Hey guys,

I wanted to get your advice with a traffic ticket I got about a month and a half ago. Long story short, I had come to a stop at a redlight with a vehicle in front of me. When the light turned green, I waited for the vehicle in front of me to pull away from the light and then followed at a normal distance. While in the interesection I caught a glimpse of something to the left, and then slightly over my shoulder to see what had happened. When I looked back towards the road the vehicle in front of me had come to a dead stop just through the intersection.

I hit the brakes as quickly as possible, but unfortunately I ended up hitting her from behind.

The police arrived at the scene about 15 minutes later, and there weren't any witnesses at the scene.

The officer wrote me a ticket for following too closely. I asked him why I was given the ticket without anyone (himself or another witness) to support it. He told me "It's a standard ticket for rear end accidents".

I'm looking to fight this in court, as I feel I was unfairly ticketed. I have several tickets on my record, but nothing this severe. What do you recommend I do?

Aidan

 

Aidan, the officer is correct! Any time you hit another vehicle from behind regardless of the circumstances it's your fault. This has been the law since before they had paved roads, you can't fight it....that's just the way it is! That's kinda like the law when you're backing out of a parking spot and hit someone it's your fault. That's exactly why you should always pull forward whenever possible....pure logic!
Gary

 

+1. Sad but true. Happened to some people I know although they were the ones who were hit from behind. Sorry :/

 

why are you trying to fight it. It's clearly your fault. but yeah like others said, you won't win.

 

The OP isn't arguing that the accident was his fault, he's talking about getting a ticket based on an assumption. IMO that is BS, and I would be fighting it as well.

 

Although the officer is correct, the ticket isn't necessary. He probably just had a quota to meet at the end of the month

 

First off, I'm sorry that happened to you. It sucks, I know it does.

But I will have to side with Gary on this one. I've rear ended someone when I was in High School and I got a ticket for "unattentive driving." And that's exactly what it was... I wasn't paying attention and I hit someone. I paid it, learned from my experience, and I moved on.

Not trying to sound harsh, but I suggest that you do the same.

 

If you decide not to fight it at least don't be an idiot and straight up pay the entire fine. Go into court and get it reduced.

 

at least it wasn't all bad

but seriously you should go and try to get it reduced at least.

 

Maybe you can ask the driver you hit to help you out to write a statement that she does not feel that you follow too close and they although you just went ahead and hit her. Of course apologized first and play soft that you are trying to avoid an extra ticket/expense

 

I know it's not what you want to hear, but if you hit someone from behind by definition at some point prior to the impact you were following too closely. Distractions occur to all of us every day. If one's situational awareness doesn't allow one to satisfactorily manage distractions without inadvertently causing an accident, one is either following too closely or moving too fast. Slow down, leave more room, or work to better manage distractions.

Man up and file this away as a learning experience that didn't cost much. No one was hurt, and there probably wasn't much damage done. Had this happened on the freeway it could have been a much more expensive lesson.

 

I definitely agree with everyone above in that the accident was my fault. I understand that the distraction caused me to avert my eyes from the road and we all know what happened.

What I don't agree with is that I was ticketed for following too closely. Last week I completed a Defensive Driving Course online (wanted to be able to show proactive steps were taken on my part) and the course talked about the old 2 second rule. We all know that in bumper to bumper traffic the distance we follow at is reduced. At the kind of distances you follow at in traffic, something as minor as sneezing (forces you to close your eyes) would make it nearly impossible to stop for the vehicle in front of you.

I agree with everyone above in saying that the accident was definitely my fault, and in all honesty, I'd gladly pay the fine associated with it. The issue is the demerit/points that come with the ticket. Those are what worry me. If the ticket had been issued for inattentive driving I'd understand, but it was issued without any witnesses based solely on the fact that I hit a lady from behind. There's a number of reasons I could have hit her that would not involve following too closely (checking a blind spot, sneezing, scanning the road). All of those are situations in which you frequently avert your eyes from the road for two seconds which is the recommended following distance quoted by the provincial government.

 

I'm afraid you are SOL. With what you described you are definitely at fault - it happens and it sucks, but as a few others suggested the best you can do is learn from it. I would still go to court, plead no contest, and see if you can work out reduced fine and/or points against your license. Some states will let you take a driver safety course and avoid the fine altogether, although that's uncommon for accidents and more common for speeding. That would also reduce the insurance payments.

The rationale for reduced following distance doesn't hold water. If a sneeze causes you to hit someone, you were following too closely. Period. It's just like driving at night; if you over drive your headlights, you are at fault.

I'm surprised you were ticketed. In San Antonio it is almost unheard of unless one of the drivers was impaired or reckless. Er, just reread that and realized it implied you were doing something inappropriate - was not my intent. Rather, I was trying to imply the cops should have something better to do. Regardless, go to court, dress nicely, speak respectfully, don't contest the ticket, and ask what you can do to work out the points.

 

If you try to fight this they might drop it, but will then most likely charge you for inattentive driving. I think your getting stuck with a ticket either way.

 

In Georgia, as long as your insurance company repairs the other persons car, they will typically throw out the citation when you go to court.

Also if the other person doesn't show up to your court date you win by default.

I agree with everyone one else that it is 100% your fault, however no one should EVER roll over to a citation given to them, and you should always fight them.