Assured Clear Distance

[OritionX]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

I know that ohio is one of the assured clear distance ahead states. I understand that a majority of the time that a person that hits the back of another car is usually at fault for not stopping in time.

I am wondering if I have a case of siting an emergency situation caused by multiple things I will explain what happened.

I was driving on the highway. I was coming to a heavy merge area. This part of the road has traffic that is merging into the lane I was in from the left and the right. The right was forced more so by the Ohio department of transportation closed one of the lanes on the exit ramp (there are usually two lanes) I was going approx 20 mph. Had at least two car lengths in front of me and the vehicle ahead of me. I saw a car cut in rapidly in front of a car a couple cars ahead. I heard a crunch sound in front of me. I saw the car in front of me slam their brakes when their brake lights came on. In which time I hit mine. I also saw the car infront of me hit the car in front of them. I then still ended up sliding into the back of that car.

I was at fault for hitting the vehicle in front of me. The officer stated that I would only be responsible for the back end of their vehicle cause that driver admitted to hitting the car in front of them before I hit them in the rear. (mind you there was 6 cars involved in this I was the last vehicle, two more almost hit me from the rear)

I am wondering if it is possible to fight the ACDA ticket I received by siting a situation that I saw what happened I hit my brakes. And was pretty much screwed as to I was not able to swerve anywhere on the highway as to cause another accident in the lanes on either side of where I was.

The help is greatly appreciated!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[ShyCat]

I am wondering if it is possible to fight the ACDA ticket I received by siting a situation that I saw what happened I hit my brakes. And was pretty much screwed as to I was not able to swerve anywhere on the highway as to cause another accident in the lanes on either side of where I was.

As evidenced by the fact that you hit the car in front of you, you were following too close and were properly cited for that. Being unable to swerve to another lane does not relieve you of the responsibility to ensure that you can stop before hitting the car in front of you. If you have slow reaction times or bad brakes, you need even more distance between you and the the other car.

[ecmst12]

If YOU were the cut-off car, you would not have been at fault. You were not cut off and simply did not have enough space in front of you to avoid the accident, placing you at fault. The time you should have taken your foot off the gas, FYI, would be when you saw the car cut into your lane ahead. You should have been already preparing to brake when you heard the crunch. Had you done that, you might have been able to avoid the accident. The car in front of you started slowing down BEFORE you saw the brake lights, when they took their foot off the gas, so waiting until you see brake lights is obviously too late when you only have 2 car lengths stopping distance.

I am an auto insurance adjuster and I will tell you that the SINGLE most effective way to reduce your chances of being in an accident is to BACK THE F* UP from the car in front of you. The more space you leave, the safer you are. If you think you have left enough space, leave a little more just in case someone tries to cut you off.

You can fight the ticket, but even if you win, it will not remove your liability for the damage to the rear of the car in front of you, and possibly a portion of the rest of the damage (to the other 5 cars) as well, depending on the force of your impact compared with the rest, and the number of impacts that everyone felt.

[OritionX]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

If YOU were the cut-off car, you would not have been at fault. You were not cut off and simply did not have enough space in front of you to avoid the accident, placing you at fault. The time you should have taken your foot off the gas, FYI, would be when you saw the car cut into your lane ahead. You should have been already preparing to brake when you heard the crunch. Had you done that, you might have been able to avoid the accident. The car in front of you started slowing down BEFORE you saw the brake lights, when they took their foot off the gas, so waiting until you see brake lights is obviously too late when you only have 2 car lengths stopping distance.

I am an auto insurance adjuster and I will tell you that the SINGLE most effective way to reduce your chances of being in an accident is to BACK THE F* UP from the car in front of you. The more space you leave, the safer you are. If you think you have left enough space, leave a little more just in case someone tries to cut you off.

You can fight the ticket, but even if you win, it will not remove your liability for the damage to the rear of the car in front of you, and possibly a portion of the rest of the damage (to the other 5 cars) as well, depending on the force of your impact compared with the rest, and the number of impacts that everyone felt.

Everyone from the officer and from my insurance agency and the couple other insurance agents have confirmed that I would only be responsible for the back end of the ladies vehicle. I am not contesting that I hit the lady. And fully expect that I have to pay my deductibles and what not. My question/concern was I did not want to get any points on my license as I had no way to avoid the accident. Someone stops infront of you they roll to a stop in this situation the abbuptly stopped when the hit the vehicle in front of them significantly reducing the stopping distance.

[ecmst12]

Well, as I said, the accident WAS avoidable, but that doesn't matter for your purposes. If your concern is keeping your license clean, if you go to court you can ask the DA to reduce the charge to a non-point offense. Usually if you don't have a history of accidents or tickets, they won't have a problem doing so. You'll still have to pay a fine (in some cases even higher then the original) and you might have to take a safe-driving class, but you'll get the points off.

[tammy8]

Driver license points and insurance points are 2 different things. You can probably avoid the driver license points but doubtful you can avoid the insurance points. Sorry cause it can happen to anyone.