Ok so I got a ticket after being in an accident where the car in front of me, pulled right in front of me and slammed on his brakes. I managed to swerve to miss hitting the moron, but at highway speeds there was no way I could keep control. To my rear tires started skidding and I ended up hitting the center median and totaling my TC. SO after I was taken to the hospital, I gave the highway patrol a statement stating that. They gave me a ticket for Failure to Operate the vehicle within one lane. Does everyone here think that is BS? I think I'm going to take it to court, what do you guys think?

 

Welcome to the world of revenue management. They'll get u for anything these days, just to make a buck! Sorry to hear about this by the way.

 

That's pretty ridiculous. I would definitely take it to court. And make sure you bring pictures of your car. I saw the pics yesterday and that was a serious crash, so I am sure the judge will sympathize.

Doesn't really make sense that they would just pick a random charge for your ticket. What about failure to signal a lane change, or failure to maintain a sufficient speed? What about parking sideways on the freeway? I think that's illegal too. They also forgot a bunch of vehicle code violations: no working headlights, no front bumper, half of the engine hanging out on the road.

 

Thanks. I just hope I can get this one thrown out.

 

yeah that sucks. Get this, I was rearended by a lady in my civic. I got a ticket because i didnt have my insurance card. She got no ticket. WTF Batman!

 

did you happen to get the license plate of the car that turned right infront of you? not sure that it would help at all but if you take it to court you could be like "yah a car (insert car type here) with a license plate (insert license plate number here) cut in front of me and rather then hitting that (insert foul words here) i had to change lanes" or something. use your immagination.

 

dude, seriously, just take it to court.

you can prepare a case for proving that some other car cut you off, but in reality, the burden of proof is on the state.

this is how the trial would go.

Judge: you stand accused of failure to keep your vehicle in one lane, how do you plead?

sircheel23: not guilty your honor.

court begins, you are sworn in.

Judge: officer jerk-off, did you wittness the events that took place or bring any wittnesses to testify as to what happened on the day in question,?

Officer: no your honor, i did not see the actual event take place, i simply showed up, took some statements, but nobody showed up to court to testify.

Judge: due to lack of evidence, case dissmissed.

 

They usually have to issue the citation, knowing it will get thrown out.

I pulled out of an intersection onto a road with no passing (it was a hill) and cars in the right lane stopped, with the front one waiting for me to pull out so they could turn in (he had a trailer.. meaning wide turn). I was clearly pulling out legally... untill some moron kid in an s10 running 95, passing 6 cars, up a hill in a no passing zone with a 25 mph speed limit hit me in the side. The cop that showed up said he had to cite me for failure to yeild oncoming traffic, but since everyone knew it was the kids fault and that the oncoming traffic was not legal to start with it would be automatically thrown out. I just had to show up at court. This was years ago, but I am sure it will work out the same for you.

 

Sorry to hear about your car.

I wouldn't worry too much though, your ticket should get thrown out. Something similar happened to me with my old car. I was driving while it was raining and some lady blew a stop sign, so i hit the breaks my car started sliding (no abs). The cop decided to give me a ticket that said ' driving too fast for conditions', even though i was only going about 5 mph at the time.

Anyway, the judge yelled out to the court room asking if anybody was pressing charges against me or something like that and the ticket was thrown out.

Good Luck

 

a lady ran a stop sign and you got cited. man, what bs.

 

not every time

when i totaled my first tC same thing happened to me i got a 100$ ticket for "failure to stay in marked lanes"

i faught it and the judge told me that even tho i lost control of the car and it was an accident the "skid marks" showed that there was more then 150 feet of tread on the ground.

i said Your honor.... i stopped maybe 50 feet from when i started to lose control... 75 feet tops! i went back and looked 150 feet puts me wayyy after the scene of the accident.

the cop said i was speeding

i said Sir in alll do respect you didnt get there till AFTER i was parked on the side of the road and an ambulance got there before you.

no response

well david sorry but i have to find you guilty of this violation please pay 100$ plus 25 in court fees.

so all i can say is good luck.

