Legal Definitions - reckless

Reckless behavior is when someone acts in a way that is so careless that it is considered very dangerous. It is different from being negligent because the person knows that their actions could cause harm, but they do it anyway.

In a court case called State v. Olson, a man was driving a tractor and turned left. He hit another car, but the court did not consider it reckless because the man did not know that there was another car coming.

Another example of reckless behavior is when someone drives very fast on a busy street, even though they know it is dangerous and could cause an accident.

These examples show that reckless behavior is when someone does something that is very dangerous, even though they know it could cause harm to themselves or others.