Careless Driving in Florida

[tmh724]

I am asking this on behalf of my brother. I believe he should fight his ticket in court, and I am trying to convince him to try.

The situation:

He was driving on I-95 last week approx 1030 pm. He noticed the car in front of him braking hard and realized he would not be able to stop in time. Tried to change lanes and felt the tires slip ( it was raining). Ended up spinning and hitting the car in front of him. He was the last car in a three car pileup. The driver in front of him had already hit the first car.

They are doing construction on this part of the highway and have the right hand lane closed, making the highway down to one lane. The front car stated they came around the corner to see merge cones. They did not have time to merge and hit the brakes and stopped, which caused the other 2 cars to brake/crash. The speed limit is 70 mph, with no reduction for construction.

When the officer showed up, he said that the cones were not placed far enough back to give the drivers enough warning to merge. He made them move the cones back as well as the blinking arrow/merge sign. My brothers insurance company said that the officer said the same thing to them.

I researched some of the DOT website and found some tables where they have rules as to how far out cones must be placed in regards to speed and curve of the road. One of the people at the scene took pics and if he goes to court he will try to get those. He will also try to get the officers statement.

I know according to the law, a person must be in control of their vehicle. However doesn't the DOT have a responsibility to give drivers adequate warning to actions they must take? Example would be green lights turning to yellow to warn you to stop.

Do you think he has a case against a careless driving ticket? I hate to convince him to go to court and then he lose and end up paying more money in the long run.

TIA

[Mr. Knowitall]

In this situation, there were cars stopped on the road in front of your brother, not just cones.

Still, I think he may be able to get a reduction of the ticket or possibly even a dismissal if he contests it, so if it were me I would contest it. He may wish to talk to a lawyer in the county where the ticket was issued to try to find out how the court would treat his ticket, and whether it would make sense to retain a lawyer.