PHATMAN5050

On July 17th I was involved in a single car accident and my court date is Wed, August 6th. I need some help from you guys to know what to say, how to say it, and what exactly is going to go on in the court room.

Here is the thread from my accident:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=232578

And here is the defense I have written so far. Basically the reason why I need to really get this down is because if this ticket goes on my record, my license will be suspended for 3 months, as any driver under 18 years old who has 2 convictions (tickets on their record) will lose their license for 3 months.

Here is my defense as it stands right now. I wrote it so I would accept any and all suggestions to the defense or how and what I should say in court. Thanks guys!

28-701A A person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances, conditions and actual and potential hazards then existing. A person shall control the speed of a vehicle as necessary to avoid colliding with any object, person, vehicle or other conveyance on, entering or adjacent to the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to exercise reasonable care for the protection of others.

Sunday the 13th of July was a clear day, with little to no clouds, and about 109 degrees. Myself and my passenger had just left a controlled intersection, and there no children or other obstructions on the road. My speed did not exceed what would have been controlled, had an exterior vehicle observed the traffic laws. The vehicle did not yield to traffic, failed to utilize curb-lane merging lane, failed to indicate before switching lanes, and/or committed several other unsafe driving laws mentioned in the 28th statute. These statutes include 28-729 which states that “A person shall drive a vehicle as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and shall not move the vehicle from that lane until the driver has first ascertained that the movement can be made with safety.” Statute 28-704 also states that “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.” The vehicle that pulled out in front of my vehicle was not driving at a speed that enabled me to continue in my current direction at my current speed, impeding my direction of movement and endangering my well-being and the well-being of others. Although I was not able to completely stop my vehicle in order to avoid any incidents, I did have enough control of my vehicle to avoid any and all automobiles on the roadway. I did not lose full control of the vehicle until after I had swerved to allow this vehicle to, as safely as possible, enter the lane I was currently occupying, in which I entered the center lane and still did not have appropriate control of the vehicle to continue in a straight path down the road. Avoiding a collision with all vehicles on the roadway proves that I exercised reasonable care for the protection of others. The airbags equipped on my vehicle are tuned to deploy at a force of a speed at or greater than 25mph on the inhabitants of the vehicle. In my specific accident the airbags did not deploy, meaning that the force of my vehicle when I came in contact was less than 25mph. The damage and injury to my vehicle and its inhabitants was minor despite what could have happened, and myself and my passenger both were able to leave the vehicle and walk away without any cuts, scratches, bruises, broken limbs, or any other life-threatening ailments. The fact that the vehicle was under control enough to bring it down to a safer speed than what was being traveled previously on the roadway shows that I did attempt to avoid a collision to the best of my powers and my vehicle’s ability to stop and handle. If your honor finds my version of the facts unconvincing, I would respectfully accept that opinion and request that your honor exercise discretion to allow me to take traffic school as an alternative. Being as I am under 18 and another conviction will result in the suspension of my license for 3 months, I am willing and eager to do any alternative in order to avoid losing the use of my vehicle once it is repaired.



Thanks again guys, i owe this board one!

lophix

iTrader: (3)

uh what exactly happened? sounds like a good defense although you could strengthen it further with pictures and more paper evidence (like a statement nissan made about the airbags deploying at speeds >25mph) goodluck though.

nadir_s

at the end when you're asking for alternatives, mention that you need it for work and school.

Also, don't cram all that in one paragraph... space it out into several.

And also, you have too many "big words" ... makes it hard to comprehend sometimes, so try to make it a bit more simple. Nice writing tho, i hope u get outta it!

boba001

Get your court date delayed and hire a lawyer! The legal advice you get off this board is worth as much as you paid for it...

PHATMAN5050

Haha boba, but I doubt my court date can be extended at all...I need luck and a nice judge on my side.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

That was very well written and should work for you in court.

BigDogJonx

iTrader: (7)

Unfortunately ive already spoken to Zach and this letter wont help him one bit. Because the way it is going to work is that the judge or the DA is going to ask questions and you answer them. You dont stand up and read out a letter you wrote or hand it to the judge or DA. He dont want to hear any of that, he wants to evalute the evidence in front of him and ask questions and them make his decision based on that.

Dixit

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Please don't repost the same questions in different areas. I won't delete this thread, only lock it.