Following too closely in an accident case

[tc18]

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

I have a request for some advice on how my wife should handle a citation she received in Forsyth County, Georgia for "following too closely" involving accident. She ended up rear-ending an SUV. She was the fifth car back from a red light, sitting, waiting for the light to turn green. Upon the light turning green, traffic proceeded to move forward. As she picked up speed and was around 80 feet past the light, traffic suddenly stopped. Because my wife was in a little car (Hyundai Elantra), and the vehicle in front of her was a SUV, she could not see the traffic in front stopping. The SUV in front of my wife suddenly stopped (my wife said she did not see brake lights on the SUV) & she could not stop in time, thus, rear-ending the SUV. My wife was going about 10-15 mph. No one was hurt. Few days later our insurance informed us that the medical claim portion has been closed as both parties did not need to seek medical treatment. From what she could see at that time, the only visible damage to the SUV was minor damage to its bumper. Because the SUV had a hitch on the back, my wife's car suffered significant damage. Front end smashed, blocked cracked, transmission leaking, etc.... Our Elantra is a 2013, but total value is only 19,000 - 20,000, thus, our insurance (Geico) totaled the vehicle. What is our best approach with this citation? I know fighting a "following to close" count is hard to defend, since my wife rear-ended someone, but we obviously want to keep the damage to her driving record (point system), fine, as minimal as possible. Thoughts/advice are appreciated.

 

[ecmst12]

She hit someone. If she wasn't following too closely, she wouldn't have hit them. She is guilty.

I also find it extremely unlikely that she was only going 10-15mph if she did enough damage to her car to total a brand new vehicle, tow hitch or not. If she was going that slow, she should have been able to stop in time IF she'd been paying attention, the distance required to stop at that speed is really pretty small. So either she didn't attempt to brake at all because she was distracted, or she was actually going faster than she thought, OR she was so right up on the other car's bumper that she never had a chance of being able to react to a change in speed.

 

[tc18]

Although I appreciate your opinion of the incident, based on pure speculation I might add, your response provides no insight on the best way to handle. I understand the citation indicates she is guilty of the offense reported (I believe I indicate that). Since multiple law sites indicate various ways to approach a citation like this, we are seeking input from others on deciding our approach.

 

[TheGeekess]

She hit someone. If she wasn't following too closely, she wouldn't have hit them. She is guilty.

I also find it extremely unlikely that she was only going 10-15mph if she did enough damage to her car to total a brand new vehicle, tow hitch or not. If she was going that slow, she should have been able to stop in time IF she'd been paying attention, the distance required to stop at that speed is really pretty small. So either she didn't attempt to brake at all because she was distracted, or she was actually going faster than she thought, OR she was so right up on the other car's bumper that she never had a chance of being able to react to a change in speed.

I don't. Have you seen the new Elantras? Yuck. Nothing like my '03 Elantra GTS.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

There is no placebo for careless driving, contrary to your wishes. A prosecutor is very unlikely to consider amending the charge, even if you hired an attorney specializing in traffic tickets. The reasoning is, the ticket establishes her causing the accident. Causing the accident is why she received the ticket.