Crazy Situation

[Vassago]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I was involved in an accident a couple of weeks ago. Here goes.

I was pulling out of a parking lot to make a left turn. The area was completely dark because of out street lights that have been out for a years. The city has not replaced them to my knowledge in a long time. It was a dark rainy night. There was a black SUV without it's headlights on. Obviously, due to all of the above, I could not see it. I pulled out and he hit me full force, didn't even attempt to brake. Of course, the 18 year old kid lied to the cops and told them he had his lights on, so they issued me a ticket. So, not only now do I have a citation to pay, but a totaled car I will have to replace and a back injury to boot. I feel like I have not received justice in this situation. Can someone give me some recommendations? Should I fight the ticket? Do I have any case due to the out street lights? Please help! Where's my justice in this?

[outonbail]

Originally Posted by Vassago

What is the name of your state? Florida

I was involved in an accident a couple of weeks ago. Here goes.

I was pulling out of a parking lot to make a left turn. The area was completely dark because of out street lights that have been out for a years. The city has not replaced them to my knowledge in a long time. It was a dark rainy night. There was a black SUV without it's headlights on. Obviously, due to all of the above, I could not see it. I pulled out and he hit me full force, didn't even attempt to brake. Of course, the 18 year old kid lied to the cops and told them he had his lights on, so they issued me a ticket. So, not only now do I have a citation to pay, but a totaled car I will have to replace and a back injury to boot. I feel like I have not received justice in this situation. Can someone give me some recommendations? Should I fight the ticket? Do I have any case due to the out street lights? Please help! Where's my justice in this?

The police can determine if the headlights on the SUV were actually on at the time of impact or not. So it wasn't just a coin toss by the officer. It is really a fairly easy thing to determine and not something that can be easily faked by either driver.
Did you have you're window down at the time?

[Vassago]

Thank you very much for your reply.

How can they determine that? The cop basically told me all she can do is ask him and he said he had his lights on, so that was that and she HAD to give me a ticket, which I thought was bogus. I've seen accidents where no one received a ticket. They are not required to give a ticket to someone are they?

I did not have my window down, it was raining slightly at the time.

Should I contest the ticket?

[tammy8]

What was the year and make of the SUV?

[Vassago]

Originally Posted by tammy8

What was the year and make of the SUV?

It was a 2000 GMC. The accident report says Truck (U3) whatever that means. It looked like an Envoy or Yukon based on pictures I see online.

[tammy8]

I am about 99.999999999999999999% sure those vehicles have automatic lights especially after dark. You should be able to look up online if this is a standard feature (I know my 98 Tahoe even had daytime running lights)

[Vassago]

Originally Posted by tammy8

I am about 99.999999999999999999% sure those vehicles have automatic lights especially after dark. You should be able to look up online if this is a standard feature (I know my 98 Tahoe even had daytime running lights)

If that's true, then they must have malfunctioned. There were no lights on. Even after he pulled off the road, the lights were off. He turned them on only when moving his vehicle further off the road and into the parking lot.

[outonbail]

Yes most late model vehicles do have automatic headlight switching and many simply always have their headlights on.
However, a police accident investigator can make the call by close inspection of the bulbs themselves. When a vehicle has an impact and comes to a sudden stop when the lights are illuminated or "on", the filament of each lighted bulb stretches a considerable amount beyond what an unlit filament will. This is simply because glowing metal is much softer than cool metal. So an investigator that knows what to look for can make the determination fairly quickly.
Of course if the vehicle has been repaired it may bot have the same bulbs in it as when the accident occurred. But there is a chance it does as the bulbs don't always break or burn out, the filaments just stretch out and stay that way.

The reason I asked if you had you're window open is because it can be difficult to see out of a window when it is raining and the window steams up. I assumed it was closed which greatly reduces you're ability to see what's coming, especially with all the reflections and glare of wet roads and surroundings. The SUV obviously had the right of way. I would think that there was less of a chance this SUV would be driving on a main road at a fair speed without lights in the rain at night. It is more likely that you're window being up affected you're vision and you didn't notice the vehicle coming at you. This may be hard to believe, but that's where my money would go.

[Desperate4Advic]

Originally Posted by Vassago

If that's true, then they must have malfunctioned. There were no lights on. Even after he pulled off the road, the lights were off. He turned them on only when moving his vehicle further off the road and into the parking lot.

The automatic light feature can be turned off at anytime. I personally don't like it as there's a delay after I exit my car for them to turn off. So they possibly could have had them off and assumed they were on; however, with that said most cars with automatic lights generally come standard with running daytime lights. I believe someone mentioned that above. Meaning lights are always on, but not the headlights, but trust me you'd see these daytime lights in pitch black night and rain. It be really difficult to contest considering you were the one coming out of the parking light, and it would matter if they slowed down for you or not. It's <i>recommended<i/> to be a defensive driver not required.

[MikeKV]

Originally Posted by Vassago

Thank you very much for your reply.

How can they determine that? The cop basically told me all she can do is ask him and he said he had his lights on, so that was that and she HAD to give me a ticket, which I thought was bogus. I've seen accidents where no one received a ticket. They are not required to give a ticket to someone are they?

I did not have my window down, it was raining slightly at the time.

Should I contest the ticket?

I would recommend that you go to court and contest the ticket. It does not hurt to go explain to a judge your side of the story. There are times when a police officer will give a ticket to a driver to allow a judge to decide ultimately who's at fault. Although, before you proceed I would also recommend that you consult with a lawyer who is experienced with traffic laws.

How has your insurance company responded? Usually, after you explain the accident to your insurance co. and they perform an investigation they will at least give you an idea about how they feel with who's at fault and proceed accordingly.