“Am I Crazy If I Fight This Careless Driving Ticket By Myself?”

Apologies if I have been posting too frequently, this is my last one.

On December 31st I was entering a highway and lost control and ended up skidding into the on-ramp. There were no witnesses and no one else was involved. The officer that arrived charged me with careless driving. After requesting Disclosure on January 16th, I finally received it yesterday (June 12) which is only a few business days before my scheduled trial (June 18).

The disclosure notes weren't very detailed and just showed the side of the ramp I hit first and noted the conditions were rainy & wet. After towing the car home I noticed the front-passenger side tire was blown (this was the side of impact). There was nothing about a blown tire in the officers notes. I took pictures of the blown tire at home.

They could argue that the impact caused the tire to blow, but I could also argue that the tire blew and caused me to lose control. I'm not sure how they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I was driving carelessly given that there were no witnesses and my tire was in fact blown.

...But I am not an expert. I understand careless driving is a serious offence and that I need to keep it off of my drivers record.

Given the circumstances - do you think I have a good chance of defending myself here?

Secondly, If I were to lose the case, could I appeal the decision on the grounds that disclosure was provided late and I did not have enough time to get a paralegal to defend me?

Thanks!

I would recommend hiring a Paralegal or Lawyer that deals with Careless Driving. You don't want to lose to this charge. I would not fight it myself if that's what the main question is.

Due to the seriousness of this charge, I too would not fight this one myself. I see your trial is today though...so I guess this comment isn't going to be of much help. Curious to hear how it went.

If you want to appeal on the grounds that disclosure was provided too late, you'll have to ask the JP to either delay the case or throw it out today - and they would have to decline that. You can only appeal mistakes made by the JP/Judge. So if you don't ask, then no mistake was made.