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H1871 • 2025

An Act relative to the reckless operation of motor vehicles

An Act relative to the reckless operation of motor vehicles

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Christopher M. Markey
Last action
2026-03-26
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act relative to the reckless operation of motor vehicles

An Act relative to the reckless operation of motor vehicles By Representative Markey of Dartmouth, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act relative to the reckless operation of motor vehicles By Representative Markey of Dartmouth, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 1871) of Christopher M.
  • Markey relative to the penalties for reckless operation of motor vehicles.
  • The Judiciary.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-26 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)

  2. 2025-09-16 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 09/23/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2

  3. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on The Judiciary

  4. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

  5. House

    Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act relative to the reckless operation of motor vehicles
By Representative Markey of Dartmouth, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1871) of Christopher M. Markey relative to the penalties for reckless operation of motor vehicles. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

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Bill H.1871

SECTION 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section 24 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 766 and 767, the words “recklessly, or operates such a vehicle”.

SECTION 2. Said paragraph (a) of said subdivision (2) of said section 24 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following 4 paragraphs:-

Whoever upon any way or in any place to which the public has a right of access, or any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, operates a motor vehicle recklessly, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or by imprisonment for not more than 2½ years in a jail or house of correction and by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000.

Whoever upon any way or in any place to which the public has a right of access, or any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, operates a motor vehicle recklessly and by such operation causes the serious bodily injury of any person, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years, or by imprisonment for not less than 1 year nor more than 2½ years in a jail or house of correction and by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000. For the purpose of this section the term “serious bodily injury” shall have the same meaning as in subdivision (3) of section 24L.

Whoever upon any way or in any place to which the public has a right of access, or any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, operates a motor vehicle recklessly, and by such reckless operation causes the death of another, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 20 years, and by a fine of not more than $25,000.

For purposes of this section “reckless” shall be defined as: violating 1 or more moving violations while traveling at least 25 miles per hour over the speed limit.

SECTION 3. Subsection (a) of section 24G of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 9, the words “recklessly or”.

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