“Avoiding An Accident”

I'm conflicted on whether I should plea to a lesser charge or fight this in court. Here is what happened:

I was travelling down the back roads of an industrial area approaching a stop sign, with the intention on making a right hand turn at a 3-way.

Pine trees were located near the stop sign (not covering the sign, but obstructing my view making a right turn)

A car was parked on the shoulder against traffic 20 feet away from my stop sign, once I cleared the trees it seemed like the car was coming at me for a moment, panicked and made a wide turn.

Got pulled over for going through the stop sign.

If I explain to the judge this is why I went through the stop sign, I just admitted guilt.

I guess the question is...is my reason justified as I was trying to avoid an accident or is it an admission of guilt? Can the judge understand the circumstance and lessen the plea?

Also, I took a picture of the car parked the wrong way while he was giving me the ticket.

Thanks

I'm not following your explanation. Are you saying the parked car was to your right at the intersection? If so, I'm not sure how that would justify you not stopping.

Here is a crude diagram

I'm not sure I follow the logic in this explanation. If anything, you should have more incentive to make that stop, not the other way around.

Exactly. The correct action would have been to stop behind the line, then move forward slowly to where your view was sufficient to see that the way was clear, then proceed.

Bend...thanks for your time and patience, this will really help me.

I see where you are coming from...its more understandable if you go through that intersection every day. Because of the trees I stop past the stop line closer to where you turn (which I understand is an improper stop). Because I can't see around the right hand corner until the very end, I typically look left as I approach the intersection to see if cars are coming and then right after I pass the trees....the diagram doesn't show it well, but at that point my car is more inline with the parked car (its really on the grass rather then the road). My instinct was to push the gas. Mind you it was for a split second until i realized the car was parked, but to the cop it looks like I was ready to gun past the intersection.

Bottom line, my story is: my view was obstructed, until after the stop sign. My momentum was going forward, I accelerated to avoid what I thought at that moment was a car coming towards me.

If the judge sees it the way you do and that it should have stopped to avoid an accident then I'm screwed, or maybe the judge says threat or not, you should stop.

The only "evidence" I have going into this is a picture of the trees, the car parked illegally and a previous picture of the intersection that never had those trees prior to 2011. Whether my decision to brake or accelerate as my choice of avoidance can't be refuted since their was no accident substantiate the decision, but it was a decision I made for my "safety".

So on this occasion, did you actually stop or did you roll to where you knew you would be able to see and then hit the gas to avoid what you perceived to be a possible collision ?

Plead NOT GUILTY and request a trial with the officer present.

Once you get your Notice of Trial, then request disclosure (officers notes).

You can not make any decisions until you see the evidence against you. Once you get the notes, then you will know what the officer has to say about it and then you can decide whether to continue fighting or try to get a plea deal.

As a side note, you should probably make a full stop at the line from now on, and then pull forward slowly to make sure the way is clear around the trees.

argyll wrote:So on this occasion, did you actually stop or did you roll to where you knew you would be able to see and then hit the gas to avoid what you perceived to be a possible collision ?

Rolled

Your explanation would not constitute a legal defence. You're basically strengthening the Crown's case as to why you should have made a full and proper stop and fully admitting the offence.

Calvin669 wrote:Whether my decision to brake or accelerate as my choice of avoidance can't be refuted since their was no accident substantiate the decision, but it was a decision I made for my "safety".

There's a million things wrong with your defense. Ignoring the fact that not stopping at a stop sign is an absolute liability offense and you've already admitted guilt, let's go over the reasons why it's a tad ridiculous.

First things first, the parked car facing the wrong way of traffic is irrelevant. You never stopped. What you've described is a story that took place as a result of you blowing through a stop sign and being caught off guard. At no point have you defended not stopping at the stop sign in the first place. You car should have come to a stop long before any parked car became a part of the equation.

Arguing there's trees blocking your view of the right side only gives you more reason to make the complete stop, not drive through blindly. If you can't see a parked car 20 feet from the intersection, then you can't see a pedestrian or any other hazards.

Making the argument that you did what you did for your own safety doesn't hold up when you've ignored the safety of everyone else up until that point.

You're better off accepting some sort of plea rather than going forward with this argument.