holliscary
Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
My car left the road.
I got stuck in snow.
The officer showed up long after it happened.
When he arrived I was hooked up to another truck with a tow strap.
We had 8 inches of accumulated snow that day.
The lane markers were not visible at all.
Oncoming trafic (2 lane road, 1 in each direction) was encroaching in my lane.
I was staying as far right as I thought was safe to avoid head on collision.
When I started sliding I did everything that you are suppose to do in the situation and safely got my car off the road without incident (other than getting stuck in a snow drift).
I feel like I did all the right things, in fact I almost feel like I should have recieved a pat on the back for how I handled it. But I got a ticket instead.
If it was just a ticket I wouldn't feel so desperate about it but it's a misdemeanor with 2 points and I can't afford that.
I fel like I'm stuck and I have no choice but to defend myself - I'm not looking forward to it, I'm literally scared to death over it.
Here is what I'm thinking of in terms of defending myself:
No witness: The police officer can't testify to anything other than the location of my car when he arrived. In fact there was a witness at the scene that had to have witnessed at least as much as the officer did and the officer didn't take a statement and by asking me to wait in my car, in effect denied me the opportunity to get a statement from the witness.
The Term Reasonable:
That given the circumanstances and conditions that I was operating my vehicle in accordance with published advice from the Ohio BMV, the NTSB and the Ohio Saftey Commission. So that while I may have left the road I never lost reasonable control. That I maintained control and avoided serious incident because of my maintenance of control (seriously - the truth).
Here's the Deal:
I wouldn't have even been driving in the weather that we had that day if I wasn't on my way to my Alcohol Rehabilitation Program at that time.
Not court ordered, completely voluntary - I'm not sure that I actually have a drinking issue but I did get an OVI (DUI) a couple of years ago (seriously the only time I've been behind the wheel after drinking. Really I didn't think I was over the limit) and because of that I want to make sure that I do or do not clinically have an alcohol problem.
I'm trying to be as honest as I can with you guys so if anyone thinks there is something I'm holding back let me know and I'll spill it.
All I'm looking for is advice. The only thing is that I simply cannot just pay the fine and admit guilt. I have to at least fight for a charge without points.
I've heard that this is almost indefensible But I don't really have a choice at this point unless the prosecutor offers me a deal at my pretrial on March 12th. Assuming he doesn't I have to do my best to get ready for this.
Thanks in advance and for your patience with me.
-Chris
My car left the road.
I got stuck in snow.
The officer showed up long after it happened.
When he arrived I was hooked up to another truck with a tow strap.
We had 8 inches of accumulated snow that day.
The lane markers were not visible at all.
Oncoming trafic (2 lane road, 1 in each direction) was encroaching in my lane.
I was staying as far right as I thought was safe to avoid head on collision.
When I started sliding I did everything that you are suppose to do in the situation and safely got my car off the road without incident (other than getting stuck in a snow drift).
I feel like I did all the right things, in fact I almost feel like I should have recieved a pat on the back for how I handled it. But I got a ticket instead.
If it was just a ticket I wouldn't feel so desperate about it but it's a misdemeanor with 2 points and I can't afford that.
I fel like I'm stuck and I have no choice but to defend myself - I'm not looking forward to it, I'm literally scared to death over it.
Here is what I'm thinking of in terms of defending myself:
No witness: The police officer can't testify to anything other than the location of my car when he arrived. In fact there was a witness at the scene that had to have witnessed at least as much as the officer did and the officer didn't take a statement and by asking me to wait in my car, in effect denied me the opportunity to get a statement from the witness.
The Term Reasonable:
That given the circumanstances and conditions that I was operating my vehicle in accordance with published advice from the Ohio BMV, the NTSB and the Ohio Saftey Commission. So that while I may have left the road I never lost reasonable control. That I maintained control and avoided serious incident because of my maintenance of control (seriously - the truth).
Here's the Deal:
I wouldn't have even been driving in the weather that we had that day if I wasn't on my way to my Alcohol Rehabilitation Program at that time.
Not court ordered, completely voluntary - I'm not sure that I actually have a drinking issue but I did get an OVI (DUI) a couple of years ago (seriously the only time I've been behind the wheel after drinking. Really I didn't think I was over the limit) and because of that I want to make sure that I do or do not clinically have an alcohol problem.
I'm trying to be as honest as I can with you guys so if anyone thinks there is something I'm holding back let me know and I'll spill it.
All I'm looking for is advice. The only thing is that I simply cannot just pay the fine and admit guilt. I have to at least fight for a charge without points.
I've heard that this is almost indefensible But I don't really have a choice at this point unless the prosecutor offers me a deal at my pretrial on March 12th. Assuming he doesn't I have to do my best to get ready for this.
Thanks in advance and for your patience with me.
-Chris
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