floowing too closely

[Hube02]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

I was leaving a parking lot. The driver ahead of me stopped at the yield sign located here and I stopped behind him.

The driver in front of me pulled out into the road. This is a road with 4 lanes plus a left turn lane, 5 lanes in total.

At this time I took my foot off of the brake and allowed my vehicle to roll forward. I did not use any gas. This is due to the fact that my vehicle has a five speed manual transmission and the exit of the parking lot is on a hill; removing my foot from the break while keeping my other foot on the clutch allowed it to roll forward.

I looked to the left as I approached the yield sign at the end of the parking lot exit to make sure that there was no oncoming traffic. I turned to the right to do the same and noticed that the driver ahead of me was still moving. I did not notice any traffic coming from either direction.

Still allowing my car to roll forward (I had not yet taken my left foot off of the clutch or applied any pressure to the accelerator) I began to turn back to look in front of me when my vehicle bumped the vehicle ahead of me. For reasons unknown to me the driver in front stopped his vehicle half way across the road and across two lanes of traffic.

I know that I am at fault, and normally I would just plead guilty and be done with it, however, I do not see this going away that easily. While there was no damage to either car the other driver was complaining of neck and back pain. This person was in a company car and this is what I see happening. The person will go out on worker's compensation claiming an injury. Not only will I be sued for damages and a (likely non-existent) injury, but I will also be sued for the person's wages by their comp insurance company.

How should I plead this? I'm thinking that I should plead not guilty even though I know I will loose in the end, just so that I can get these facts in some type of record. I'm told that if I just plead guilty that I will have a harder time fighting any type of future claims.

[I_Got_Banned]

Originally Posted by Hube02

The driver in front of me pulled out into the road. This is a road with 4 lanes plus a left turn lane, 5 lanes in total.

At this time I took my foot off of the brake and allowed my vehicle to roll forward. I did not use any gas. This is due to the fact that my vehicle has a five speed manual transmission and the exit of the parking lot is on a hill; removing my foot from the break while keeping my other foot on the clutch allowed it to roll forward.

I looked to the left as I approached the yield sign at the end of the parking lot exit to make sure that there was no oncoming traffic. I turned to the right to do the same and noticed that the driver ahead of me was still moving. I did not notice any traffic coming from either direction.

Still allowing my car to roll forward (I had not yet taken my left foot off of the clutch or applied any pressure to the accelerator) I began to turn back to look in front of me ...

None of this is really that relevant. Plain and simple, you allegedly tapped the car in front of you...

Originally Posted by Hube02

I know that I am at fault, and normally I would just plead guilty and be done with it, however, I do not see this going away that easily. While there was no damage to either car the other driver was complaining of neck and back pain. This person was in a company car and this is what I see happening. The person will go out on worker's compensation claiming an injury. Not only will I be sued for damages and a (likely non-existent) injury, but I will also be sued for the person's wages by their comp insurance company.

How should I plead this? I'm thinking that I should plead not guilty even though I know I will loose in the end, just so that I can get these facts in some type of record. I'm told that if I just plead guilty that I will have a harder time fighting any type of future claims.

I can tell you that the days of filing false insurance claim where an "injured" party has a doctor and an attorney participating in a that fraud are long gone.

If there really is no sufficient damage to either vehicle due to this accident then it would be obvious that the other driver's claim is invalid.

Besides, your guilt or innocence as far as what caused the accident is not related to what sort of claim the other party might file.

[Hube02]

Originally Posted by I_Got_Banned

None of this is really that relevant. Plain and simple, you allegedly tapped the car in front of you...


I can tell you that the days of filing false insurance claim where an "injured" party has a doctor and an attorney participating in a that fraud are long gone.

This may be the case most of the time, however... My daughter just finished with an ordeal that was similar. She was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way. She made a left turn and hit someone she did not see coming. There was minor damage, after a lengthy court battle the suite was finally settled in her favor, that she could not have caused the injures that were claimed. This did not stop the party from filing the suite and her lawyer told her that the case would have been easier if she had dot plead guilty to the offense and it fact her pleading guilty and admitted fault was one of the reasons that the other attorney had moved forward with the case.

