“Drive With Damaged Bumper”

Hi guys, is driving with damaged left bumper is careless driving? the rest of the car are all fine. How to drop this ticket? any ideas? Thanks.

No.

There must be more to this story.

I strongly suggest that you enter a plea of not guilty and request disclosure right after you get your court date.

Yes, I asked for a trial. cop and prosecutor just say it's not safe. what can I argue? If they want to give me a ticket, what kind of ticket should they give? Or there is no reason to give me any ticket? Thanks.

If the officer thought the vehicle was truly unsafe he could have charged you with Operate unsafe vehicle under S. 84 of the HTA, at which point your car would have been ordered off the road until it was repaired and you would have been given a Summons to court. Careless Driving seems like an odd charge to pick for driving with a damaged bumper. For now do what Decatur suggested and request disclosure so you can see the officer's notes. Once you see the notes you will have a better idea of what the prosecution is going to try and argue and then you can start building a defense.

daggx wrote:If the officer thought the vehicle was truly unsafe he could have charged you with Operate unsafe vehicle under S. 84 of the HTA, at which point your car would have been ordered off the road until it was repaired and you would have been given a Summons to court. Careless Driving seems like an odd charge to pick for driving with a damaged bumper. For now do what Decatur suggested and request disclosure so you can see the officer's notes. Once you see the notes you will have a better idea of what the prosecution is going to try and argue and then you can start building a defense.

Thanks for your information, Daggx. If cop wants to charge me S.84. how's the demerit point? I cannot find corresponding offense. Any ideas?

I took a look around and from what I've read it looks like there are no demerit points associated with it and that insurance considers it a minor offence. However there is no set fine associated with this charge, so it would be up to a Justice of the Peace to asses the fine. That having been said it is unlikely that they will change the charge at this point so you should prepare to fight the careless driving charge.

Cool. Thanks, I appreciate it.