going to court on friday; the story... want advice

[skeeters_keeper]

ok, you've probably seen my posts in the repair help forum about my axle coming out of the trany and stuff, heres why.

A week ago yesterday i was on my way home from school, just cruising along doing like 5 UNDER the speed limit. i was doing around 50 in a 55, it was a nice day out (70-80) i had the windows open and some music on, just enjoying the cruise on a country road. came over the crest of a little hill and saw a mailman sitting stopped @ some mailboxes just a little ways in front of me, no big deal i have to pass him all the time... but someone was coming the other way and its a small two lane road. i got on the breaks, i knew i couldn't make it around him on the right (sharp drop off into a ditch) and there was a car coming the other way doing 55 or so (head on would've sucked) as i got closer and closer i realized i wasn't going to make it and pushed harder on the breaks and locked them up, which i shouldn't have, but it was less than a second and i freaked out... dumb kid :lol:

so i ended up hitting him w/ the front right of my car into the rear left of his car. I was probably only going 5-10 when i hit him but these durn soda cans we drive just crush. his car? a very small crack in his tail light, other than that nothing visible! no scratches, anything... i offered to replace his taillight for him he said not to wory about it which was nice of him, but he called the cops b/c he said it was "policy"... grr. if he would've just let it go i would have been OK, but he had to get a police report, and then have his supervisor come, and all kindsa stuff.... pain in the butt.

so i know it was my fault, i hit him from the back, it must have been my fault, but as far as i'm concerned i wasn't doing anything wrong!! i was driving slow, wasn't eating/drinking/cellphone/anything. i basically could've either hit him or the other guy head on, and i picked hit him (since then I've thought i should've just smashed it and tried to make it around him, at least if i would've hit the other guy head on doing 50 i wouldn't be around to worry about this crap :evil: ... jk)

so what can i do? the cop wrote me down as "reckless driving" but he said in court it should be reduced to 'careless', still i don't want it on my record and i don't want insurance going up... if i would have been speeding or something i could see it but i wasn't doing anything wrong, and that makes me madder than anything else... i have a clean record up till now, do you think theres anything i can do to have this fixed up? any advice from others who have had to go to court? i've never been to court before...

the only think i've been able to find out so far is that there is a "corrective driving class" that is $70, and goes for 8 hrs on a saturday, and puts +5pts on your record...

[Guest]

Hiring an attorney would be the best thing because they could argue that the postal jeep was an roadway obstacle that couldn't be avoided. But I have had to take my lumps before due to $$$. Once had an offense that if I plead guilty or no contest (they're the same thing and don't let anyone tell you different) it was 600 and 1500 for an attorney and an innocent plea. And even then, you have no guarantee that you will win.

[skeeters_keeper]

yea $$$ is deff a big issue, more of an issue than the points on the driver record... it'll only cost me $70 to get rid of those. do you think my insurance will go up even if i take that class?

i think i may have to call the insurance people after i go to court...


OH, i forgot, the guy i hit is the same guy who delivered my new headlight! sorta ironic really...

[5.0zone]

Get a lawyer. It will save you money in the long run.
Ask around, there is probably a lawyer that can make the whole thing just go away for a couple hundred dollars.
A lot less than what your insurance will go up.
I have a 16 year old, I know what I'm talking about.

Edit:
My daughter put her car in the ditch, cops got called by somebody.
Car was not hurt. Lawyer cost was $250 and we never had to go to court.

[todd00]

sure wouldnt hurt to consult a lawyer, some dont charge for the initial consult. you would have to call around and see. why was the guy just stopped there in the middle of the road? id say thats certainly a hazard. did you honk at him. did you ask him why he was stopped on the highway and not even in front of boxes to deliver mail? i suppose he was pulling out the mail for the next bunch of houses. they do that down here where i live to. its still a highway even if not much traffic. they seem to forget that around here.

i think your insurance will still go up regardless of the class. and careless driving isnt a good thing for a young person to have on their record. id make some calls and see what i could find out about legal help before friday.

[miami man]

like dj said there is no garuentee you will win. i had a good lawyer one time but the prosecuter was known to be tough so it went on for about 2 weeks and still the prosecuter would not budge. get a good traffic lawyer because they know the ins and outs example:
a lawyer had a client that recieved a ticket for careless driving but the lawyer knew the part of the road in which the ticket occured
and proved to the judge that it was considered a private easment and the police had no right to issue a ticket and it was thrown out of court.

[BlackMagic]

Good luck getting out of that one. You did do something wrong...you hit a mail truck.

If you had time to think "i guess ill have to pass him" then you had time to think "I guess I should slow down and check on coming traffic...oh, yep theres a car, I guess I will stop before hitting the stopped mail truck"

[skeeters_keeper]

^^black magic, thats what i did, i saw him, look for trafic, said oh crap, and was on my brakes right away... also, it wasn't a mail truck the guy just sits in the pass side seat of a dodge caravan and drives w/ his left hand/foot. both sets of tires were on the pavement, but he was delivering mail in some mail boxes, not just stoped in the middle of the road. he was still taking up like 80% or more of my lane, no way around him.

a lawyer is perty much out of the question, i dont have that kind of $, i dont think my insurance will go up enough to make it worth a lawyer. not to mention that my court date is in the morning... about 12hrs to be exact.

thanks for the tips guys i hope all works out well tomorow...

[todd00]

yeah good luck with it. how much damage to your car? he never said he didnt think he was at fault, blackmagic. none the less i know how these free lance mail carriers drive in my area, and i can sympathize. he also was going under the speed limit and wasnt able to stop fast enough to avoid hitting him. he might have also thought the idiot might get the mail in the box and start moving again. doesnt take long to shove the mail in the box and proceed, especially when his vehicle was hogging 80 percent of his lane.. what are you the prosecutor :lol:

[project b6t]

blame it on the festiva's brakes

[skeeters_keeper]

their aspires brakes.... and blaming it on my car will only get me in more trouble i think!!


but yea... i replaced all brakes/calipers/pads/shoes/rotors last summer... my brakes should have been good enough my tires are crap tho...

[Safety Guy]

I'm not saying you should actually do this on your own because I'm not sure how the court thing will play out. You might be best off taking your lumps and getting some points and a fine.

I'd go back to the scene and take measurements and some pictures of the hill and the roadway. Determine where you first saw this guy and how long it takes a car with good brakes to stop. Is it reasonable for someone to stop in time in this situation with the allotted time and space? You may find you can argue that it is NOT reasonable, and that perhaps the speed limit should have been lower.

Again, it probably won't work this way, at least not without a lot of expensive "expert testimony."

Good luck in any case, Nate!

Karl

[BlackMagic]

You hit a stopped "mail carrier vehicle" because you wanted to go around him and did not leave yourself time to stop. Like I said, good luck

[todd00]

i think your needle is stuck, black magic :lol: but you kinda sound like ward cleaver....talking to the beav.

[Guest]

I've come over hills on the highway doing the speed limit only to find dead stopped traffic on the other side. In most situations doing what Nate did is about the best you can do with his driving experience. In my case I was driving a rwd car and did a 180 and the rear of my car missed the stopped traffic by less than 2 feet. Very lucky.. When there's no place to go, sometimes you have to get creative.. But IMHO, that only comes with years of experience.