summary
Senate Bill 113 aims to revise the existing laws regarding reckless driving in the state of Kansas. The bill explicitly defines reckless driving to include operating a motor vehicle at a speed of 100 miles per hour or more, or 35 mph over the posted speed limit. This amendment is designed to enhance road safety by addressing particularly dangerous driving behaviors that significantly endanger both drivers and pedestrians alike. The bill also proposes specific penalties for violations, reinforcing the seriousness of such offenses.
Conclusion
By enhancing penalties for reckless driving and clearly defining the infractions, SB113 seeks to promote responsible driving practices, thereby aiming to protect the safety of all road users in Kansas. The bill reflects a growing concern over traffic safety and works towards establishing a more disciplined driving culture in the state.
Contention
While the intent behind SB113 is to curtail reckless behavior on the roads, there may be potential contentions regarding the implementation of such strict measures. Some stakeholders may argue that the definitions set forth could lead to an increase in penalties and convictions for drivers, even in scenarios where their actions may not pose a significant risk of harm. Additionally, law enforcement’s discretion in enforcing these new definitions might lead to uneven application of the law.
Requiring certain persons on a third or subsequent conviction of driving under the influence to participate in a multidisciplinary model of services for substance use disorders.
Creating the crime of engaging in a street stunt, providing criminal penalties therefor and adding the new offense as a method of committing fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
Updating the definition of commercial motor vehicle to include gross vehicle weight and defining leaving the scene of an accident in the Kansas uniform commercial drivers' license act.
Increasing the criminal penalties for certain violations of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer when the person has prior convictions of the offense.
Requiring certain persons on a third or subsequent conviction of driving under the influence to participate in a multidisciplinary model of services for substance use disorders, removing the requirement that municipal courts collect fingerprints from persons convicted of violating certain municipal ordinance provisions, amending the crime of aggravated endangering a child to increase the criminal penalties when bodily harm to the child results and when a child is in certain environments associated with fentanyl-related controlled substances, increasing the criminal penalties for unlawful distribution of fentanyl-related controlled substances, eliminating the element of concealment from the crime of breach of privacy related to installing or using a device to photograph or record another identifiable person under or through the clothing being worn by that other person or another identifiable person who is nude or in a state of undress, excluding certain types of incarceration time from being included in the allowance for time spent incarcerated when calculating a criminal defendant's sentence and updating the general terms of supervision for offenders on probation and postrelease supervision.
Creating the crime of organized retail crime, providing criminal penalties for violation thereof, increasing the criminal penalties for theft of certain property, including organized retail crime in the definition of racketeering activity under the Kansas racketeer influenced and corrupt organization act and authorizing the attorney general to prosecute crimes that are part of an alleged course of criminal conduct that occurred in two or more counties.
Increasing the penalty for certain violations of criminal discharge of a firearm when a person was present in the dwelling, building, structure or motor vehicle at which the offender discharged a firearm.