I live here in IL and last Oct I got rear ended and I was given a ticket work driving to slow I was 18 at the time and the kid just got his license a few months prior so there is a chance the person you rear end can get the ticket I learned the hard way and I'm still fighting this in court while the kid that hit me is trying to sue me for the damage to his car that a beater and not worth anything.

I called the cops after I got hit and a state cop came to the seen and then he turned it over to a local cop and he waited a week and called me at my high school to tell me I got the ticket but what can you do except fight it in court

If you got a ticket for going to slow I hope the cop has a good radar gun or clocked you with a certified speedometer. If there was no cop around to do this stuff, a charge like that won't hold up in court. Even if you were going to slow, that doesn't remove the liability for a rear end collision from the person that slammed into you. As was mentioned above, its standard procedure (for reasons that should be obvious) that there is virtually universal liability that falls on the person who slams into the rear of another vehicle. I was a military and civilian cop for a long time and heard all kinds of crap in court from people making excuses for why they slammed into someone. The judges never bought it.

I started a new thread for you, because I didn't want your issue hijacking the other thread.

Its certainly possible that driving too slowly can create a hazard. For example; if the posted speed limit is 50 and you are going 30, someone coming around a curve or over a rise might have a reasonable expectation that no car would be so close that they would have a chance to hit them. In a circumstance like that I can you being given a ticket for driving too slowly, leaving liability for the accident on you.

While I appreciate the answer above, the law does not alow you to slam into a vehicle just because it is going too slow. You are required to take whatever action is reasonable to avoid the accident. There is also the burden of proving you are going too slow.

One case that I recall (a civil case) was one in which a person had pulled over to the side of the road near the bottom of a hill. The speed limit was 55 and the person had just pulled back into the roadway and established themselves in the right lane when a car came over the hill at 55 and rear-ended the other car which was not yet up to full speed. The judge ruled that the person coming over the crest of the hill had a duty to slow down so as to be able to stop for anything on the other side.

I was on a residential street that I had just turned on to and hadn't gotten up to speed and the car that hit me sped across the street that I just turned off and hit me I was just finishing making a right turn as they shot across the street so I made it about 15-20 feet from the intersection before he hit me he had a stop sign I didn't

Well that's a whole different ball game than just the normal rear-end accident. A person facing a stop sign has to yield to all other traffic at the intersection that doesn't have one.

Sounds like you made an unsafe right turn without yielding to oncoming traffic.

I was going to say I've investigated a thousand - or so - rear end accidents and the person who did the rear ending is not always at fault. However, after reading the circumstances FrChuck has summed it all up.

Sounds like an unsafe turn from what I am gathering.

However, after reading the circumstances FrChuck has summed it all up.

Sounds like an unsafe turn from what I am gathering.

Um, had a hard day? Chuck hasn't posted here (yet!), I was the one who summed it up ;)

Sorry Judy and Scott, but unless I'm missing something here it seems pretty cut-and-dry ; the other driver ran a stop sign and rear-ended the OP to boot. Forgive my bluntness but I think the OP just hit the lottery! The only possible case against the OP would be if he too had a stop sign (or a red light) but he doesn't indicate that and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't.

Um, had a hard day? Chuck hasn't posted here (yet!), I was the one who summed it up ;)


I TOLD you to stop wearing vestments because when you do I can't tell you and FrChuck apart!

With due apologies and, yes, I had a difficult day.

Okay, I owe you one - !

Sorry Judy and Scott, but unless I'm missing something here it seems pretty cut-and-dry ; the other driver ran a stop sign and rear-ended the OP to boot. Forgive my bluntness but I think the OP just hit the lottery! The only possible case against the OP would be if he too had a stop sign (or a red light) but he doesn't indicate that and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't.


I actually get paid to investigate accidents. Figure that one out!

The OP got a ticket. Something important is not being stated. I see no indication that the other driver didn't stop for the stop sign, proceed - and OP came around the corner.

Agree with you in that more info is needed.

I don't see that the only possible circumstance is the stop sign or red light - I see other mitigating factors.

On the other hand, I can't tell FrChuck and Scottgem apart so who knows...

I didn't have a stop sign its East St one of the main streets in my town so there isn't a stop light till you get to Main St. I made a right turn off East St onto Butler St (a residential street) the other car was already on Butler but on the other side of East St as far as I could tell he stop for a second at the stop sign then gunned it across East St just as I finish turning right onto Butler

I didnt have a stop sign its East St one of the main streets in my town so there isn't a stop light till you get to Main St. I made a right turn off of East St onto Butler St (a residential street) the other car was already on Butler but on the other side of East St as far as I could tell he stop for a second at the stop sign then gunned it across East St just as I finish turning right onto Butler


Then you are 100% at fault - you pulled out when it wasn't safe, in front of another vehicle.

And there is no stop sign or stoplight at the corner of East St. and Butler St. for the direction in which you were headed? Is this a standard, 4-pt. intersection? It is highly unusual that there would be no traffic control at a street corner such as this. You are claiming that there is a stop sign for the direction in which the person who hit you was traveling. Quite often, intersections such as these are 4-way stops, in which case one could possibly claim that you are the one who ran the stop sign. On what basis were you given the citation? Witness reports? If so, find out who these witnesses are and what statements they gave to the investigating officer.

And there is no stop sign or stoplight at the corner of East St. and Butler St. for the direction in which you were headed? Is this a standard, 4-pt. intersection? It is highly unusual that there would be no traffic control at a street corner such as this. You are claiming that there is a stop sign for the direction in which the person who hit you was traveling. Quite often, intersections such as these are 4-way stops, in which case one could possibly claim that you are the one who ran the stop sign. On what basis were you given the citation? Witness reports? If so, find out who these witnesses are and what statements they gave to the investigating officer.


I would "assume" the citation was given based on witness statements - the Police most probably weren't there to see the accident.