Wet Reckless Pleas and Your California CDL

The real question is whether a wet reckless plea protects your commercial license or just changes the label on the court case. I am Joel Brand, and here is how I break that question down for California CDL drivers before they sign anything.

The slogan that a wet reckless "saves your CDL" is too broad.

A wet reckless can remove the DUI conviction from the criminal case, but it does not make the CDL issue disappear. The answer depends on the court conviction, the DMV track, any refusal allegation, the vehicle you were in, the exact code section on the plea form, and what happens on your driving record during the next three years.

A wet reckless is reckless driving with an alcohol notation

On paper, the wet reckless plea is a plea to Vehicle Code 23103, reckless driving, through Vehicle Code 23103.5. It is used when the prosecution agrees to take a guilty or no contest plea to reckless driving "in satisfaction of, or as a substitute for" an original charge under Vehicle Code 23152. The alcohol or drug notation comes from Vehicle Code 23103.5. The prosecutor must state a factual basis on the record. That statement must include whether there was consumption of alcohol, ingestion or administration of a drug, or both, in connection with the offense. The court must advise you of the consequences before accepting the plea. The plea form and minute order matter because the DMV and later record readers will look at the conviction that was entered. If the written record says one thing and the oral plea says another, fix that before you rely on the offer.

That label matters for a CDL. A wet reckless is a conviction of Vehicle Code 23103 reckless driving with an alcohol or drug notation. It is not a conviction of Vehicle Code 23152, and it is not a conviction of Vehicle Code 23153. If you are comparing the labels, I explain the criminal side in wet reckless compared to a DUI, but the CDL rules have their own structure.

The CDL question starts with the exact conviction, not the title people use in conversation.

A single wet reckless is not on the major offense lists

Federal CDL disqualification rules in 49 CFR 383.51 Table 1 list major offenses. The list includes being under the influence of alcohol as prescribed by state law, being under the influence of a controlled substance, driving a commercial motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04 percent or more, refusing a required alcohol test, leaving the scene, using a vehicle to commit a felony, and other listed offenses. Reckless driving is not on Table 1.

For a first conviction, California Vehicle Code 15300 also lists offenses that cause a one year commercial disqualification. It includes 23152(a), (b), or (c) while operating a motor vehicle, 23152(d), 23153 offenses, refusal or failure to complete a chemical test under 23612, and other listed conduct. Reckless driving is not on that list. Vehicle Code section 15302 imposes a lifetime disqualification from operating a commercial motor vehicle on a second conviction, or any combination, of the offenses it lists. Reckless driving is not there either.

Because of those omissions, a single wet reckless conviction by itself does not trigger the one year, three year, or lifetime disqualification that a DUI conviction can trigger. It also is not a step toward the lifetime disqualification under those major offense lists.

The serious traffic violation catch is the part most drivers miss

Reckless driving is still a serious traffic violation.

California Vehicle Code 15210(p)(2) includes reckless driving as defined under the federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Federal Table 2 in 49 CFR 383.51 also lists reckless driving as a serious traffic violation. That is the catch for CDL drivers who hear the word "reckless" and think the commercial case is over.

Table 2 serious traffic violations include reckless driving, excessive speeding of 15 miles per hour or more over the limit, improper or erratic lane changes, following too closely, a violation arising in connection with a fatal accident, and texting or hand held phone use while driving a commercial motor vehicle.

The same CDL math applies to a dry reckless, which is a plea to plain Vehicle Code 23103 with no alcohol or drug notation. On the CDL side, the serious traffic violation math is the same for wet reckless and dry reckless, because Vehicle Code 15210(p)(2) and federal Table 2 key on reckless driving as the offense, not on whether alcohol was noted. What the notation changes is priorability under Vehicle Code 23103.5(c) and what an employer sees when the record is read.

One serious traffic violation alone does not carry a federal Table 2 disqualification. The problem starts when there is another serious traffic violation close enough in time. Under Vehicle Code 15306, a driver shall not operate a commercial motor vehicle for 60 days if the person is convicted of a serious traffic violation involving a commercial or a noncommercial motor vehicle and the offense occurred within three years of a separate serious traffic violation conviction.

Your personal car can matter.

California is broader than the federal floor here. At the federal floor, a serious traffic violation in a noncommercial vehicle counts only if that conviction results in the revocation, cancellation, or suspension of the driver's license or noncommercial driving privileges. California Vehicle Code 15306 uses the words "commercial or a noncommercial motor vehicle."

