careless operation

[bigeasy]

so on july 1st about 2am im headin home from work. as i come over the crest of a bridge suddenly theres a multicar accident taking up all 3 lanes of interstate and not nearly enough stopping room. i aim for the softest looking car and bail off bike. several hours later in the emergency room a leo shows up and i get a ticket for careless operation. there were several more wrecks after the original and mine and the tow truck picking up my totaled busa got hit. anyone think ive gotta chance of contesting this in court?

[skydivr]

I certainly would.

[sanket_420]

fight that ish. thats a straight BS tic.

[lil charlie]

Yep, I'd say you have a good chance at that one. Take pictures of that bridge and a video showing how you can't see over that crest.

[mynewride]

yes you should be able to. officer was being a jerk.

[kromdom]

curious about the posted speed limit on the bridge? good amount of street lighting? best of luck.

[Busa1166]

As long you weren't speeding you can beat that ticket... Should have been warning lights LEO car or cones prior to the crest to warn oncoming traffic. If their were no emergency vehicles on the scene ( cause they all are required to have cones ) it is unfortunate but it is an accident.

[outlawbusa]

As long you weren't speeding you can beat that ticket... Should have been warning lights LEO car or cones prior to the crest to warn oncoming traffic. If their were no emergency vehicles on the scene ( cause they all are required to have cones ) it is unfortunate but it is an accident.

I believe you can beat the ticket also. Maybe some of the LEO's can chime in but sometimes this seems to be the way of covering insurance claims. They can't always lay all the blame (or liability) on the initial accident so in order to save some of the confusion with insurance companies there are tickets distributed further back. Maybe I am way off base on your incident, but I believe that can play a part in the layer of tickets handed out in a large multi car pile up.

I guess what I am saying is this...if there is one person at fault in the initial accident but there ends up being 15 vehicles involved total the first persons insurance is not going to cover very far back in the pack before it runs out. Then the operator gets sued for the rest of the damages. How would this work when 15 claims are filed.

Even though I believe per your facts the ticket can be beaten, it still puts you in line for liability if a civil issue were to arrise.

[chrisjp]

thats bull... 1st queston... were there rescue/LEO on scene or had accident just happend... if they were on scene why were they not focusing on potential loss of life and setting up warnings (flares cones whatever)... you sir should be ticketing them and handing them the bill for both your vehicle and hospital and pain and suffering... i guarantee you they were "trained" to put up warnings in hazardous situation like that

[GoldenChild]

what was the speed limit in the area where accident happened?

[GNBRETT]

not likely. no different then you rear ending someone. if you rear end someone you will always be cited for following too close or careless operation or whatever they call it in ur state. its ur responsibility to anticipate accidents, broken down cars, changing weather conditions, etc.... when coming over the crest of a hill or around a corner which is why you should slow ur roll when you cant see whats ahead of you.

the prosecutor will simply tell you that if you cant see whats ahead of you then you should be slowing ur speed to anticipate the unforeseen. the speed limit on whatever road you are on is irrelevant. you are required to adjust ur speed to conditions (rain, heavy traffic, fog, etc...).

not saying its fair, just telling you what will be told to you when you go to court. but if ur driving history is good then the prosecutor may have pity on you considering your bike is in pieces but I would not hold ur breath going to court on that one considering the damage you did to someone elses vehicle when you made contact with it if you in fact did make contact with another vehicle which based on ur story im assuming you did.

it should also be noted that Troopers also get quite a bit of enforcement action statistics from issuing tickets at acidents like this because they are rarely over turned in court. quota's are illegal but Troopers are still required to take enforcement action and show that they are doing their job and if they are too lazy to go out and run radar/laser a lot of them get their stats from accidents like this. GL

[Tufbusa]

My guess is you have two chances of beating that ticket "Slim" & "None"!

Would it have made a difference if the traffic had been stopped rather than crashed? Nope, you still would have plowed into the traffic. What difference does it make if the traffic were stopped or crashed, same results.

And, if you had time to make a conscious decision to bail and actually "GetRdone" you had plenty of time to stop. I have never bought into that "I bailed off before I crashed into another vehicle. My guess is the brake lever had something to do with your quick departure from the bike?

Sorry about your injuries. I hope you heal up as good as new.

