Hi
Please give me your opinions. I was on my way to work it was approximately 6:50 AM between dark and dawn. Sunrise officially that day was 7:24 AM. I was going to turn left waited for oncoming traffic to pass then I turned right into a truck with no headlights on. I never saw him coming.Neither did the witness behind me who stopped. When the police arrived they stated the time on the ticket as 7:04 AM which was not the time of the accident by this time the sun was coming up. I was cited with failure to yield right of way. No where in the police report is the fact that he did not have his headlights on, according to the police officer in the state of SC you have to have your headlights on until 30 minutes before sunrise(which I guess is dawn) which would mean if it were before 6:54 am(which it was) he would have contributed to the accident. Should I fight this? The witness said she never saw the truck either until the accident occurred . It is not noted anywhere on the police report that his headlights were not on. Thanks tammy

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Originally Posted by tammybuffkin

Hi
I was going to turn left waited for oncoming traffic to pass then I turned right into a truck with no headlights on.

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Confusing, you were going to turn left then you turned right?

I think you meant to say you turned left in front of the oncoming veh not "right" -- am I correct ? If so, and I know you are not going to like this, but one can argue that you and well as the other driver should be ticketed, him for failure to have his lights on and you for failure to yield right of way. Of course, insisting that the officer issue him a ticket now won't help your case at least not now since it's "after the fact" though it might assist you as to whether your are charged by your insurance company for an at fault accident. Personally, I would be upset as heck that the other driver was not ticketed. I had a similar situation about 15 yrs ago where an insurance agent drinking beer and I collided, he threw his beer in the bushes before the police arrived, I told the officer at the scene about it and it was indicated by the officer on his accident report that I failed to yield right of way, no mention of his drinking and driving. Officer stated he had to see the driver drinking when the accident occurred. I would just forget it, pay the fine and go on with my life. It's just my opinion.

Hello tammi:

Should you oppose it? Sure. Never plead guilty. However, if everybody shows up, you don't stand a chance. I know you didn't see the guy - that's the problem!

excon

Sorry for the confusion. I was turning left ( I was not using the word "right" to refer to direction at that point in my question) thanks

Tammy I think you should fight it both you and the other person never saw this truck then you should... if you in contact with this witness try contacting them to see what they have to say about it

If you are charged with a ticket you are not guilty of, (heck if you are charged with one you are guilty of) never plead guilty

1. first often the officer does not show up for the case and it just gets dismissed

2. if there is no witness to say you did anything wrong, normally you should be found not guilty

3. if you are found guilty it is no worst than you just pleading guilty.

I will assume your ticket is failure to yield right of way or illegal left(right) turn. Most likely you are guilty of that, and the other person is guilty of no headlights.

So in the civil case who fixes whose car may be a wash, you fix yours, he fixes his. ( which is better than you fixing his)

So the option of pleading NOLO may be possible, that way, the ticket can not be used to determine who is at fault for the civil issues

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Originally Posted by J_9

Confusing, you were going to turn left then you turned right?

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excon agrees: turned RIGHT INTO the guy


Sheesh, musta been one of my BLONDE moments! :p

I agree you should fight it. If the ticket was for failure to yield and the other driver was invisible because of driving illegally then how can you be cited for faliing to yield to something you couldn't know was there?

My question is why didn't you ask for corrections to the police report as soon as you saw it. Did you make sure the police officer took down the correct info?

One thing that has been left unsaid is what damages occurred. You don't want this on your record as your fault because of insurance.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

I agree you should fight it. If the ticket was for failure to yield and the other driver was invisible because of driving illegally then how can you be cited for faliing to yield to something you couldn't know was there?

My question is why didn't you ask for corrections to the police report as soon as you saw it. Did you make sure the police officer took down the correct info?

One thing that has been left unsaid is what damages occured. you don't want this on your record as your fault because of insurance.

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I had most of the damage to my left front fender, bumper,headlights busted out,left front area of my hood also. The other guy had a scrape on his bumper and flat left tire. We picked up the police report 3 days after the accident . The clerk at the desk just made a copy and gave it to me. The policeman was not sure of who to charge at the scene and called his superior officer to get advice over their radio, by this time it was daylight they estimated times of the accident, which they say it was getting light outside (I guess this would be considered Dawn). Now the guy has contacted my insurance company he hurt his knee. He told them he had his headlights on which is a boldface lie. I am so sick of talking to insurance people , and some guy told me I had the greater duty as the person turning left. The only thing I know is that if his headlights would have been on I would have seen him.

