Should I fight an accident that was caused by weather conditions?

Question

I have just recently gotten in an accident. I crossed into the other lane and hit a guard rail because I slid on a patch of ice. I was going 30 m.p.h. in a 55 zone and there was nothing I could do about it to control the situation. Yet the officer gave me a ticket for crossing into oncoming traffic and striking an object. Is this something I would be able to fight in court and win since it was solely based on the weather and there was nothing I could have done to avoid the situation?

I just looked up the code and it is indeed for violation of basic speed law. So does that help or hurt my case?

Answer 1

yes, definately fight the ticket, it will be dismissed if you can print up any information from that date on weather conditions, newspaper articles about the weather, etc. you have to fight the ticket if you want insurance to cover your repairs.

Answer 2

Depending upon which state that the accident occurred. Some states issue citations at every accident as a matter of protocol. Their reasoning is that every accident is caused by faulty driving and therefore the breaking of some traffic law. Even though it was a 55 M.P.H. zone, under certain conditions the law may require you to drive significantly slower; a "reasonable and prudent speed" statute.

On the other hand, some states (mine included) does not allow the officer to issue a citation unless he witnesses the offense. There are exceptions to this written into the law (D.U.I. and insurance violations for example), but generally an officer cannot issue a citation at an accident scene.

My advise is to research the laws where you live (or had the accident), and go from there. Your insurance company may want to take up the fight on their own. An attorney could offer you the best advise.

Answer 3

What I would do is go to court on the day and time indicated on the citation (and get there about 30 minutes early), and so long you have never done this before, see about applying or asking for a safe driving improvement course. Tell the judge what you said here and say that since you have always been a good driver, that likely this would help further improve your driving skills.
Doing so, if the judge approves, will result in you having to attend an 8 hour or so driver improvement class which will cost you about $80 but it also gets the citation thrown out of court and you get to keep your perfect driving record.
Considering the alternative, the initial $80 cost of the driver improvement course will far outweigh the increase in your insurance rates over time and it is also quite possible, so long you take this matter seriously, that you will actually learn something from the class, it really is a pretty decent thing to do.
I myself have taken this course several times over the years, and it helped me and I have not had an accident or a traffic citation in almost 10 years.
So, it's win - win.
Good luck.

Answer 4

As a former deputy sheriff, town constable, city patrol officer and city detective (at different times) I can tell you that, if what you said is correct, the judge should not convict you.
Did you do anything to antagonize the officer? Sometimes a 'difficult day' and someone arguing with him will cause an officer's judgment to get 'bent.'
If the entire pavement was ice-glazed it would have unquestionably been yout fault.
I always looked for road conditions, skid marks and other indications to 'read' to evaluate if a ticket was warranted.
There is a charge called 'going too fast for road/pavement conditions' that covers the necessity to reduce normal speed, and the extent of damage to a vehicle usually indicates the speed a vehicle was traveling upon impact.
You need a lawyer, perhaps a public defender is available if you cannot afford legal costs.
If you have a friend who is a lawyer, ask his or her advice.
By the way, if quasimodo (reply above) actually was an officer, he wasn't all that bright - maybe 'quasimodo' as a moniker fits him very well.
In the New York State Motor Vehicle and Traffic Laws there are two statutes that I wrote when I consulted for that department.

Answer 5

In my state you would have received a summons for "Travelling too fast for conditions", which is exactly the portion of your state statute you mentioned in the second portion of your question.
Regardless of weather I used to tell people that due to their travelling too fast they lost control of their car. When they say "I didn't lose control" the stock answer from me was..."So...you hit the pole on purpose then?".
Its really a no-win situation. However you can always take the chance and hope in an effort to just clear the court docket they toss out the ticket. In any case your insurance will still take a hit.

Answer 6

It doesn't matter if you were under the speed limit, you obviously were going to fast for conditions and that that. If not, you would have been in control of your car. If you would have slid into a pedestrian do think could say sorry, but I was going under the spreed limit. That ticket will or should serve as a reminder to reduce your speed during poor weather conditions, or stay at home.

Answer 7

I don't think you can fight it. Last year my boss slid through an intersection due to ice, didn't hit anything, but because the light had turned yellow to red when he slid through it, he still had to pay a fine, he even asked for a court date so he could tell his side to the judge, the judge still made him pay. It didn't matter that he was doing 15 in a 45 and when he applied the brakes it just slid right on through.

Answer 8

Hey, just be glad it's just a silly old ticket instead of a fat hospital bill or even worse. You were lucky there was not another car there at the time you slid. Can you imagine the weight of being responsible for the damage your sliding car did to another person?

Pay the ticket and count your blessings

Answer 9

Maybe you should have been driving 25. I am playing devil's advocate. They usually claim you were driving too fast for weather conditions. A 55 mph speed limit does not mean you have to drive 55. You may be able to get it reduced to improper lane change or something like that. Good luck!

Answer 10

You can explain your circumstances to the judge, but you are supposed to remain in control of your vehicle at all times when driving and thats why you got ticketed. If the weather was that bad, the state may argue that you should have been going 15 mph. It depends on the judge.

Answer 11

The judge will look at it as a case of you going too fast for conditions. You might get a break for the striking an object