I am fighting having my license being pulled for points as a negligent driver.

[ic_peddler]

What is the name of your state? California

In May 06, my wife and I were coming home from dinner. I was driving my Dodge Ram 4X4 Quad Cab, lifted 3.5" with 34" tires. My wife and I were driving aprox 40/45 in a 40 MPH zone and as we approached the intersection a 17 year old kid driving an Altima was in the right hand lane slowing and moving right as if he was about to turn right. The street has two lanes going each direction and a center turn lane. I was in the left hand lane - closest to the left hand turn lane. Just as we got to the turnout for the left turn lane and the kid was about half of the distance to the intersection, he suddenly moved left into my lane heading towards the left hand turn lane. His intent was to go to the left hand turn lane (as documented in the police report). I braked hard and the front wheels locked. The right rear locked 1st (which should not have happened as it has antilock on the rear. The skid marks were 100' 3" on my right and 62' 02" on my left. From wheel to wheel center is 11' 6" and of the 100' skid the right rear overlapped the front skid (hence - I deduct 11' 6" from the 100' 3" for the total skid distance of 88' 9" for the vehicle.

I had been drinking earlier in the day, but had not had anything for at least 3 hours and did not think that I was over the limit by the time I got behind the wheel, however, i blew a .08 and a .09. I wanted a blood test but was denied that. I had a cold and much stomach indigestion and was burping (I barely ate anything for dinner and took it home in a box). The police report stated that I had been burping - however, rather than spend $20,000 in legal fees trying to fight the DUI and risking a worse sentence - I pleaded guilty to wet reckless and did the programs, etc.

Prior to this event I had 1 point on my license. Add in the Wet Reckless - that is 2 points, and when I went to get my SR22, and later the police report, I saw that they had stated that I was the primary cause for the accident - another point make 4 and I am looking at a 6 month mandatory suspension as a negligent driver. Prior to this event, my license was relatively clean with 1 ticket on average per year and I usually did traffic school. I also drive 25k to 35k miles per year in the worst traffic in all of SoCal - going up through the 405 pass north of LAX by Getty (a 15 mile stretch that often take more than 45min to and hour to pass and sometimes 1.5 hours). I drive through this 2 to 3 times per week - 250 to 450 miles each trip.

The report said that I was speeding and I was not. I was driving with traffic - a casual drive home. They also fell back on the alcohol being a cause, which it was not. I feel that it was easy for them to asses alcohol as a cause of the accident and to disregard the fact that the kid made an unsafe lane change from the right hand shoulder - preparing to make a right, then making an abrupt left across the right hand lane into the left hand lane (where I was) on his way to the left hand turn lane. Other info: It is 118 feet from the left hand turn out white line to the intersection. I hit the car at the end of my skid mark. We almost stopped, but did not. The specs on my truck without larger tires: 0-60 braking is 168 feet. Larger tires decrease braking ability by 20 - 25% according to studies by the AAMVA. I assume that I multiply 168 by 1.2 (120%) which equals 201.6 feet (at 60 MHP) then multiply 201.6 times 66.67% (40 MPH divided by 60 MHP) = 134.5 feet (at 40 MPH stopping distance taking into account 20% decrease in stopping capacity with the larger tires)

The kid was following friends and was looking for them. He was in the right hand lane preparing to go right when he darted left in front of me. I never left my lane and the skid marks are straight. When we were stopped, waiting for the police to arrive, the kids friends drove up from the left side street that he was attempting to head into the left hand turn lane when I struck him.

I have a DMV hearing coming up in 2 weeks to fight the responsibility for the accident. I am concerned that by fighting this, it may irritate them for bucking the system. Do I fight the accident responsibility and I have done tons of research, have pictures of the skid marks, measurements of the marks, and a video showing the intersection @ 40 mph, specs on the truck, and my wife as a witness set to testify (and she is a surgical nurse and should be seen as a credible witness).

Should I try to fight the accident responsibility? Should I ask for driving school for my other single point on my record for a driving infraction?