[ale] OT: Court tomorrow

[Christopher Fowler]

I will also add that you do not have to receive a citation in order to
receive blame.  The accident report will provide blame.  I got in a
accident earlier and never received a citation even though I was at
fault.

Mybe it was because I had my accident close to the end of the month.


On Mon, 2004-11-15 at 14:40, Greg wrote:
> I would suggest that the most obvious/simple explanation is the actual
> explanation - that traffic court is to punish those who violate traffic
> laws.  Fault (unless it's a no-fault state) must be determined because they
> who commit the crime shall pay for all expenses and need to be punished for
> justice's sake.  Having a car presently in the shop due to an idiot's
> driving I'm glad of the present system as opposed to *me* the victim having
> to go to court to prove the obvious.  In my case he lost control and skidded
> across 2 lanes and the median to hit me while I was stationary at light.
> The idiot then tried to blame it on the recent rain and slick road
> conditions rather then either saying nothing or taking responsibility for
> his actions.  Insurance companies as well as justice require a person whose
> fault caused the incident.  While in some places it is a "money making
> scheme" I would suggest that it is not that way in all places.
> 
> In this instance we have nothing more than a person who is trying to avoid
> his responsibility for causing an accident by trying to play jail house
> lawyer (lots of folks like to do this and it makes them look pretty funny
> when they go up against a real lawyer in court) and looking for a
> technicality rather than being a stand up guy and saying "It's my fault and
> I will pay the consequences - no need to cause the public further expense
> and inconvenience".  The deal to plead nolo contendre and avoid the fine was
> a hell of a good thing for the people's attorney (DA ?  in VA they are the
> "commonwealth's attorney) to offer the original poster.  That in itself
> seems to void the advice of your jaded lawyer friend.  I would advise taking
> the "gift".
> 
> IMHO I would rather the state punish the offender like it is supposed to do
> rather than plea bargain this away (a fault that has crippled the American
> justice system).  Asking for a jury trial in something so simple just shows
> the offender can't/won't 1)recognize his guilt in something *so* simple
> and/or 2) take the consequences for their actions.  They would much prefer
> to waste the justice system's time on trivial BS.
> 
> I don't know why folks try to avoid responsibility in this society.  The
> whole matter seems so cut and dried to me (and, I'm sure, to the court
> system).
> 
> Greg
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of Mike
> Millson
> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 12:45 PM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [ale] OT: Court tomorrow
> 
> 
> On Mon, 2004-11-15 at 08:57, Sergio Chaves wrote:
> > I can  verify that.
> > Two years ago I was on a intersection, merging to a freeway.
> > The driver in front of me and myself made a complete stop waiting for
> > traffic to clear so we could merge.
> > The car in front of me "took off" and I followed  behind it.
> > The other driver *suddenly* hit the brakes thinking she would not have
> > enough
> > room/speed/etc. to complete the merge and I hit her.
> >
> > ALL of that was acknowledge by the other driver and myself in court but
> > it seemed that the judge did not hear a single sentence . All the Judge
> > kept
> > saying was that I should have (a) waited for the other driver to complete
> > the merge or (b) given more distance between the cars.
> >
> > The hammer came down hard; my checking account got $150.00 poorer,
> > I "earned" points on my MVR and, my insurance went up a little for
> > having to pay for both car repairs. :-(
> >
> > Sergio
> 
> This sort of thing used to bother me too. Then a lawyer friend of mine
> explained that traffic court is not about finding out whose fault
> something is or justice or anything that complex. It's a money making
> operation. And when you go down there and plead innocent and try to
> present your case to the judge and ask for a jury trial, you throw a big
> monkey wrench into their money making operation. And they get pissed off
> and you pay more for wasting their time. My advice is to just send in
> your "donation" and avoid the humiliation of going to traffic court at
> all cost. It's just a more elegant way of collecting money than, say,
> when I was in Mexico and we were pulled over for "too many people in the
> car" (4 I guess is too many) and were allowed to pay our fine on the
> spot w/ a $20 bill.
> 
> Mike
> 
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