Here is the plain example. You take a wet reckless this year. Next year, you get convicted of a 15 over speeding ticket in the family car. That ticket is not a DUI. It still can be a serious traffic violation. Because the second serious traffic violation is inside three years, Vehicle Code 15306 can mean 60 days off the truck. A third serious traffic violation within three years brings 120 days under Vehicle Code 15308(a). Under 15308(b), that 120 day period does not begin until all existing suspensions or revocations of the commercial driving privilege have ended.

The DMV case runs on the chemical test result, not the plea

The criminal case and the DMV case are separate tracks. A wet reckless plea in court does not decide the administrative suspension under Vehicle Code 13353.2.

Under Vehicle Code 13353.2(a), the DMV shall immediately suspend the driving privilege when the person was driving with 0.08 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the blood, when a driver under 21 had 0.01 percent or more, when "the person was driving a vehicle that requires a commercial driver's license when the person had 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood", or when the person was on probation for a 23152 or 23153 violation and had 0.01 percent or more.

That administrative track runs on the chemical test result and the DMV issues. It does not turn into a wet reckless just because the court case later resolves that way. The deadline to request the DMV hearing is 10 days from the arrest. I explain that process in the DMV hearing and the suspension statute in the administrative per se suspension.

There is no commercial version of a restricted license. Under 49 CFR 384.210, a state must not knowingly issue a CLP, a CDL, or a commercial special license or permit to operate a commercial motor vehicle when the person is disqualified, or when the CDL holder's noncommercial driving privilege has been disqualified.

Read the section the plea is actually to.

For collision cases, Vehicle Code 13350(a)(3) requires the DMV to immediately revoke the driving privilege on receipt of a court abstract showing a conviction of reckless driving causing bodily injury. A plea to bare Vehicle Code 23103 is not that offense, but in a collision case I want to confirm on the plea form which section and which allegations you are pleading to, because a revoked underlying driving privilege ends commercial driving under 49 CFR 384.210.

A refusal is its own CDL problem

A refusal does not get fixed by changing the criminal charge to wet reckless. A refusal or failure to complete a chemical test under Vehicle Code 23612 is on the one year commercial disqualification list for a first conviction under Vehicle Code 15300(a)(9).

A refusal is one of the offenses on the Vehicle Code section 15302 lifetime list, at subdivision (i). A second qualifying conviction, or a combination with another offense on that list, reaches the lifetime disqualification. If your case includes a refusal allegation, the refusal must be addressed on its own track. The wet reckless label does not answer it. I cover the refusal issue separately in a chemical test refusal.

A wet reckless is reported and is not hidden by traffic school

Federal CDL rules define "conviction" broadly. Under 49 CFR 383.5, it includes an unvacated adjudication of guilt or a determination that a person violated or failed to comply with the law by a court of original jurisdiction or authorized administrative tribunal. A wet reckless is an unvacated adjudication of guilt in a court of original jurisdiction, so it is a conviction for CDL purposes.

"The State must not mask, defer imposition of judgment, or allow an individual to enter into a diversion program that would prevent a CLP or CDL holder's conviction for any violation, in any type of motor vehicle, of a State or local traffic control law (other than parking, vehicle weight, or vehicle defect violations) from appearing on the CDLIS driver record."

That is 49 CFR 384.226. A negotiated reduction to a different offense is not masking. Masking is keeping the conviction off the CDLIS record through diversion, deferred judgment, or confidential traffic school treatment. A wet reckless is reported, which is why it is not a way to make the arrest disappear.

California has the same problem from another angle. Under Vehicle Code 1808.7(b), the confidential traffic violator school treatment that hides a first conviction does not apply if the person convicted holds a commercial driver's license, holds a commercial license from another state, or the violation occurred in a commercial motor vehicle. Vehicle Code 23103.5(d) also requires the court to notify the DMV of each 23103 conviction that must count as a prior under that section.

Your employer notice has a 30 day deadline

49 CFR 383.31 requires a CDL holder convicted of violating, in any type of motor vehicle, a state or local traffic control law other than a parking violation to notify the current employer within 30 days of the conviction. The notice must be in writing.

