S
squidvicious
Guest
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
I was recently involved in a rear-end collision (I was the one who struck the other vehicle). The vehicle I hit then struck the vehicle in front of them, etc. No injuries. Minimal damage to other cars. My hood crunched. This took place on an interstate through Philadelphia in stop-and-go traffic. The cars ahead of me had stopped due to the cars in front of them colliding. THOSE two vehicle drove off. My question is: is the ticket I received worth fighting? I know rear-end collisions are pretty strict (PA being one of the strictest?), however, the officers rational for ticketing me (Following too close) was that the other cars stopped, therefore I must have been following too closely.
Now, I have two strategies, first, my car doesn't have antilock brakes. They locked. The other cars did. This is not to say that I WASN'T too close, but in stop and go, I most certainly was not tailgating and the logic that the others stopped and I didn't essentially sealed my guilt just doesn't seem quite firm enough.
Secondly, I found something in the PA traffic code (Title 75, Chapter 33, subchapter A) called the doctrine of "sudden emergency" that seems to suggest that the driver (me) is "excused from responsibility for a collision" and a sudden emergency caused the driver (me) to "collide with some object in its path".
I'm sure this is a stretch, and I certainly remain culpable, but on the ticket there are two options: GUILTY/NOT GUILTY. There were no witnesses, and I'm not sure I want to open myself up with a guilty plea. Thanks.
I was recently involved in a rear-end collision (I was the one who struck the other vehicle). The vehicle I hit then struck the vehicle in front of them, etc. No injuries. Minimal damage to other cars. My hood crunched. This took place on an interstate through Philadelphia in stop-and-go traffic. The cars ahead of me had stopped due to the cars in front of them colliding. THOSE two vehicle drove off. My question is: is the ticket I received worth fighting? I know rear-end collisions are pretty strict (PA being one of the strictest?), however, the officers rational for ticketing me (Following too close) was that the other cars stopped, therefore I must have been following too closely.
Now, I have two strategies, first, my car doesn't have antilock brakes. They locked. The other cars did. This is not to say that I WASN'T too close, but in stop and go, I most certainly was not tailgating and the logic that the others stopped and I didn't essentially sealed my guilt just doesn't seem quite firm enough.
Secondly, I found something in the PA traffic code (Title 75, Chapter 33, subchapter A) called the doctrine of "sudden emergency" that seems to suggest that the driver (me) is "excused from responsibility for a collision" and a sudden emergency caused the driver (me) to "collide with some object in its path".
I'm sure this is a stretch, and I certainly remain culpable, but on the ticket there are two options: GUILTY/NOT GUILTY. There were no witnesses, and I'm not sure I want to open myself up with a guilty plea. Thanks.