Ticket for Unlawful Change of Course
My question involves a traffic accident in the State of: Minnesota
Why would MN statute 169.19.4 require a mandatory court appearance.
I was in an accident on Tuesday with damage to my car and the other drivers car. The accident was my fault and I received a ticket for unlawful change of course. I went on line to pay the fine and it says mandatory court appearance. I thought this was a petty misdemeanor. The citation also says crim/traffic? Is this considered criminal?
I am just wondering if anyone out there has advice on why I would have to go to court. The county was Anoka and in the city of Anoka also.
Re: Ticket for Unlawful Change of Course
You can get the statewide playables list here. You are correct that your offense is a petty misdemeanor, which is not considered to be a crime, and as it's on the statewide payables list it would not normally be subject to resolution without a court appearance. However, as indicated here,
Quote:
Quoting Examples of court-required charges:
Hit and Run; Underage Drink and Drive; Theft; charges involving an accident or endangering life or property (will be indicated on citation).
So it's looks like it's not the alleged offense that triggered the court appearance, but that it's the accident.
"Crim/Traffic" would normally be a reference to the court in which the proceeding is continuing - i.e., that the court hears cases involving traffic offenses and certain crimes.