• Your full name.
• Your license number.
• The date of conviction.
• The specific offense.
• Any suspension, revocation, or cancellation of driving privileges.
• Whether the violation was in a commercial motor vehicle.
• The location of the offense.
• Your signature.

Do not treat that notice as optional just because the plea is not called DUI. The employer is not bound by the DMV's serious traffic violation math. The employer sees the offense name. The employer may see the alcohol or drug notation. The employer may ask whether the event happened in a commercial motor vehicle. Your written notice should match the court record. It should also match your DMV driving record. If the record has an error, deal with the error before you give a notice that repeats it.

An arrest in the truck adds the commercial alcohol threshold

If the arrest happened in a vehicle that requires a CDL, the 0.04 percent rules matter. In California, Vehicle Code 23152(d) is the DUI offense for driving a commercial motor vehicle with 0.04 percent or more. A first conviction of 23152(d) is on the one year commercial disqualification list under Vehicle Code 15300(a)(2).

The administrative track also uses 0.04 percent for a vehicle that requires a commercial driver's license under Vehicle Code 13353.2(a)(3). That means the DMV can still act on the test result even if the court case is later reduced.

Hazardous material transport raises the stakes under Vehicle Code 15300(b). If a listed 15300 violation occurred during hazardous material transport, the disqualification is three years. At the federal level, 49 CFR 383.51 Table 1 also uses three years for a first major offense if the driver was operating a commercial motor vehicle placarded for hazardous materials.

For interstate drivers, 49 CFR 391.15(c) is another rule to check. It disqualifies an interstate driver for certain offenses committed while operating a commercial motor vehicle during on duty time, including driving a CMV under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and refusing a required test. The first offense is one year, and a later offense within three years is three years.

A wet reckless has a ten year tail in later DUI cases

For later DUI cases, Vehicle Code 23103.5(c) says that if the court accepts the wet reckless plea and the prosecutor's statement says there was alcohol consumption or drug ingestion, the resulting conviction is a prior offense for purposes of Sections 23540, 23546, 23550, 23560, 23566, and 23622. In plain terms, a later DUI case can treat that wet reckless as a prior in criminal court.

Probation also carries program terms. Under 23103.5(e), the court shall order enrollment in a licensed alcohol and drug education program and completion of at least the educational component, unless the court makes an affirmative finding of compelling circumstances on the record.

Under 23103.5(f)(1), if the offense occurred within 10 years of a separate conviction under 23103.5, or within 10 years of a conviction under 23152 or 23153, the court shall order participation for nine months or longer in a licensed program of at least 60 hours of program activities. Those activities include education, group counseling, and individual interviews.

The CDL and criminal tracks split here. A later DUI conviction after a wet reckless would be the first major offense under the federal Table 1 disqualification rules because the wet reckless was not a Table 1 major offense. In criminal court, the wet reckless can still make the later case heavier. If the old conviction is being used against you, look at challenging a prior before you accept the label.

Sequence the decisions before you enter the plea

Tell the lawyer about the CDL in the first conversation. Say whether you hold a California CDL. Say whether it is from another state. Say whether you have a commercial learner's permit. Say whether the stop was in a truck, your personal car, or another vehicle. Say whether there was any hazardous material transport. Say whether the case involved a collision. Do not wait until the plea form is on the table.

Calendar the DMV request deadline first. The hearing request must be made within 10 days of the arrest. Calendar the employer notice next, but remember that the 30 day notice runs from conviction. Those dates come from different systems, and a court plea date does not reset the DMV hearing deadline.

Read the offer as a CDL record, not just as a criminal court deal. Confirm whether the plea is to bare Vehicle Code 23103 through Vehicle Code 23103.5, whether an alcohol or drug notation will be entered, whether any refusal allegation remains, and whether any collision allegation changes the driving privilege issue. If you are still deciding whether the offer fits the case, review what leads to a wet reckless offer and then apply the CDL rules to the actual record.

For CDL specific issues beyond the wet reckless question, I have a longer full CDL DUI guide. For the next three years, treat every traffic ticket as a CDL event. Speed, lane, following too closely, phone use, and any reckless allegation can matter because the wet reckless may already be the first serious traffic violation on the record.

Talk to me before the CDL consequence becomes the surprise

If you want me to look at the court offer, the DMV issue, and the CDL consequence together, use the free case analysis on this page or call me directly at (888) 271-6644. I answer my own phone, 24/7.