 

well dave, there is some evidence in that case with your tread marks, if you could have measured them yourself, or with some sort of sanctioned body to investigate the scene it would have proven that your story.

and you shouldn't just "lose control" of your car for no reason. there should be extenuating circumstances for you to lose control of your car.

now the cop can only alledge form the tire marks are the scene of the incident your approximate your speed.

 

In your case Dave they had hard evidence that they felt contradicted your story. Im not saying you were at fault, but thats the way the cookie crumbles.

In this guys case, the officer would need a stand-alone witness to testify.

here in CA they call it "unsafe speed for the situation". Even if you were abiding by the posted speed limit. Heck you could be going 5 miles an hour in a 75mph zone, accidentally rear end someone and they'd try to write you for unsafe speed.

 

Take it to court.

 

Back to the original poster, the cop probably wrote the ticket based on your statement as to what happened. Your statement of what happened when you speak to a cop becomes the official testimony. In an accident situation where only one car is damaged (I assume you didn't actually clip the car in front of you who swerved into your lane and braked suddenly), the cop can only interview the person who's car is wrecked on the road. Since the other car presumably just kept going after you crashed, the officer can't issue the citation to them. Even if you got the plate, make, model and description of the driver, it'd be difficult to prove in a court of law that that person was actually there and triggered your accident.

The law is wierd and non-sensical. Unless you're a lawyer - then it's just lucrative.

 

to be all honest, a cop can pull you over any anything regardless what it is just so they can find something else thats wrong.

my mother recently got into a wreck. she was making a left turn on a 4 way light. the turn lanes were green while the rest were red. as she started turning, some old lady in a nissan Xterra comes zooming through a red light and clips my mother right front fender. this was all at a photo enforced light and guess what... my mother is the one that got the ticket... not the old idiot who ran a red light. i was right behind my mother in my xB when it happened too and still she got the ticket even though i as a whistness gave my statement that the lady ran a red light.

the reason why she got the ticket and not the older lady. the photo enforced cameras only caught the after math, not when it happened.

i my self have also been pulled over once for, and i qoute "i clocked you going 103mph on that onramp"... correct me if i'm wrong but it's obviouse that the xB whilest all stock is incapable of doing 103mph UPHILL on a 600 foot onramp. then he tried telling me that my passenger side headlight was out... um no... my lights are on, it's dark out, i can clearly see WITHOUT getting out of my car that it's not out. then he actual proceeded to open his ticket book to write me a speeding ticket for 103mph, thats when i asked for his badge number. after that, he just closed his book and walked back to his car and drove off.

 

Thanks for everyones thoughts and opinions. I'm meeting with a prosecuting attorney tomorrow to determine if we will have to take it to a judge or not. I've also been reading up on some of the Utah traffic laws to see what I have on my side. I'll let you guys know how it turns out

 

i blew the horn at a cop who was tailgating me one time. he had been tailing me for several miles and then made a left turn. i blew the horn as he passed me. he whipped around and flipped the lights. the car was unmarked and i had no idea. it was also 2am. he wrote me a ticket for excessive use of the horn. i though it was absolutely ridiculous. needless to say it got thrown out in court.

 

I know of cops that will tailgate to see if the person is doing anything illegal inside/will do anything "illegal" to someone tailgating, just to get the ticket.

 

Man, cops always abuse their position of power. I was being tailed closely by a cop for about a mile and there was a wide open lane next to me, but he chose to follow instead of going around. I started slowing down and he still didn't go around, so I sped up and he sped up to match my speed. After another mile, he pulled along side and matched my speed so that he could look straight in through my open window. I didn't want to put the windows up, and I was getting nervous and ready for a ticket (no clue what I did wrong though). He was on the left and I was on the right. Anyway, I spotted a side-street and dived to the right without braking. I made a couple more turns and then turned into an alley, killed the lights, and waited. I was totally hidden in the shadows and I saw the cop passing the entrance to the alley. He had obviously pulled a u-turn and tried to follow me. A minute later, I saw him going back in the opposite direction. I waited about five more minutes before getting back out onto the street. I still have no clue what I did, but I knew I was going to get pulled over any second.