Drivers to Exercise Due Care in Tennessee: Penalties, Lawsuits, and CDLs

Tennessee’s due care law, found at T.C.A. 55-8-136, requires every driver on every road in the state to drive at a safe speed for conditions, watch the road, keep the vehicle under control, and give full attention to driving. Violating the statute is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $50 fine, but the citation itself is often the smallest part of what follows. When inattention causes a crash, the same conduct can support enhanced criminal charges, a civil lawsuit, points toward license suspension, and years of higher insurance premiums.¹

What the Statute Actually Requires

The four duties in 55-8-136 run broader than the posted rules of the road. A driver can be within the speed limit, signaling properly, and in the correct lane, and still violate the statute by failing to watch for hazards, failing to adjust for weather, or simply not paying attention. The duty of care extends to pedestrians, cyclists, road signs, guardrails, and anything legally on or next to the roadway, including sidewalks, bike lanes, and shoulders.¹

The statute singles out children and anyone who appears confused or incapacitated on the roadway. When a driver sees such a person, the duty rises: take extra precautions, and sound the horn if necessary.¹

That flexibility is why 55-8-136 shows up so often, both as a standalone traffic citation and as the duty an injured plaintiff points to in a civil case. There is no single bright-line act that violates it. Simple inattention or a momentary lapse in awareness is enough; a driver does not have to act intentionally to be in breach.

Penalties for a Standalone Violation

A due care citation on its own is a Class C misdemeanor. The maximum punishment is 30 days in jail and a $50 fine, and most first-time violators receive a fine and points rather than any jail time.¹²

The points matter more than the fine. The Tennessee Department of Safety assigns 3 points to a due care violation, 6 to reckless driving, and 8 to contributing to an accident that causes a death. Accumulate 12 or more points in any 12-month period and the state issues a notice of proposed suspension; drivers who do not request a hearing lose their license for six to twelve months. Drivers under 18 face suspension at just 6 points.³⁴

Insurance is the quiet third penalty. Carriers typically treat a due care violation as a higher-risk marker and raise premiums for three to five years. The resulting increase usually exceeds the $50 fine many times over.

When the Violation Causes Injury or Death

Tennessee has a separate statute that upgrades a due care violation when it leads to a serious crash. Under T.C.A. 55-8-197, a driver whose failure to exercise due care under 55-8-136 causes an accident resulting in serious bodily injury or death is guilty of a misdemeanor. The same enhancement applies to failing to yield, illegal passing, and failing to safely overtake a bicycle.⁵

The statute fills a gap. Without it, a driver whose inattention killed someone might face only a $50 Class C misdemeanor. With it, prosecutors have a middle charge available for conduct that caused real harm but does not rise to the recklessness required for vehicular homicide.

When the conduct does cross into recklessness or involves intoxication, the charges escalate sharply.

Reckless Driving

Driving with willful or wanton disregard for safety is reckless driving under T.C.A. 55-10-205, a Class B misdemeanor. The maximum is six months in jail and a $500 fine, plus a mandatory additional $50 fine. No one has to be hurt; the behavior itself is the crime.⁶²

Vehicular Assault

If an intoxicated driver recklessly causes serious bodily injury, the charge is vehicular assault under T.C.A. 39-13-106. Intoxication is a required element, whether from alcohol, drugs, or both. The offense is a Class D felony carrying two to twelve years in prison and fines up to $5,000.⁷² A first conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 48 consecutive hours in jail. Prior alcohol-related convictions push the minimums to 45, 120, or 150 days, depending on how many.

Vehicular Homicide

Recklessly killing someone through the operation of a vehicle is vehicular homicide under T.C.A. 39-13-213. The felony class turns on the circumstances:

Reckless conduct or drag racing: Class C felony, three to fifteen years in prison and fines up to $10,000.
Intoxication: Class B felony, eight to thirty years in prison and fines up to $25,000.
Killing a highway worker in a construction zone: Class D felony, two to twelve years and fines up to $5,000.

