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Careless Driving in Mall Parking Lot - New Jersey

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lmichaels63

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? New Jersey


Recently I was involved in an incident in a mall (supermarket) parking lot in New Jersey.
I pulled in to the parking lot and was driving along the front of the supermarket.
Just before the “marked crosswalk” there was a woman with her shopping cart stopped
and talking to a person who was parked in the fire lane. She was standing in the middle
of the road talking to this person with her shopping cart. Her child who is 2 years old was in the basket of the cart. As I approached this woman with my vehicle I decided to turn left before reaching her into the one of the lanes of the parking lot. As I was making the left, the woman (who was not paying attention) decided to finish her conversation and start wheeling her cart across the road. When she finally turned her head to see where she was going, she noticed my vehicle turning before her.
I was probably 10 feet away from her. She looked at me and saw me shake my head gesturing that she should be paying more attention.

After I parked and got out of my vehicle, she came over and gave me sh*t about how
careless I was driving and that her son was in the cart.. I got a bit angry and told her that
she should have been paying more attention especially with her son in the cart. I also
added that it is not safe to be wheeling a shopping cart thru the parking lot with a child
in the basket. I went into the store to have lunch (20 minutes). When I came out of the store she was parked by my vehicle yelling that the police were on the way. I told her
that nothing happened and that she wasn’t paying attention and I drove off.

When I got home that night I had a voice mail from the police saying that I was
going to be issued a careless driving ticket.

I picked up the police report to find out that this woman claimed I hit her shopping
cart with my vehicle in the marked crosswalk and that she had a witness who worked for the store. The report said the witness concurred with her story.

I called the store security to see if they might have this incident on film.
They checked the tapes for me but could not find the incident.

I called the witness, who is a young guy who collects the carts outside the store.
I asked him what he saw. He said he saw me hit the cart with the front of my vehicle. I asked him how the cart reacted to the hit. He said I hit it so slightly that it didn’t move. I would think no matter how slight a car hit a shopping cart it’s gonna do something. I did however get him to admit that this did NOT happen in the marked crosswalk as this woman stated on the police report (one point for me).


Sorry to be a bit long winded but I wanted to state all the facts.

Anyway, I was wondering what you guys thought about this case?

Is the simple fact that she was untruthful about where this all happened
(she said it was in the marked crosswalk and the witness says it didn’t)
enough to prove she’s a liar.

Is this a done deal because she has a witness?

Do I need a lawyer?

Isn’t there some law about moving violations on private property?

Any help here would be appreciated.
Thanks Again!
 


moburkes

Senior Member
No, there is no law that you can't receive a moving violation on a private property. And why would you think that a person shouldn't have a child in a shopping cart in the parking lot? I have 2 small children. How am I supposed to get my groceries, my children, and myself across the parking lot and to my car, unless they are in the cart? HUH?
 

LSCAP

Member
Do you have any scratches on the fender of the car?

No? See if the manager of the store will witness you taking a picture of the undamaged fender. They often will be happy to show that one of their carts didn’t damage your car.

Plead not guilty to the ticket, remember the officer did not see it, and you say the witness changes his story. He may have even seen her hit your car with the cart after you went into the store. (if you check the car and find other places on your car where she did ding it.)

Explain it truthfully as it happened, even the part about the children which would show you were aware of the danger involved. If there was no contact, state that! Don’t add anything. Most judges can tell if you lie.

Good Luck, and when you are behind the wheel, Don’t trust anyone! No person or car!



MB-The perfectoinist, am not disagreeing with you about the kids.
I had to use spell check tonight, my keyboard is okay, but my fingers aren’t.:)
 

lmichaels63

Junior Member
Why is it that people get so defensive when you start talking about the safety of kids.
Have you ever observed someone driving with their young child out of a car seat?
Try to tell them they’re putting their child at risk and see the response you get.
That’s exactly why I’m in this mess. If I had kept my mouth shut (which now I wish I did) this woman would never have called the police and reported this bogus incident.

Moburkes, I am on your side, When my kids were little we had them in the carts
as well. I was simply stating fact about the safety of shopping carts.

See these suggestions from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

http://www.aap.org/family/ShopCartPP.pdf

Anyway, this does not have much bearing on the case.
Just trying to muster all the ammunition I can.

Peace.
 

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