Citation issued even though the road was in very poor condition

Hi,

It was snowing lightly all day today and earlier the roads were fine, however once the sun went down the roads turned to a sheet of ice. We were slowly pulling out of a parking lot and after almost out of the turn the car's back tires started to slide. It slid enough that it slowly banged into the car in the adjacent lane. My car did not sustain any damage and the other car only had some slight bumper damage. The cops were called to the scene and the cop decided to issue us a citation for a marked lane violation. This does not seem like the intention of this law. We were not trying to get in the other lane or driving fast or doing any quick maneauvors. The road was a sheet of ice and cars were sliding all over the place. While we were waiting I saw 5 people slide!! They were just lucky enough to not make contact with another vehicle. There was another accident just to get in the turning lanes from the mall. The road conditions were clearly poor and not much could be done. Why should we be charged for something that could not have been helped? Even at slow speeds which we were going sometimes you cannot get traction. It's like being charged a violation for damaging a poll because someone punched you in the face. This is not just a $100 fine but a 2 point surcharge and will cost thousands over the next 6 years, which is in addition to the surcharge the insurance company might issue. Therefore, we now have to fight two surcharges in court for the same incident? Not only that, but Massachusetts charges you $25 to fight each one, plus we have to take time out of work.

This is also frustrating because I"ve known many other accidents that people have had where fault is clear but no citations were given. Last year my friend even hit a telephone poll and totaled his vehicle, the policy arrived on scene and did not issue a citation for the accident due to the weather conditions. When I asked the cop why we were getting a citation he said, "that's the way we do it here". This seems like an abuse to me, the town just trying to get whatever income they can.

Does anyone know of any case law involving such a situation (where the weather caused an accident) that we can use in court?

I agree - sounds like you should have received a failure to maintain control type of ticket. Demand that it be changed.

Unreasonable to expect avoidance

I'm sorry failure to maintain control? Why should there be a violation at all? I was reading some case law where it was stated that it was unreasonable to expect the accident could be avoided due to the weather conditions. Have you ever been in a vehicle that started to slide? The only way to avoid this situation is to never drive when tehre is ice or snow on the road which is not always possible. Why should we be punished for the poor road conditions which we cannot control? Black ice causes people to slide no matter what the speed is. The slide was extermely slow which demonstrates how slow the car was going at the time. Traction could not be achieved in time to avoid the accident.

If you slid off the sidewalk and went onto the road should you get a jay walking ticket too?

Drivers are expected to maintain control of their vehicles AT ALL TIMES and IN ALL CONDITIONS. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be driving.

That said, if you go to court, you might be able to get the citation reduced to a no-point violation. But don't even try arguing that it was the weather's fault. That will get you nowhere.

When you chose to drive, you accepted responsibility for the outcome. Although we all realize that you didn't intend to crash your car, your choice to drive in those conditions is what lead to the accident. The law says you need to maintain control of your vehicle at all times. If you were sliding on ice, you were not maintaining control. Thus the ticket was warranted.

activia said:

If you slid off the sidewalk and went onto the road should you get a jay walking ticket too?

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Bad analogy. Jaywalking requires intent.

Intent was what I was trying to get across. We did not intentionally break any traffic laws. We did not intentionally speed, go through a stop sign, pass in a no passing zone, go through a red light, etc. etc. Being punished for something that you cannot control seems quite unreasonable to me.

So by what you all are saying, if your tire blows out and it causes you to lose control of your vehicle this would also warrant a violation? Or if someone hits you sideways and the momentum causes you to collide with another vehicle then this warrants a violation ?

How can any of this be considered fair, just, or humane? By the logic that you all are saying no one should drive in the winter then..because this could happen to anyone. Clearly we are being punished for driving in poor road conditions beyond our control which did not exist when we went out an hour earlier. Road conditions can change at any moment...

Can you explain why I found this then?

I found this in the case law description on Massachusetts case law website in regards to someone sliding down a hill and colliding with another vehicle due to ice.

" they could have found that he was not negligent and that the collision arose from accident not reasonably avoidable."

Can you also explain why an officer on a site of another accident that was caused by the weather did not issue a violation because the accident was clearly caused by the weather? In addition, he did not get surcharge from the insurance company because the weather was more then 50% at fault.

So even the insurance companies seem to understand that weather can be the fault. But not our laws hmmmmmm**************

Why am I seeing such conflicting information? Please explain.

If your tire blows out and you lose control, you are at fault and COULD be cited.

If someone HITS you and you lose control, that is NOT your fault and the OTHER person could be cited.

Losing control of your vehicle DOES NOT require intent in order to get cited for it. The mere fact that you were unable to maintain control is a violation of the law ALL BY ITSELF.

Can you show me the law that states this? If this exists, this law seems quite unfair and I suppose that can be taken up with the legislator. I dont understand what it's trying to accomplish besides bringing in income to the town. And if this exists, then this is the citation we should have received. I have seen laws about "failure to use care", "driving too fast for conditions". etc.

I found the law that we were cited MA 89-4A This law seems to state that the operator drove the car outside of the lane, which was not the case. As he was in the lane and did not drive the car out of the lane. The law does not state that the driver must be able to maintain the vehicle within the lane under all conditions. Therefore, I do not see how this paticular citation is valid. Therefore, it makes sense to me that saying that the ice caused the tires to slide outside of the lane means that this law was not violated.

M.G.L. - Chapter 89, Section 4a

Thanks for all of your advice on this matter.

All you need to know is you can go to court and ask the charge be reduced to something with no points. That will likely be successful. But if you go in trying to plead not guilty and blame it on god, you will lose. The most BASIC responsibility of anyone who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle is to maintain control of that vehicle.

If the officer gives you a ticket, then it is clear to the insurance companies who is at fault.

Kiawah said:

If the officer gives you a ticket, then it is clear to the insurance companies who is at fault.

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And that is NOT necessarily true.

Nope, not at all. Officers give tickets in error sometimes (though not in this case) and insurance companies determine fault based on the facts of loss alone. They can disagree with a police report whether or not there was a ticket.

OP, I hate to say it but you are a prime example of what is going wrong with America today! You made a conscious choice to drive in poor conditions, but don't want to be held accountable for your actions. It's the old "It's not my fault" mentality that is killing this country! At the present time, people for the most part are allowed to choose for themselves if it is safe to drive or not. If more people thought like you it would require the government to make those decisions for us. I for one don't need or want that. When I make a mistake, I'm willing to take responsibility, you should try it!

When you take the case to court, you can use evidence to support your case. Pictures, weather report with the change, the area you were in, and the judge will use those facts to review the matter along with other information.

You have the right to have the matter reviewed. I would find out if the police always respond to fender benders in that area or if it was a favor.