[I_Got_Banned]

Originally Posted by Hube02

This may be the case most of the time, however... My daughter just finished with an ordeal that was similar. She was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way. She made a left turn and hit someone she did not see coming. There was minor damage, after a lengthy court battle the suite was finally settled in her favor, that she could not have caused the injures that were claimed. This did not stop the party from filing the suite and her lawyer told her that the case would have been easier if she had dot plead guilty to the offense and it fact her pleading guilty and admitted fault was one of the reasons that the other attorney had moved forward with the case.

OK, so knowing all this, ..., your question is what?

Also, having injuries and deciding that the extent of which are or are not due to the accident is completely different than tapping the other vehicle and having the other driver run out screaming "my neck, my back..."

[Hube02]

Originally Posted by I_Got_Banned

OK, so knowing all this, ..., your question is what?

That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Does pleading not guilty really make a difference?
What about pleading "No Contest"?

Should I go ahead and find a lawyer now and beat the rush?

[I_Got_Banned]

Originally Posted by Hube02

That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Does pleading not guilty really make a difference?
What about pleading "No Contest"?

Should I go ahead and find a lawyer now...?

I would plead "no contest" and if the other driver sued later on... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Think of it this way... if you plead "not guilty" to the "following too close" citation, how are you gonna defend it? Your detailed description of where each foot was at any given point in time before the accident will not justify a "not guilty plea"... So you will be found guilty anyway, don't you think?

Originally Posted by Hube02

beat the rush?

What rush?

Do you know something we don't?

[Hube02]

Originally Posted by I_Got_Banned

I would plead "no contest" and if the other driver sued later on... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Think of it this way... if you plead "not guilty" to the "following too close" citation, how are you gonna defend it? Your detailed description of where each foot was at any given point in time before the accident will not justify a "not guilty plea"... So you will be found guilty anyway, don't you think?
Do you know something we don't?

That makes perfect sense, and I understand exactly.

Originally Posted by I_Got_Banned

What rush?
Do you know something we don't?

Thanks for making me laugh, but no, it was just a comment that shows the state of my mind.

The most frustrating thing about experiences like this is what it shows worst of about the human race. If I were the driver of the other car I would not have even called the police to begin with, but I guess I'm not always looking to get something for nothing. Then again I would not have sat in my car for 15 minutes refusing to talk to the other driver while I called 3 different people to get advice on what I should do. No idea who he called, but I do know he dialed the phone 4 times and talked to someone each time.

Sorry about the rant...

[You Are Guilty]

I'm not a criminal attorney, but if my memory serves, NY doesn't recognize a "no contest" plea. CPL 220.10 seems to bear that out.

[I_Got_Banned]

Originally Posted by You Are Guilty

I'm not a criminal attorney, but if my memory serves, NY doesn't recognize a "no contest" plea. CPL 220.10 seems to bear that out.

Thank you "You Are Guilty". I will amend my previous reply and it really would not change the outcome... (amendment underlined) So here is my amended post:

Originally Posted by I_Got_Banned

I would plead "guilty" and if the other driver sued later on... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Think of it this way... if you plead "not guilty" to the "following too close" citation, how are you gonna defend it? Your detailed description of where each foot was at any given point in time before the accident will not justify a "not guilty plea"... So you will be found guilty anyway, don't you think?

What rush?

Do you know something we don't?

[Maestro64]

Get a lawyer, because as you already figured this will not end with the ticket.

NY has the highest staged accident rates in the US, part of the reason NY has some of the highest insurance costs.

You wonder why the person all of the sudden stop for no reason, now you know, they were hoping you would accelerate into them after checking to see if someone was coming after yielding.

[I_Got_Banned]

May be consulting with a lawyer would be a good idea too... You might even find one who will give you a free consultation.

Obviously, you are insured AND you have notified your insurance of this incident, correct?

Any claim that comes your way, I would make sure it goes through them first...

[FlyingRon]

Nor is a no contest here going to make much difference in a civil suit. You allowed your car to strike the back of a stationary object. Fixing fault is pretty obvious.