Reckless operation ticket

I live in Ohio (Hamilton county to be exact) and I received a reckless operation ticket today from a sheriff. I was making a left hand turn onto a 4 lane road while driving my Camaro. I just purchased this car a week ago and I'm still trying to get used to the added power (I'm used to driving underpowered cars). When I turned left, I hit the gas a bit too hard and fishtailed across the double yellow, and then swung back into my lane. The officer saw this and wrote me the ticket. I will admit that it was careless, but it was also unintentional. My court date is August 2nd, and I'm wondering what my best course of action might be. I don't have a spotless driving record, and in Ohio, reckless op is a 4 point offense. Is there anything I can do to maybe reduce this? The fine doesn't worry me, as it's only $158 max. Could I pay double and ask to only get two points? Ask if I could get the points reduced if I attended driving school? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

OK...after doing some checking, I found that in Ohio there are two types of reckless operation--reckless and careless. In my situation, fishtailing the car was totally unintentional, so I guess it would qualify as careless. Anyone know if there's a difference between the two as far as fines and points go, or if I could ask the judge to make it careless instead of reckless? Also, should I plead guilty or no contest to whatever they throw at me? I've never understood the difference between the two. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hmm...no replies yet. Did I pick an unfamiliar topic?

[racer72]

I am guessing you did not get any replies because you are asking about a specific state law and none of the regulars to this board reside in Ohio. You may have received a reply if you lived in California, Texas, Florida, or Washington state. I can give you a general answer, in my state, there is no such thing as careless driving, only wreckless driving. And my state has a fairly generic description of wreckless driving: operating a motor vehicle in a manner that is unsafe and could or did put the vehicle operator or others at risk of injury or death or could cause property damage. Later the statute say that losing vehicle traction whether by accident or on purpose is an unsafe act. Your citation would be valid in my state.

Thank you for your reply, racer. I should have noticed that most of the replies were from other states, since I've dug through the majority of the messages on this board since Friday. It doesn't seem as bad now as it did on Friday--definately not the end of the world--I guess I'll just hope that I catch the judge on a good day and pray for some leeway as far as penalties go.

Racer72 I need to and have clarified my inquiry. I was involved in an accident. And the man that was hit by my car wasn't injured. And as a matter of fact he left with a smile and a wave to my kids. He said that he was fine.
The man was in another person's mailbox.
I had talked to the people that owned the box, and they replied to me that they told him before not to go in they're box. This man lives about Six miles down the road. He just happens to own the rental apartments across the street from the box.
Now about Four months later, I get a letter in the mail from his lawyer. Stating that this man had been injured in this accident. But the man never went to the hospital, seen a doctor, or anything until Two weeks ago (Three and a half months later).
I am friends with the people that live at the address.
They tell me he is not being truthful. (they see him regularly)
But because they rent off of him they don't want to be involved.
My question isn't am I wrong for hitting this man. Yes I am. Rather my question is how do I defend myself in this type of situation? I guess from your reply that his wrong doing is not One way to go.
If this statement aggravates you, that is not my intent. I am only trying to be as thorough as I can.
Thank you for reviewing my query and making me aware my failure to be thorough with my post.

[Edited by markba2575 on 07-17-2001 at 07:17 AM]