Fight a Ticket -- Can we win ?

[Rannan3]

What is the name of your state? Iowa

Two weeks ago my 17 year old grandson & his girlfriend were returning from renting a video game, at the stop sign near our home when he applied the brakes , his car began to slide. Fearing winding up in traffic in the middle of the street, he took his foot off the break and went on through. ( He said he had passed the stop sign while sliding ) At this point, he was home and the town police officer pulled into our driveway behind him. Nick tried explaining what happened, but the officer just went back to the cruiser and wrote him up.'
Here's the bigger issue, Nick had a violation for curfew ( caught driving in town after curfew ) so if this goes on his license he will lose his license and probably wind up with higher insurance. Does mitigating circumstances matter, in this type of incident ?
I think it should, it was -19 the morning of the day this occurred, so anything on the streets WAS ice. His car doesn't have ABS and that might have caused the skid. I want to fight this ticket , but what would you suggest ? Thanks in advance.

 

[racer72]

You present no evidence that the ticket was not warranted or invalid. He was driving too fast for the conditions and as a result ran a stop sign. I would suggest contacting a local attorney, he may know of a way to lessen the impact of the citation.

 

[DRN]

Some judges will take something like icy conditions under consideration. Others won't.

However, I don't know how you can argue that he was afraid of sliding and "winding up in traffic in the middle of the street" so he ran the stop sign thereby assumably going into the street he was afraid of sliding into.


My 2 cents.

 

[Rannan3]

more precise info

MY grandson & his girlfriend stressed to me that they were passing the stop sign, sliding, then he took his foot off the brake. He said that's what the Manual for Driver's Ed says to do under those conditions, that he did was he was taught to do.

 

[stephenk]

were any other vehicles sliding into the intersection? No, well then he was driving too fast for icy conditions.

 

[Kaz the Minotau]

Did he get cited for curfew and the stop sign? I agree with the others. If he would have been driving at a speed appropriate for the conditions he wouldn't have been sliding.