Careless driving charges

**billythekid** · 06-26-2005, 07:49 PM

I got a careless driving charge for rearending someone on the interstate, I already set up a court date to fight the ticket.

He had to hit his brakes, I hit mine and collided into him, both cars drove away thankfully, no injuries.

At the end of the ramp is a yield sign, I didnt see it, this happened at nite. On off ramp is a deacceleration ramp, an on ramp is an acceleration ramp, I was going about 45-50 when I hit my brakes. A large commercial motor vehicle wouldnt let him over, so he hit the brakes. The traffic on the interstate was not doing the 55 speed limit, more like 65-70 mph estimated speed. The DMV hand book says a minimum of 2 seconds should be used in good conditions, it was good conditions, no fog, no rain, dry pavement. I wasnt being careless, I wasnt talking on the phone, I was watching the road.

Also, you have something called reaction time, he hit his brakes, it took me time to hit my brakes, he was driving a smaller car(sports car) around 3,000 pounds, I was driving a bigger car that weighed around 4,500 pounds, do the math, he stops faster. I also had a brake issue, my ABS malfunctioned, I had a wheel that was locked up while the other one wasnt, I dont think the other side was braking too good. The officer didnt go back to the accident scene and investigate for skidmarks, a report was written, a diagram was drawn, and that was it.

What should I do, Im fighting the ticket, defense ideas to get it cancelled. Im a safe driver, this is my first ticket and accident, I want to do driving carreers but this will screw things over, and insurance hikes, please help.

**aaron** · 06-26-2005, 09:39 PM

Quoting billythekid

At the end of the ramp is a yield sign, I didnt see it, this happened at nite. ... The DMV hand book says a minimum of 2 seconds should be used in good conditions, it was good conditions, no fog, no rain, dry pavement. I wasnt being careless, I wasnt talking on the phone, I was watching the road.

The conditions couldn't have been too good, or you would have seen the yield sign.

Quoting billythekid

I also had a brake issue, my ABS malfunctioned, I had a wheel that was locked up while the other one wasnt, I dont think the other side was braking too good.

That probably won't help you - it is your duty as a driver to make sure that your brakes are in good repair.

Quoting billythekid

What should I do, Im fighting the ticket, defense ideas to get it cancelled.

Your principal defense appears to be "sudden emergency". (I think that's self-explanatory - you rear-ended the driver in front of you because that driver's conduct created a "sudden emergency" which prevented you from being able to avoid the collision.)