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Originally Posted by tammybuffkin

The only thing I know is that if his headlights would have been on I would have seen him.

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Hello again, tammy:

And, therein lies the rub. It's incumbant on you to "see" if anyone is coming. That means it's YOUR responsibility to see if anyone is coming - not his. Yes, he should have had his lights on, but that doesn't remove your responsibility. You are the one who violated the law, and you're the one who's going to suffer the consequenses of doing so.

I'm not on your case. Some of my best friends are law violators.

excon

You have a witness that verifies the headlights were not on. Have your insurance company contact the witness.

However, the damage as you describe it doesn't help you. Since the damage was on your LEFT side, that means you hit him AFTER he had entered the intersection. That would indicate that. Even with his lights off, he should have been close enough to see. Had he hit you, either on the front or right side, you would have a better case. This is how an accident reconstruction specialist would see it.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't continue to fight the ticket. Just that your chances are slimmer.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

You have a witness that verifies the headlights were not on. Have your insurance company contact the witness.

However, the damage as you describe it doesn't help you. Since the damage was on your LEFT side, that means you hit him AFTER he had entered the intersection. That would indicate that. even with his lights off, he should have been close enough to see. Had he hit you, either on the front or right side, you would have a better case. This is how an accident reconstruction specialist would see it.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't continue to fight the ticket. Just that your chances are slimmer.

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The first time I saw his dark green SUV was when the light from my headlights lit his car up and I slammed on brakes only after moving into the turn when all was clear just a foot or so.My witness said she was also scanning the road because she too was about to take the same turn and absolutely saw nothing before I started my turn. I appreciate all the post I will do what my heart tells me to do when the time comes... thx

I'm not doubting your account of the incident. I'm sorry if it came out that way. The fact that you have a witness is a big plus in your favor. I'm just kind of playing devils advocate and showing you what you are up against. If it comes to a court case, the other side is very likely to hire an accident reconstruction specialist. They may have already checked the scene for skid marks and other factors to match your account against the physical evidence. I'm just trying to let you know how the damage to each vehicle is going to appear.

Do you think I should just go to the court date and just try to get my fines or points reduced? If I am honest with the judge and tell him my story , plus I have never had any kind of ticket at all. I don't even know how this sort of thing works do you go to the first date on the ticket, and then decide if you would like to take it further or what?

It is all a issue of how big a deal this is to you.

It is possible you can work out a deal to go to traffic school, pay court costs and get a suspended sentence.

You can plead nolo ( at least in GA) and then points are not assigned to your license plus it can not be used in the civil court as proof of guilt.

And I have seen 100's get off by pleading not guilty at first, and then see if the officer or the other party is there to testify against you.
Remember you can't be force to testify against yourself, if there is no officer there to testify to what he wrote up on his accident report, and if the other party is not there, they have no evidece that you did anything wrong. I have even gotten off that way once myself.

And if the officer or other party is there, you can ask the judge at that point to see if you can plead for a reduced fine or no points.a

As a police officer this was much more common than people think, but from those that knew they could do it. Too many come in, not understnading traffic laws ( don't have to be fair, just the law) and they may have gotten off but they argue and keep talking and convict thierself

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

It is all a issue of how big a deal this is to you.

It is possible you can work out a deal to go to traffic school, pay court costs and get a suspended sentence.

You can plead nolo ( at least in GA) and then points are not assigned to your license plus it can not be used in the civil court as proof of guilt.

And I have seen 100's get off by pleading not guilty at first, and then see if the officer or the other party is there to testify against you.
Remember you can't be force to testify against yourself, if there is no officer there to testify to what he wrote up on his accident report, and if the other party is not there, they have no evidece that you did anything wrong. I have even gotten off that way once myself.

And if the officer or other party is there, you can ask the judge at that point to see if you can plead for a reduced fine or no points.a

As a police officer this was much more commom than people think, but from those that knew they could do it. Too many come in, not understnading traffic laws ( don't have to be fair, just the law) and they may have gotten off but they argue and keep talking and convict thierself

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Thanks for the advice. What is nolo?

I would go to court, but you need to go with your witness or an signed and notarized affadavits.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

I would go to court, but you need to go with your witness or an signed and notarized affadavits.

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Thanks for all of your advice, this is such a pain, too much stress for me.