[m_ridgeway]

not likely. no different then you rear ending someone. if you rear end someone you will always be cited for following too close or careless operation or whatever they call it in ur state. its ur responsibility to anticipate accidents, broken down cars, changing weather conditions, etc.... when coming over the crest of a hill or around a corner which is why you should slow ur roll when you cant see whats ahead of you.

the prosecutor will simply tell you that if you cant see whats ahead of you then you should be slowing ur speed to anticipate the unforeseen. the speed limit on whatever road you are on is irrelevant. you are required to adjust ur speed to conditions (rain, heavy traffic, fog, etc...).

not saying its fair, just telling you what will be told to you when you go to court. but if ur driving history is good then the prosecutor may have pity on you considering your bike is in pieces but I would not hold ur breath going to court on that one considering the damage you did to someone elses vehicle when you made contact with it if you in fact did make contact with another vehicle which based on ur story im assuming you did.

it should also be noted that Troopers also get quite a bit of enforcement action statistics from issuing tickets at acidents like this because they are rarely over turned in court. quota's are illegal but Troopers are still required to take enforcement action and show that they are doing their job and if they are too lazy to go out and run radar/laser a lot of them get their stats from accidents like this. GL

My guess is you have two chances of beating that ticket "Slim" & "None"!

Would it have made a difference if the traffic had been stopped rather than crashed? Nope, you still would have plowed into the traffic. What difference does it make if the traffic were stopped or crashed, same results.

And, if you had time to make a conscious decision to bail and actually "GetRdone" you had plenty of time to stop. I have never bought into that "I bailed off before I crashed into another vehicle. My guess is the brake lever had something to do with your quick departure from the bike?

Sorry about your injuries. I hope you heal up as good as new.

X2 on both

[bigeasy]

yes there were leo on scene they were on the down hill side of the wreck guess it was too far to park on the uphill side and walk all that way. much shorter walk if they stayed on downhill side.i dont know how long u been riding but i do know how to brake and how to bail out before contact. itsa split second decision u really dont wanna b on the bike when it makes contact.so let me just ask how many members here slow down on every hill bridge or overpass they come to when they cant see whats on the other side? bet not many n those that do r the ones that cause accidents by suddenly slowing for no reason

[kromdom]

so let me just ask how many members here slow down on every hill bridge or overpass they come to when they cant see whats on the other side? bet not many n those that do r the ones that cause accidents by suddenly slowing for no reason

maybe its just me but when I cannot see what's ahead (blind curve, crest of a hill, etc.)......I instinctively SLOW DOWN so I have room/time for evasive maneuvers in case the need arises. Actually, this was reinforced in the MSF Advanced Rider Course I just attended last Wednesday.

Best of luck in court, with your recovery and bike's recovery as well.

[m_ridgeway]

yes there were leo on scene they were on the down hill side of the wreck guess it was too far to park on the uphill side and walk all that way. much shorter walk if they stayed on downhill side.i dont know how long u been riding but i do know how to brake and how to bail out before contact. itsa split second decision u really dont wanna b on the bike when it makes contact.so let me just ask how many members here slow down on every hill bridge or overpass they come to when they cant see whats on the other side? bet not many n those that do r the ones that cause accidents by suddenly slowing for no reason

i bet if you asked for a list of the people that would/have voluntarily bailed off their bike it would be shorter. granted most dont drive defensively enough but because someone else does it that makes it ok?

[bigeasy]

not sayin its ok just sayin that when impact is unavoidable imo its better to seperate from the bike. it was the wee hours of the morning very few vehicles on the road n no i didnt slow down enough obviously. but theres a line where being too cautious is dangerous too. when im creeping up on every overpass n turn cause im afraid then its time too look into shady acres. n trade the busa in for a really cool wheelchair.

[outlawbusa]

it was the wee hours of the morning very few vehicles on the road n no i didnt slow down enough obviously.

I have a feeling that statement if made in court would be a conviction. Just sayin

Just a thought about the bail out issue, not saying right or wrong in your case...but what would you do if your wife or girlfriend was on the back?

[bigeasy]

well that would certainly depend on which one was on the back now wouldnt it i didnt make that statement in court i made it to a group i thought might understand. thanks for the support ill go back to lurking now

[m_ridgeway]

how fast were you going and what was the speed limit?