“Summons For Careless Driving Help!!”

My friend was in an accident last Saturday.

he's a young male early 20s and is streseing and worried sick to the point of panic attacks.

He was driving down a rural road in which a cyclist was in front of him. After a short while of waiting for the cyclist to move to the right to pass the cyclist then moves to the middle of the road pretty much in oncoming traffic. Then with his right arm in a seemingly waving manner signaling to pass on the right. My friend thought that since it was a rural road and there wasn't a shoulder that the cyclist was signaling to pass on the right. Him knowing that cyclist are legally suppose to be traveling on the right of the road. So since the cyclist didn't use the typical left arm singles that he knew and since the cyclists was what he felt was more then a meter over he attempted to pass and as he was beside the cyclist the cyclist then turned into his vihicle without checking his blind spot and hit the left side. Th3 cops were called and there was 2 witnesses. My friend didn't receive a ticket at the seen but then was called the next morning saying he was getting a summons for a careless driving charge.

He needs some help as this is his first serious ticket doesn't know what to do or expect and can't afford for higher insurance rates.

Ps the the paramedics said the cyclists was gonna be fine

Please get back to me ASAP he hasn't even received the summons yet so he doesn't even know when the court date is but the sooner we have an idea of what to do the better.

thank you

Right not you don't have any reliable information to make any assumptions with. Tell him to either hire a paralegal or relax and wait for the summons, then ask for a trial and review disclosure. When he knows what the case against him is he can decide to either fight it or take a plea.

I wouldn't stress to the point of a panic attack over this one.

Besides, if your friend can testify as to what the cyclist was doing, a conviction for careless doesn't seem as likely. Maybe an unsafe pass...

At the very least, get a consultation from a lawyer or paralegal regarding the next steps. Careless driving can be quite serious from an insurance perspective, but having said that, it also is a bit harder to get a conviction on. The Prosecutor has to prove that your friend drove in a manner that was a "departure from the standard of care of a reasonable and prudent driver," which is the best way to describe it.

As ynotp says, getting disclosure of the evidence against your friend is key. Then a decision can be made. Right now, though, your friend should be writing down as much as he can remember as this will be important when it comes to trial... if it goes that far.

Alright so it's been little over a week and still no summons. Don't they have 15 days to serve him one?? And what would happen if 15 days goes by and he doesn't receive it??

For careless driving, the police have 30 days to issue a regular ticket and up to 6 months to issue a summons.

So now his insurance is saying that it's being considered an at fault accident now can anyone help us out because really the cyclist didn't check his blind spot since he saying he was turning.. as to why hed be on the absolute left to turn right i dont no anyways as he was passing the cyclist turned into his vehicle

Is my friend really at fault??

It certainly sounds like your friend would be at fault. From your description of events the cyclist signalled and made a lawful turn. Unfortunately your friend misunderstood the signal and made an illegal pass striking the cyclist. It's not the cyclist's legal responsibility to check their blindspot before turning.

OK well the law does Stat that a cyclist is to have the same responsiblis as a vehicle and is considered a vehicle on roads. So if I were driving and I didn't check my blind spot and turned right and hit a cyclist I'd be at fault so now the other way around its my friends?? That's what I can't get around. Is there anything we can use to fight it or what would the charge be put down to,

Bf_92 wrote:OK well the law does Stat that a cyclist is to have the same responsiblis as a vehicle and is considered a vehicle on roads. So if I were driving and I didn't check my blind spot and turned right and hit a cyclist I'd be at fault so now the other way around its my friends?? That's what I can't get around. Is there anything we can use to fight it or what would the charge be put down to,

No, unless there's a separate bicycle lane, a cyclist trying to pass on the right while a motorist was turning right would be at fault. It's illegal to pass on the right unless the other vehicle has signaled its intention to turn left and/or there is a second lane to the right of the turning vehicle. While it's always a good idea to check blindspots from a safety point of view, the cyclists failing to do so doesn't trump your friend's illegal pass.

Alright so the summons is this Friday the 2nd. So whay we have planed is that we are going to go early meet to see if we can get it lowered which seems to be the best case since it seems my friend made the illegal pass.

We plan on saying how he failed to share the road and hoping for a 2 or 3 point ticket rather then a major one that would screw him for.insurance.

Now if they are in a bad mood and don't wanna help us we then ask for the disclosure and to push the trial and get advice.from a lawyer or.something. does this make sense to you guys??? We're just nervous cause we don't no what to expect

Thanks

You should review disclosure and the evidence against you before making any decisions on how to plead. Odds are a reduced charge is going to be the outcome of this but it just may be that the case against you is weak.

So if you go and talk to prosecutor, do not mention disclosure at first. Talk to them and if they do offer you a reduced plea, you can then very nicely say "can we review disclosure before we decide?"

So there are three things that can happen when you meet:

(1) The prosecutor will not offer you any plea at all. Then of course you should ask for disclosure and a trial date.

(2) The prosecutor will offer you some kind of plea, but when you ask to see disclosure they will say that the offer is only good right now and if you want disclosure the offer will not be available anymore. This is tough because you have to decide whether to take the offer now or go to trial and get the full charge if you lose.

(3) The prosecutor will offer you some kind of plea, and when you ask to see disclosure before you decide they will say sure. This is best outcome because you can post disclosure here and then decide if you should fight it or take the plea.

Just remember to not mention disclosure until after they offer you a plea deal.