Actual sentences within those ranges depend on the offender’s criminal history and other factors Tennessee’s sentencing structure weighs.⁸²

Aggravated Vehicular Homicide

Aggravated vehicular homicide under T.C.A. 39-13-218 is a Class A felony carrying fifteen to sixty years and fines up to $50,000. The charge applies when an intoxicated driver kills someone and the driver has two or more prior DUI or vehicular assault convictions, has a prior vehicular homicide conviction, or had a blood alcohol level of 0.20% or higher together with at least one prior DUI or vehicular assault conviction.⁹²

Leaving the Scene

Fleeing the scene of an accident involving injury is a Class A misdemeanor under T.C.A. 55-10-101. If the driver knew or should have known the crash caused a death, the charge becomes a Class E felony, one to six years in prison and fines up to $3,000. When a driver faces both a leaving-the-scene felony and a vehicular homicide or vehicular assault charge from the same incident, the sentences must run back-to-back rather than at the same time.¹⁰²

Getting Sued After a Crash

A driver who violates 55-8-136 and causes an accident can be sued for damages by anyone injured. Tennessee uses a modified comparative fault system: the injured person’s own share of responsibility reduces their recovery, and if they are found 50 percent or more at fault, they recover nothing. Someone 30 percent at fault for texting while another driver ran a red light could see a $100,000 award cut to $70,000; at 50 percent, they get zero.

Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and loss of consortium are capped at $750,000 per injured person in most personal injury cases. The cap rises to $1,000,000 for catastrophic injuries like paraplegia, quadriplegia, or the loss of two or more limbs, and does not apply when the defendant acted intentionally.¹¹ Economic damages like medical bills, lost wages, and property damage have no cap, and in serious crashes they often dwarf the non-economic portion.

When negligence causes a death, the right to sue passes to the victim’s surviving spouse, children, next of kin, or personal representative under T.C.A. 20-5-106. Recoverable damages include funeral expenses, lost future earnings, and compensation for the loss to surviving family members, with age, earning potential, and the financial impact on dependents all weighed in the award.¹²

The One-Year Deadline to File Suit

Tennessee gives injured people one year from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit, one of the shortest deadlines in the country. The clock starts on the date of injury, not on the date you discover the full extent of your damages. Missing it almost always ends the case, no matter how strong it was.¹³

One extension is worth knowing. If criminal charges are filed against the person who caused the injury within one year of the accident, the deadline to file a civil lawsuit extends to two years. The extension applies only when the civil claim is brought by the injured person against the person criminally prosecuted for the same conduct.¹³

Extra Stakes for CDL Holders

Commercial drivers face consequences the point schedule alone does not capture. Federal regulations at 49 CFR § 391.23 require trucking companies to review a driver’s safety record for the previous three years in every state where the driver held a license. A due care violation, reckless driving conviction, or at-fault accident in that window can block hiring or end current employment.

Serious traffic violations such as reckless driving or improper lane changes can also trigger federal CDL disqualification. Multiple serious violations within a three-year window carry 60-day or 120-day suspensions of commercial driving privileges, and certain offenses carry a one-year disqualification. For a driver whose income depends on a CDL, a single due care violation tied to an at-fault crash can be career-ending.

1
Justia. Tennessee Code 55-8-136 – Drivers to Exercise Due Care
2
Justia. Tennessee Code 40-35-111 – Authorized Terms of Imprisonment and Fines for Felonies and Misdemeanors
3
Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security. Schedule of Points Values
4
Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security. Driver Improvement
5
Justia. Tennessee Code 55-8-197 – Failure to Yield Right-of-Way
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Justia. Tennessee Code 55-10-205 – Reckless Driving
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Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-106 – Vehicular Assault
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Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-213 – Vehicular Homicide
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Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-218 – Aggravated Vehicular Homicide
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Justia. Tennessee Code 55-10-101 – Accidents Involving Death or Personal Injury
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Justia. Tennessee Code 29-39-102 – Civil Damage Awards
12
Justia. Tennessee Code 20-5-106 – Injury Resulting in Death – Succession to Cause of Action – Beneficiaries
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Justia. Tennessee Code 28-3-104 – Personal Tort Actions