A few days ago I was issued a ticket for Failing to Yield, which resulted in an accident. I was pulling left out of a private drive, onto a road with 2 north bound lanes, 2 south bound lanes, and a turning lane. When I approached the end of the driveway an extended bus pulled up to turn down the lane I was waiting to turn out of. Whenever these buses pull into this drive they make a wide turn which takes up both sides of the driveway. Because of this the bus sat in it's lane and waited for me to exit the drive. I checked both ways, saw no oncoming traffic, so I proceeded onto the road. However, because the bus was sitting in my view I was unable to see a truck that was on the other side of it. As I pulled out of the drive the truck and I hit, which made me receive a failure to yield ticket. I am considering fighting this offense because the bus was blocking the roadway. I've never fought a ticket before, so any advice would really be appreciated. Thanks

Fight it ,you got nothing to loose

You will lose this fight. Your duty is to not proceed onto the main road unless you know that it's safe to do so. You don't know for sure that the bus was waiting for you to go, and therefore should have waited until it passed. If it's not going to go with you where you were, you should have backed up enough to allow it to pass.

Never fight something you cannot win

I'm an accident investigator - you cannot proceed unless/until it is safe. It obviously wasn't safe. You should have waited until you had a clear view.

NOW - if the bus driver WAVED you out, into oncoming traffic, then you have a legal argument here.

OR if the bus was doing something illegal - parked on the roadway while the driver ate lunch - it's a different story.

You can always go to Court, try to plead it down to some sort of non moving violation. I don't know what the legal climate is in your area.

The insurance company for the truck you hit may very well argue against any type of reduction of the driving offense.

As noted, you had the responsibility to be concerned about traffic where the bus was blocking your view. You should have been more prudent. So you will lose.

On the other hand, many traffic courts will plea down the tickets is you show up for the hearing.

You should not have proceeded with the bus blocking your view. You will not win the ticket fight in court due to the fact you failed to proceed safely. The bus blocking your view would have prohibited you from proceeding safely. Case closed.

Ok, you can always fight it, perhaps the officer will not show up in court, perhaps the other person who you hit will not appear to testify against you.

You do not have to testify ( but will have to have an attorney if you are not going to speak in court)

So you go, plead not guilty, if the police officer is not there, if the other person is not there, the judge may dismiss the case, or he may continue the case.

But basically really you are guilty.

Hello d:

Well, you ARE guilty... But, court isn't really about guilt or innocence.. It's about winning.

As the Padre noted, you have a shot at winning if the witnesses don't show up. Of course, if you lose at trial, it's going to cost you more than if you just mailed it in, when court costs and your time are included.

I don't know. Do you feel lucky?

excon

I myself often get blocked by the view of a large SUV.

I refuse to drive till I get a full "panaromic "view,regardless of the driver behind me honking!!

Got it !

Rather be late then the "late"