I would not pay the ticket and have a lawyer represent you in traffic court for the ticket and plead your case. This way if you lose (the judge finds you guilty) you are not “admitting” guilt. The court is finding you guilty. This would be inexpensive to do.

I would challenge it for sure.

Here in Oregon I have seen several people pulled over by the State Police for going too slow/impeding traffic on both the freeways and 2 lane roads.

You don't want to have to take the hit on your insurance and driving record if you can avoid it.

Sounds like the other driver should have been ticketed at the very least for defective equipment if he did not have the right size trailer ball on his truck.

The guy was operating an unsafe vehicle that should have not been on the road for that very reason he may cause a crash.

IMO first thing to do. Forget what us internet lawyers are saying and get real one. Maybe check around and see who here is from that area and who the bada$$ lawyers are.

I hate it but it is world of law suits for less than this.

Then Chris is pretty **** Smella and probably already been on phone doing just that.

What was actually the cause of the crash? If our rig quits running going down the road, and we are slowing before going onto the shoulder, and someone runs up on our back side, whose fault is it? It really doesn't matter what condition the rig is in. they can quit when brand new. But if the trailer came off the ball and caused the pile up to begin with, it's kind of a horse of a different color. I'm not taking sides. I hope the best for Chris as he is the side I have some knowing of. But certainly the law is going to ask, why did the toter hit the slowing or stopped rig? One answer could be, that the front vehicle was going too slow....maybe not by choice. But more likely the conclusion they will come to is that the rear vehicle failed to slow to avoid the impact. Be it that they were going too fast, had faulty equipment themselves, or they were following too close(I'm not saying any of this was the case of course). Or he didn't see them in time to react. Is that reasonable? Often not. But usually that is where they end up. The other guy's faults may give the lawyer some traction. If the trailer came off the ball before the accident, it may be a slam dunk.
If a guy parks on the outskirts of a parking lot across parking spots like a jack ass.....is hitting his car a freebie because of the way he parked? Usually not. Usually the driver of the vehicle that did the hitting gets slammed with the entire thing. Good luck to Chris. I hope it doesn't work out like it often does.

Was the other driver cited and if so what for? Believe that is what you need.

I don't know if the other driver was cited, I will fight the ticket win or lose...most probably this gentleman I hit will get a settlement from my insurance company paying for his property and his "injuries" he now claims after picking all his lawn equipment up and loading it back in his truck at the scene as well as reloading it the next day at the yard per the wrecker service.

Is what it is and I appreciate all of your input...watch out out there...plenty of obstacles.

Back on the way home...been gone 9 days now...

I was in accident in NJ (1986) that I was issued two tickets. I was not at fault but the other driver lived in the township. Other driver(heading East) made a left in front of me(heading West) at an intersection. I got a careless driving ticket and don't remember the other one(excessive speed?) . I(my Dad) got a lawyer and I issued the other driver two tickets. He was found guilty by the judge and I was found not guilty. My insurance company still gave them $7000, probably to make it go away. I lost my first car (1971 Cutlass) and got nothing.
Anyway talk to a lawyer and ask about issuing tickets against the other vehicle involved. According to what I have read about the accident it might be worthwhile to pursue.

Good luck


PS: spoke with you at Vegas and Rockingham this year. I hope to get to some of those races this year.

quote:

Originally posted by TORQIN:
I don't know if the other driver was cited, I will fight the ticket win or lose...most probably this gentleman I hit will get a settlement from my insurance company paying for his property and his "injuries" he now claims after picking all his lawn equipment up and loading it back in his truck at the scene as well as reloading it the next day at the yard per the wrecker service.

I’d bet that the person you hit has already been contacted by the Personal Injury Lawyers in that area. Insurance company Lawyers deal with this all the time.

Be happy you have good insurance coverage and leave them do what your policy premiums are paying them to do.

quote:

Originally posted by M120:
I was in accident in NJ (1986) that I was issued two tickets. I was not at fault but the other driver lived in the township. Other driver(heading East) made a left in front of me(heading West) at an intersection. I got a careless driving ticket and don't remember the other one(excessive speed?) . I(my Dad) got a lawyer and I issued the other driver two tickets. He was found guilty by the judge and I was found not guilty. My insurance company still gave them $7000, probably to make it go away. I lost my first car (1971 Cutlass) and got nothing.
Anyway talk to a lawyer and ask about issuing tickets against the other vehicle involved. According to what I have read about the accident it might be worthwhile to pursue.

Good luck


PS: spoke with you at Vegas and Rockingham this year. I hope to get to some of those races this year.

I wasn't aware that parties other than the police could issue tickets.

quote:

Would you fight the ticket issued to me or not?

not sure what the gain would be even if you were to get lucky and win.still going to be lots of costs

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
I wasn't aware that parties other than the police could issue tickets.

I could swear that I've read somewhere about toll booth workers issuing tickets for over length...

In NJ a citizen can go to the Municipal court in the jurisdiction where the violation occurred and issue a summons. If you're considering doing this, you have to before the statute of limitations is up. Most motor vehicle summons only have a 30 day statute of limitations in NJ. Not sure about FLA.

quote:

Originally posted by Lenny5160:

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
I wasn't aware that parties other than the police could issue tickets.

I could swear that I've read somewhere about toll booth workers issuing tickets for over length...

Yup! you cant make this crap up!! You have to live it first!

I got t-boned by a girl that was going 85 in a 55 while texting and she crossed a single line boundary into a turn lane (she wasn't turning). Said sorry to me in front of the cop (after we both regained conciousness). I was cited. I talked to my insurance about gettin a lawyer and fighting it, they told me to just move on with life and forget about it.

Best advice given so far is “don't listen to us internet lawyers!”.Remember the police officer just did his job, he does not have the final say. Let your lawyer give you advice on how to proceed.

Just once I want to here about how you and Cory went to a race, had a great time, won some money and had ZERO issue! To quote Zampese, you are the best racer with the worst luck I know LOL.
David

I know this sounds overly simple. But could Chris just let the insurance company take care of the insurance fights. And if he is concerned about the ticket, show up to the court appearance to fight it himself? Sure better chances with a lawyer. And he may get advice from one. But the cost of a court appearance is pretty small. And the worst that would happen is everything stands and he has the court cost added to it. What are the drawbacks to this?

Have Bill Horton or Don Kennedy provided any feedback on this post?

This is when u need insurance insight. Very good use case for us racers.

David, I wanna tell a story like like you speak of!

I have decided to let my insurance do their job...in my heart and soul I know the chain of events and how it occurred...was told by my attorneys, I will spend money and lose...pay the ticket, its $161.00.

I am installing a dash cam for 2019...video don't lie!

Dash cam info

Chris I my opinion you are doing the right thing. The insurance company will do what is in their best interest anyway.

The attached link is something I saw recently, this guy has a bunch of informative videos. He is a consumer protection expert.

he offers info about the legalities of dash cams, many things that most of us would never think of.

Take a look, I think it's worth the 15 min. or so. His knowledge and opinions are usually very basic and straight forward.

Hoping you and your gang get back on track and have a great 2019.