Ticketed for failure to control vehicle after being rear-ended

[rryanrussell]

I was recently in an accident in which a car two cars ahead of me made a very abrupt u-turn on a country highway. The car directly in front me of me slammed on his breaks to avoid hitting him, I slammed on my breaks to avoid hitting that car, and succeeded. The guy behind me did not stop in time and hit me, and the car behind him hit him too. So I was in front of a 3-car accident, having hit no one, but being hit from behind.

Today, I received a ticket for my accident citing "failure to control vehicle." I had my license and current proof of insurance and I'm very certain that I wasn't breaking any laws prior to the incident and I succeeded in avoiding the potential accident in front of me, so what is it that I failed to do? I'm curious as to whether or not it is possible I could win an appeal of this citation, and, if I have a shot, how I should go about preparing for it.

Thanks

[aaron]

Was the car in front of you ticketed as well? If not, do you happen to know why not?

[Fxston]

You certainly have every right to fight the ticket, and you should contact the court clerk immediately to find out what to do if that is what you decide to do. Just know that you don't need to obtain a lawyer beforehand and are not barred from obtaining one afterwards either.

I suspect that the police didn't know what to do with this one and just cited everyone and let the court sort it out. I may be worth it to get a lawyer because I am certain that you will be sued if you are convicted of the offense. While there is no guarrantee that the opposite will be true, but the hassle of being sued, time off for court and depositions, meeting with your lawyer, composing the answers to interrogotories, etc., may make the expense worth it. Your insurance company should provide you a lawyer for lawsuit, but not the ticket. If you have any injuries, you will need a lawyer anyway.

[rryanrussell]

-The car in front of me was not involved in the collision and drove off.
-All 3 cars involved got tickets.
-No one was injured.
-My car received a significant amount of damage, the one that ran into me received a minor amount, and the one that ran into him received extensive damage and had to be towed off.

Thanks fxston.