Hov Lane violation on freeway 57 south, southern California,

[Eric1111]

I received a ticket this morning. HOV lane violation. I was heading south on freeway 57. Traffic was so bad as usual. I was next to carpool lane and really enjoyed music on FM102.7. Suddenly, two vehicles on my right hand side cut in front of me. I was trying to avoid accident and moved my car half way in carpool lane. Then i got HOV violation ticket from Highway patrol officer who was 2 vehicles behind me

I am not intentionally to drive on HOV lane. I was trying to avoid front end crash on the car in front of me (Ford Expedition).

Can someone advise? I have never had ticket before. This is first time.

I am not happy with this.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

So your statement is you were listening to the radio and not paying attention. When an emergency situation developed, you had to swerve to avoid a crash, because you did not initially respond fast enough. A Highway Patrolman saw you do it and cited you, correct?

 

[Eric1111]

So your statement is you were listening to the radio and not paying attention. When an emergency situation developed, you had to swerve to avoid a crash, because you did not initially respond fast enough. A Highway Patrolman saw you do it and cited you, correct?

The highway patrol officer light on behind me and asked me to pull out.
He asked if i know why he pulled me out. I said I didnt know because i was so shocked.
Then he told me that I had HOV lane violation.

 

[sandyclaus]

I received a ticket this morning. HOV lane violation. I was heading south on freeway 57. Traffic was so bad as usual. I was next to carpool lane and really enjoyed music on FM102.7. Suddenly, two vehicles on my right hand side cut in front of me. I was trying to avoid accident and moved my car half way in carpool lane. Then i got HOV violation ticket from Highway patrol officer who was 2 vehicles behind me

I am not intentionally to drive on HOV lane. I was trying to avoid front end crash on the car in front of me (Ford Expedition).

Can someone advise? I have never had ticket before. This is first time.

I am not happy with this.

So your statement is you were listening to the radio and not paying attention. When an emergency situation developed, you had to swerve to avoid a crash, because you did not initially respond fast enough. A Highway Patrolman saw you do it and cited you, correct?

As OHR has pointed out, your inattention to the traffic around you was what caused these two cars to suddenly appear before you. That hazard, in turn, required the necessity to move into the HOV lane to avoid hitting them.

If you weren't so focused on the music, you would have seen the vehicles ahead of you, and you could have slowed down to avoid the evasive maneuver to which you resorted.

I'm not seeing a viable defense for you worthy of leniency or dismissal of that ticket.

 

[Sloop John D]

As OHR has pointed out, your inattention to the traffic around you was what caused these two cars to suddenly appear before you.

Or it was caused by another driver changing lanes without checking his blind spot. I'm not sure why people on this forum always try to tell the OP what actually happened even though their only familiarity with the situation is based on a forum post on the internet. Give legal information to the OP, and save the factual determinations for the courts.


In CA, you get two shots at challenging a ticket. First, you can request a trial by written declaration. There's usually information on the back of the ticket that explains how you can do this. Otherwise, you'll receive a letter at the address you have on file with the DMV and it will have the necessary information.

In a trial by written declaration, you just write out what happened and send it in to the court. The Officer will write out his version and then the court will make a decision.

In the event that you lose, you can request a trial de novo, which means that you'll have an actual court appearance and a judge will retry the matter as if the trial by written declaration never happened.

If the court agrees that your maneuver was necessary to avoid a collision, he'll likely dismiss your ticket. If the Police officer fails to file a written declaration in response to yours or if he fails to appear at the trial, you'll also have your ticket dismissed.

Don't sweat it too much. You have a lot of opportunities to beat the ticket.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Or it was caused by another driver changing lanes without checking his blind spot. I'm not sure why people on this forum always try to tell the OP what actually happened even though their only familiarity with the situation is based on a forum post on the internet. Give legal information to the OP, and save the factual determinations for the courts.

Then there is always that pesky police officer testifying to what he saw. Do you really think he is going to go in front of the judge and testify he saw the entire thing, but figured he would ticket OP for ****z n giggles?

 

[Sloop John D]

Then there is always that pesky police officer testifying to what he saw. Do you really think he is going to go in front of the judge and testify he saw the entire thing, but figured he would ticket OP for ****z n giggles?

Or maybe he'll admit that he couldn't see anything from his position except for the OP swerving into the carpool lane, leaving open the possibility that the OP really was trying to avoid an accident.

Like I said, it doesn't make sense to make a factual determination for the OP. The court is going to do that without your input, and they'll be relying on better evidence than a posting on the internet.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Or maybe he'll admit that he couldn't see anything from his position except for the OP swerving into the carpool lane, leaving open the possibility that the OP really was trying to avoid an accident.

Like I said, it doesn't make sense to make a factual determination for the OP. The court is going to do that without your input, and they'll be relying on better evidence than a posting on the internet.

OP could also go to court and testify an alien spaceship was flying by, evacuated its waste storage and he swerved to avoid it. Absent anything other than his testimony, his story will likely not go far.

 

[Sloop John D]

OP could also go to court and testify an alien spaceship was flying by, evacuated its waste storage and he swerved to avoid it. Absent anything other than his testimony, his story will likely not go far.

Are you seriously telling me that you honestly believe testimony stating that the OP had to swerve into the carpool lane to avoid a collision with another vehicle is going to carry the same weight as testimony stating that the OP had to swerve into the carpool lane to avoid a massive extraterrestrial turd?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Are you seriously telling me that you honestly believe testimony stating that the OP had to swerve into the carpool lane to avoid a collision with another vehicle is going to carry the same weight as testimony stating that the OP had to swerve into the carpool lane to avoid a massive extraterrestrial turd?

Nope, but the judge might let him off for the best story of the week.

 

[Sloop John D]

Nope, but the judge might let him off for the best story of the week.

Well I can't argue with that. But seriously, the most likely reason the ticket will get dismissed is from the officer's failure to appear.

 

[FlyingRon]

HOV violation sounds like the best thing you could have been charged. Illegal lane changes, careless driving, etc... that you might have been charged with have more significant penalties.
I'd take a no-point fine over the other options.

 

[Eric1111]

HOV violation sounds like the best thing you could have been charged. Illegal lane changes, careless driving, etc... that you might have been charged with have more significant penalties.
I'd take a no-point fine over the other options.

Thanks you guys for the input.

I am on business trip in East Coast now. I will take a consideration and work with a lawyer on this because i didn't try to enter carpool lane.

This ticket has been put me to consideration to not admit guilty and appear on court.

Again, thank you guys so much.