Florida B.S. Thread

gotcha, i figured u weren't in florida when u were talkin bout people flying around

 

on an unrelated traffic matter, i have a question for you tigerfan, or anybody else's input, or this might be something for highway patrol, so,

this just happened today, my friend was on the highway, in a 3 lane interstate, she is in middle lane, semi truck is in right lane, semi truck starts to change lanes into her, hits the back right side of her car, somehow she loses control, fishtails 2/3 of her left side is banged up, and when the fhp comes, he writes her a ticket for reckless driving because of the skid marks he sees, and she said she was going about 75, and he wrote down 80, and she said even the semi truck driver admitted he didn't see her, but not to the officer. again, I wasn't there, and this is just her word, but I trust her, and is there anyway this can be overturned? from my understanding there was nothing written on the police report except contact info, cause I had been in an accident before, and they wrote down what happened, there was even a diagram of our vehicles.

 

she said he was just really rude to her, i figured it could be because she's 19, with a 2009 accord coupe, but that's just my speculation, i suggested have her dad call the fhp, and say how could this be her fault, when the semi was changing lanes, and the main reason i think they should look into this is because there is a 1000 deductible, and the ticket + points and future insurance

 

thanks anyway, maybe robo02cop, or k9cop will have an idea, if they ever read this

 

To be honest it is hard for me to visualize w/o seeing the report or the actual scene. FHP can usually determine speeds by skid marks and usually roll the tape measure. Once again it is hard for me to speculate on the accident not having scene it. Back in the day, When I used to work accidents, We had two forms. A long form which involed injuries and a short form which was when nobody claimed injury. The long form was the only one that involved a diagram. Mine always sucked cause I can't draw. The short form was basically a drivers exchange form with a short narrative of what happened. Now, all accidents are done on the computer and involve a diagram. Ours are available through the internet. However, to get back to the point, I would have to see the accident to be able to determine fault or if the trooper cited the wrong person.

 

Reguardless, she should fight the ticket citing that the trooper did not witness the accident. They usually do the careless driving ticket cause it's a catch all. She should argue that the driver of the semi actually hit her causing her vehicle to fishtale. Also, if the driver of the semi does not show the case will be dismissed. As for the trooper that was probably the 10th accident he worked that day and his squad mates were not doing shit. It was nothing personal. You can't take anything personal in this job. It was probably the fact that he was getting slimed by his fellow officers and just wanted to go home. maybe??who knows. Some cops are very stoick all the time. This way it makes it easier to testify in court as to how you conducted yourself. The officer can say "this is the way I always am to everyone and don't show bias to anyone." That could just be his demeanor. I always tried to be nice to people in accidents...they are having a bad day.

 

thanks so much, I'll let her know, i guess my next question is if the ticket does get dismissed, then who pays for the insurance deductible? would it now be his fault if the semi driver doesn't show, or neithers, and she would still be stuck paying her own, yea i know 1000 is high, i really hope they are saving on that premium, thanks again

 

Thats definitely a ticket that sounds like it can be argued. reckless driving is not a good thing to have on your driving record...

If the story that you posted is true, I dont see how her situation warranted reckless driving.

But the definition of "reckless driving" is pretty broad so it can be bent to fit a case and is up to the LEO's discretion.


And about her being 19, and if that contributed to her getting the ticket...maybe, maybe not. I have had leo's act unfairly towards me just because of my age, and they even admitted it to me. I got ticketed on my ATV last year when I was putting down the road trying to find my way home after getting lost in the woods. I told the Leo that I was just trying to get home, and wasn't intenitonally riding fast on the roads and such and endangering anyone else and he said something to the effect of "I see a 21 year old kid on a fast looking quad...you were probably hauling ass up and down this road 2 minutes before I got here...because thats what we got a call for." Ended up that someone was riding their sidebyside up and down the road and someone called and complained and I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The effed up thing was that there were two cops that stopped me and one recognized me from a call we ran together from when I was in Paramedic school. The cop that recognized me brought up that he ran calls with me, and the other cop shrugged it off and wrote the ticket.

lol...that ticket got dismissed anyways. The ironic thing is that I NEVER drove my fourwheeler on the road because of this, and the one time I had to to get home I got fucked...lol. I have always avoided the road on my ATV like its lava...

For now on if I get lost and need to take the road home I am pushing the bitch...

 

tacomx, good thing it got dismissed, i'm surprised they didn't let it slide cause one guy recognized u, but i guess it's only fair, no special treatment....

and k9cop, sorry another q, did u mean if the truck driver doesn't show up in court? or the fhp officer?

 

tacomx, i hear what you're sayin bout the age, and it prob didn't have anything to do with it, but just from "her telling me" the story, it just seemed really biased against her and from what i took from the story is semi didn't see her and was changing lanes into her, how was it her fault?

 

From prior job exp. as an insurance claims processor, I can tell you that, in the state of FL, fault for an accident can not be decided on who got a ticket as a result of the accident. In my reading of many police reports on accidents that involve our insurd's, most of the LEO's did not indicate which party was at fault as they did not witness the accident. They only listed the facts and some tried to do up a diagram. Unfortunately, your friend is going to have to pay the deductible IF she files a claim under her insurance. If she goes to the truck drivers insurance for the claim, then she will not have a deductible. If they deny her claim, the she will have to file it with her insurance company and hope they can subrogate against the other insurance company to recover the money paid for the loss and include her deductible(they dont have to include the ded when subrogating, as it is considered your loss not the insurance company's). She can always sue the other driver and his insurance company in civil court for her deductible.

 

hmm... that's very interesting and makes a lot of sense, as far as going to court over the deductible, it's basically her word against his, IF he even denys it, he might or might not. thanks, and yea normally i wouldn't go so far into other people's business, but she's a close family friend, and she's actually with me right now.

 

Was he acting unfairly to you because of your age or because people (not you) were terrorizing the neighborhood with motorcycles? Sounds like he was making an example out of you and taking care of the complaint all at once. Sorry bout that but, you said it when you stated "wrong place wrong time." Sounds like you learned your lesson though and now you can sit back and call the police on the other guy..lol. How did things go with Rural Metro?

 

Thank you sir. I was gonna say just let the insurance companies figure it out...Thats what they get paid to do.

 

Either one. If the truck driver does not show up . If the trooper shows or doesn't show who cares they didn't see shit.

 

I am with K9, fight the ticket. FHP didn't witness, shouldn't have wrote the wreckless. Also I have handed over an accident to FHP that I witnessed, told him what happened and they still tried to write wrong person the ticket. NAMMER we can talk more tomorrow about it.

 

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