I Have Been Wrongfully Charged with Reckless Driving, How Do I Fight It

[Cheri Mutchler]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: New Jersey
I encountered another driver after I'd picked up my son from school. This person cut me off at 2 turns, & was directly in front of me. As we approached a "merge" lane onto a highway they suddenly "locked up" the brakes as if to cause me to rear-end them. I was far enough back to allow me to avoid that & went around them on the left side, then merged onto the highway. I could physically see that they were speeding up quickly to catch up to me & my son asked that i just get away from these people ( we thought they might be drinking, their actions were irrational ). As I picked up speed, they did too, & continued to chase us down the road, until I did a U-tuern to avoid them once again. They did the same U-turn a kept following us for about another 2 miles. I told my son we were gpoing to head for the Police Dept. at that point. As I reached the next red light, they turned off & were no longer following us.
Now [I]'ve recieved a ticket for reckless driving in my mailbox, & have a court date for next week. Is this a common traffic scam, some way people "set others up" to make us spend money, or what? Also, can I fight this, what should I expect at the court appearance? i can't afford an attorney, & don't see that i need one.....do I? I am a single Mom, no child support. The ticket also has the year & color of my car wrong, I saw that another person posting mentioned the same thing. This is wierd, can you give me any suggestions?
thank you!
Worried in NJ

[jk]

was the ticket as a result of a cop seeing your driving actions and simply not stopping you or is it the result of a citizen's complaint?

[Speedy Gonzalez]

Did you get a plate number? Did you report them?

[Cheri Mutchler]

I don't know if this was generated by a cop or Citizen's Complaint. I wasn't stopped by the Police however. I'm sure it was submitted by the individual who tried to make me hit them & then followed me. I didn't get a plate number, just wanted to avoid them & get out of that situation as quickly as possible. The whole thing seemed "set up". I think it's a form of road rage.
Thanks to both of you who've responded to me. I can't believe there are people out there who do this sort of thing, then again....nothing surprises me anymore. I plan to plee Not Guilty at the first court appearance, can't imagine saying I'm guilty for something I didn't do. Should I ask who filed the Citizen Complaint? Will the Judge tell me? Any advise is very much appreciated. God Bless!

jk, I don't actually know the answer to that. I assumed it was the person who tried t make me hit them. The ticket IS signed by an officer, although maybe that's just protocol for the Citizen's Complaint to be filed. Again, the year & color of my car were incorrect, so i think it was the other driver. What should I do???

[That Guy]

Reckless driving (assuming the statute posted below matched the code section # on your citation) is a criminal offense in NJ... And for a good start, you should consult with an attorney who is local to the court where your appearance is pending.

39:4-96. Reckless driving; punishment

39:4-96. A person who drives a vehicle heedlessly, in willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others, in a manner so as to endanger, or be likely to endanger, a person or property, shall be guilty of reckless driving and be punished by imprisonment in the county or municipal jail for a period of not more than 60 days, or by a fine of not less than $50.00 or more than $200.00, or both.

On a second or subsequent conviction he shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three months, or by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500, or both.

Amended 1955,c.220,s.1; 1982,c.45,s.3; 1995,c.70,s.2.

One thing you should prepare to be able to do is to answer to the question of "what happened prior to this other driver's actions? What possibly could have provoked him and what started the whole incident?"

I realize your claim is "it all started out of the blue"... But seriously, if I were making that claim and you were simply reading, would you believe it?

And let me reiterate that it need not be something intentional or reckless, the slightest little thing may have ticked him off, but what was it?

Lastly, the color of your car might be an issue if it is way off... If it is something like "dark silver" versus "charcoal", then it isn't going to be that big an issue, and neither is the model year of your car... They might not turn out to be as relevant as you might think.

[PTPD22]

This is all pure speculation, but let me try to read between the lines and give a hypothetical outside observer's point of view...say, for instance, a cop whom you did not see but who was watching you and this other driver. Let's say the cop first saw you at this point:

As we approached a "merge" lane onto a highway they suddenly "locked up" the brakes as if to cause me to rear-end them. I was far enough back to allow me to avoid that & went around them on the left side, then merged onto the highway.

So, the cop sees the other car "lock up" the brakes in front of you. Instead of stopping, you speed past them on the freeway on-ramp (presumably a single lane on-ramp). Then we continue:

I could physically see that they were speeding up quickly to catch up to me & my son asked that i just get away from these people ( we thought they might be drinking, their actions were irrational ). As I picked up speed, they did too, & continued to chase us down the road

I'm not sure what you mean by "I could physically see..."...as opposed to you being able to psychically see them? But, I digress. So, you "picked up speed" (over the speed limit, perchance?) with the other driver racing to catch up. I don't use the term "racing" euphemistically because, in my mental picture of these events, that's exactly what it looks like at this point...two driver's racing. But, it continues:

until I did a U-tuern to avoid them once again. They did the same U-turn a kept following us for about another 2 miles.

Hummm...you were on the freeway. Where do you make a U-turn on the freeway except at those emergency vehicle turn-arounds with the "U-Turn Prohibited" signs? Now you're headed the other direction (possibly again passing the observing cop?) with the other driver still on your tail...in my mental image, it still looks for all the world like two drivers racing!

Now, as a cop observing all of this, I'm not going to try to chase the racing driver's down and add to the chaos. That just adds to the public safety hazard and exposes me to liability. What I'm going to do is try to get a good look at the drivers as they pass and jot down the license plate numbers. If there is an air unit in the area, I will alert them and request they track while I follow to where they stop. If no air unit, I just send a citation in the mail to the registered owners of both vehicles.