What is a dry reckless or exhibition of speed plea in a DUI case?

A dry reckless is a plea to reckless driving under Vehicle Code section 23103 with no record that alcohol or drugs were involved, and an exhibition of speed plea is a plea to Vehicle Code section 23109(c). Both are reductions a prosecutor may offer in place of a DUI charge, and unlike a wet reckless, neither counts as a prior DUI if you are charged with DUI again.

Where these pleas fit

Three reductions that come up in California DUI plea negotiations are a wet reckless, a dry reckless, and exhibition of speed. A wet reckless is also a reckless driving plea, but one entered with a record that alcohol or drugs were involved.

None of these pleas is available just by asking. Vehicle Code section 23103.5 describes a reckless driving plea in place of a DUI charge as one the prosecution agrees to, and in practice, whether a prosecutor offers any reduction depends on the evidence and the facts of the case. For how a case moves toward a plea, a trial, or a dismissal, see our overview of the California DUI process.

Dry reckless: Vehicle Code 23103

Reckless driving under Vehicle Code section 23103 means driving on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of people or property. The penalty is a county jail term of 5 to 90 days, a fine from $145 to $1,000, or both, and the offense is a misdemeanor, not an infraction (Vehicle Code section 40000.15).

What makes a reckless driving plea “dry” is the plea record. When the prosecution agrees to a reckless driving plea in place of a DUI charge, section 23103.5 requires the prosecutor to state on the record whether alcohol or drugs were involved. If that statement says they were, the conviction is a wet reckless. A dry reckless is a reckless driving conviction where the statement does not say so.

Exhibition of speed: Vehicle Code 23109(c)

Exhibition of speed is a separate offense under Vehicle Code section 23109, subdivision (c). It is not the speed contest (street racing) offense in subdivision (a) of the same statute, and its penalty is lighter: up to 90 days in county jail, a fine of up to $500, or both, with no mandatory minimum jail time and no mandatory community service. Starting January 1, 2029, section 23109 lets a court suspend a license for a subdivision (c) violation only if it occurred as part of a sideshow, which the statute also calls a street takeover.

Exhibition of speed is listed as a misdemeanor in section 40000.15, but it can also be handled as an infraction. Penal Code section 19.8 names section 23109(c) among the offenses covered by Penal Code section 17(d). Under that rule it is an infraction if the prosecutor files it as one and you do not choose at arraignment to proceed on a misdemeanor, or if the court, with your consent, decides it is an infraction. An infraction cannot be punished with jail (Penal Code section 19.6), section 19.8 caps its fine at $250, and with limited exceptions a conviction for an offense made an infraction this way is not grounds for suspending your license.

If exhibition of speed was your original charge rather than a plea offer, see our page on exhibition of speed charges.

A firm-reported example

The Law Offices of David S. Chesley has reported a marijuana DUI case under Vehicle Code section 23152(a) in which, according to the firm’s result page, the case was “reduced from a DUI to a traffic infraction known as ‘exhibition of speed.’” That is the firm’s own account of one case. The outcome depended on that case’s facts and evidence, and no similar result is promised.

Why the difference matters in a later DUI case

Vehicle Code section 23540 sets a tougher sentence, including at least 90 days in county jail, for a DUI committed within 10 years of a separate violation of “Section 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5,” or of section 23152 or 23153, that resulted in a conviction. Section 23103.5 makes a wet reckless a prior for that section and for the other repeat-offense DUI sentencing sections it lists. A dry reckless is not a prior under that rule because the plea record does not say alcohol or drugs were involved, and an exhibition of speed conviction is not one because section 23109 is not on the list.

Your DMV suspension is a separate track

Reducing the criminal charge does not by itself undo a DMV administrative suspension from the arrest. Vehicle Code section 13353.2(e) treats the DMV’s findings as a civil matter independent of guilt or innocence, and its reinstatement rule applies to an acquittal, not to a plea to a reduced charge. A suspension is addressed through the DMV hearing process.

To talk through a reduction offer in your own DUI case, or whether one is realistic given the evidence, call the Law Offices of David S. Chesley at (800) 755-5174.