Ticket

[BlackIce]

Hi, im a newbie my first post. Well anyway I got a ticket for carless driving for sliding on a wet road and hitting a curb. I was acclerating switching lanes, and my slight modded 95 Z28's backend went out on me, car is horrible in the rain, and i ended up halfway on the curb and halfway off thankfully i didnt hit anyone else. So a county cop showed up ( I live in Delaware ) and gave me some flares and was really nice about the whole thing and asked me if i was ok and all and then asked if i wanted a state police officer to come and fill out a report for the insurance comanpy so I said yes, and she comes out and give me a carless driving ticket after the county cop left and didnt give me anything. Is this right? Or regulare practice for the county cop not to and the state cop giving me the ticket. If i had said no I dont want a state police officer to come out I never would of got a ticket its not a big ticket but its money I could still have. I've allready payed it, but could I have fought it and won, or do u think this is unfair? I only had the car about a month at the time too so could I of said I was still getting use to my car too, because it is a big change from my jeep i use to drive. Sorry so long and thanks in advance for any replies.

[BlackIce]

P.S. I had a clean driving record at the time. My first ticket ever since I started driving, and I am only 20 so I went from 16-20 and never got a ticket or an accident. She also said I soudnt of been accel. while changing lanes, I should of been slowing down which I dont understand.

[EHStaley]

Well, if you knew the Z was car is horrible in the rain you could have been more careful when changing lanes. Although they are called accidents for a reason. The only reason I can give you, as a non-LEO, for the county cop not giving you a citation and the state cop giving you one is simply that citing a violation is at the discretion of the officer. Some LEO's should shed some light on this shortly. Welcome to the board. I have only been here a few weeks and am thoroughly enjoying it.

[BlackIce]

Thanks for the info, anyone else have an comments? And i really decided the car was really bad in the rain after this accident, I didnt think it would give out like it did, but I now know I was wrong. I have always thought about being a police officer too but I dont really want the hours, but Delaware state police I hear make good money in comparison to other states.

[Lfpdlieu302]

it might have something to do with the jurisdiction of the roadway......i dunno.

[Scruit]

I would have probably issued a citation for Failure to Maintain Control. Careless driving is more of a stretch and the officer would have to be in court to testify as to what was careless about your driving.

FTMC is a slamdunk in a single-vehicle crash. You didn't maintain control did you? :D


Serously, though - glad you're ok. If you feel that your driving was not careless and that unusual road/weather conditions contributed (ie unusually large puddle, unexpected change in road texture) then you may have good cause to fight the ticket.

[BlackIce]

I probably was going a little faster than I should of, im not sure how fast I was when I spun, but I dont think the ticket was nessisary. Then again I dont have a quota to fill at work. Just wish I hadnt asked for the state cop to come out, I ended up not even needing a report.

[txinvestigator1]

yeah, the fact that you "were going a little faster than you should have" is not the reason you got the ticket, it was the officers quota. **please note sarcasm**

I suggest you read this thread http://forums.realpolice.net/showthr...&threadid=5592

[BlackIce]

I honestly think it was her quota, her ticket didnt teach me a lesson or make me a better drive. The fact that I did damage to my car which I love is enough to make me slow down a little. Also in that thread there are cops talking about letting other cops off with warning where they would have given someone else a ticket. Thats not right, we all have to abide by the laws and I respect the hell out of what an officer does, but then why dont all army, navy, air force personel, firefighters and such get verbal warnings too treating them like people working for our safety and freedom. Thats not right.

[txinvestigator1]

I am going to try to say this without being too rude. You really need to grow up. You have no clue. Quotas are illegal. You were hot-shotting in your car, you don't have the experience to handle it, you wrecked it, and the officer did her job by writing a ticket for a violation where there was clear PC.

You wrote of having 4 whole years of driving experience, but your attitide speaks of arrogance beyond your years.

Read the thread I posted for you. Take this opportunity to learn from those whose advice you ask. You can take something from this a become a better, safer driver, or continue on and most likely continue to rack up those tickets.

Whats it gonna be?

[BlackIce]

hot shotting my car? Where did u get that from. That you put it in your head just beacue my car is fast. I wasnt hot shotting my car and she was doing her job, but are u sayin the county cop wasnt doing his job because he didnt give me a ticket?

[txinvestigator1]

Don't try to change the subject. The County Cop is irrelevent to this discussion.

I am also not an idiot. Your were hot-shotting. You know it, I know it and anyone who was ever 20 with a hot car reading this knows it.

I am glad you realize the officer was doing her job. If you really, intellectually and not emotionally, believe the ticket was undeserved contest it.

[Lawson]

Well I dont know about out in Delaware, but in my county if there is an accident the County Deputies will arrive to help the driver and do traffic, but State P. Always comes to an accident in county. The County SO and State P. have a contract or something that lets State P. Deal with any accident not in any City Limits or in a County Contract City.

Even though I am only an Explorer and have limited Law Enforcement Experience, as a Stater, I probably would have wrote the ticket as well, it is just what we do out here, if someone gets in an accident, write a ticket.

So anyway... If Delaware is anything like Thurston County, County Deputies hate dealing with traffic accidents, so they hand them over to State and State has to find a way to write a ticket. BUT I can almost Guarantee you it wasnt a quota, Of All the Laws and Police Officers I know the only quota in Existance is 3 Seatbelt Violations an Hour to Recieve OT Pay for Seat Belt Enforcement...

[Stump]

BlackIce,
I can see where TX is coming from on this. I don't know why one cop didn't give you a ticket, but the other one did, but there could be a lot of reasons. It could be that it was the state's jurisdiction, could be that the person who writes the report must issue the ticket - and you deserved the ticket, so regardless of whether they wrote a report or not, you still should get the ticket.
As far as your car: I've had a sports car that SUCKED in the snow.. rain, not so bad. If you just got this car, then you should be driving slower in it until you got used to it. If you know this car is worse than your prior car, you should have been more careful. I realize that you paid the ticket, but any of those reasons you gave wouldn't have been a good excuse to get out of it anyway.
As far as quotas, yes they are illegal, but the cops still have "suggestions" as to how many tickets they should write. *Here*, a cop has to show that they were actually working their shift, so if they aren't going to jobs or doing proactive work, they are writing tickets. However, they are not required to write a certain amount by any means.

[mcsap]

We have I-83 run through the middle of our jurisdiction. State Police have primary jurisdiction. If ANYTHING happens on the " I " , state handles. We MAY respond to check on the driver ( sound familiar ?) , see if the car might be a hazard to other motorists ( sound familiar ? ) and than let state handle. We have jurisdiction on the interstate but we don't normally use it. I do like it when people go flying past me ( in a marked unit) see I am municipal and THINK that I can't cite them.

If I had to , I could take such a report. State on the other hand will not handle a crash etc in our jurisdiction. They will call us.

If your car is that bad in the rain ( and I belive you) , don't drive it in the rain.