Reckless Driving Tkt. for spinning tires. Course of Action

[Blown_By_You]

I was at a 4 way stop turning left.. It was my turn to go.. As I start to move forward and begin to turn left, this asshole in a silverado comes barreling thru the intersection (coming at me head on) so I have to hit the breaks and keep going forward... If I would have kept turning he would have t-boned me so I"m pissed and punch it as I turn and I know he heard me..

Unbeknowing to me... Theres a sheriff directly to my right... Hears my car (which is ungodly loud) and pulls me over..

He asked me why I did that right in front of him and I asked him if he'd seen the jerk that almost t-boned me... No.. Of course he didn't..

SO he wrote me a reckless driving ticket for "spinning tires on dry pavement"..




NOW...... My tires DO NOT SQUEAL OR LEAVE MARKS... period...

It is only the officer's word against mine.. I do have to see the judge for this..

I believe it is Montana law that the officer has to show up to testify or the case gets dropped.. So I plan to plead not guilty and go from there..

What are my options here?

There is no hard physical evidence.. I wasn't speeding.. No radar.. No marks.


Thanks in advance guys..





update


I scheduled an Appt to speak to the county attorney today....


Unfortunately..... When I got there, the only one there was the ONE my lawyer told me NOT to talk to.....:nonono: Because she is young, and still has something to prove, therefore, not very leniant


BUT, I felt very confident in my case.. So I spoke to her anyway...



She had sent me a letter offering a $150 fine... and nothing else..

I brought the letter in and pleaded my case, stating that there are 0 points on my driving record, clean criminal record, and that I was not driving recklessly at the time anyway...



And she gave me what I asked for...


I agreed to pay the $150 fine, and recieve 6 months DEFERRED SENTENCE....epper:



Now I just have to behave :rockon:

 

[musclemustang65]

Whoever has the better case wins. Be warned, especially is you are guilty of what he wrote you, he does this for a living and should be pretty good at presenting his cases.

 

[Blown_By_You]

Whoever has the better case wins. Be warned, especially is you are guilty of what he wrote you, he does this for a living and should be pretty good at presenting his cases.

I just sent an email to a lawyer friend.. We'll see what she has to say..


Here is MT code for the ticket...

61-8-715. Reckless driving -- reckless endangerment of highway workers -- penalty. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person convicted of reckless driving under 61-8-301(1)(a) or (1)(b) or convicted of reckless endangerment of a highway worker under 61-8-301(4) shall be punished upon a first conviction by imprisonment for a term of not more than 90 days, a fine of not less than $25 or more than $300, or both. On a second or subsequent conviction, the person shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 days or more than 6 months, a fine of not less than $50 or more than $500, or both.

 

[SNCBOOM]

I don't know...but going into a court room and saying "My tires DO NOT SQUEAL OR LEAVE MARKS... period..." probably won't work out in your favor.

 

[Blown_By_You]

The judges around here are pretty leniant (hoping not to jinx myself like I did today)

I could end up just having a fine anywhere from $25-$300 and nothing more...



My driving record should be clean, but there may be one speeding ticket from almost 3 years ago left on it, but would be ready to come off this month...

I have no other felonies, tickets, or convictions

 

[Blown_By_You]

I don't know...but going into a court room and saying "My tires DO NOT SQUEAL OR LEAVE MARKS... period..." probably won't work out in your favor.

definately not.. I'm saying that so you can see what he saw..

There was NO squealing or black marks left.. He may have seen the rear end kick out a little, and most definately heard me get on it.

 

[Tabres]

If there really are no marks like you said I would go back tonight and get photographs of the intersection where the ticket was written.

 

[Blown_By_You]

You know, I even had my Digital Rebel with me and thought about that.. But I was still too mad to do anything about it.. Its dark now, but I can go back first thing in the morning... It shouldn't rain tonight..

I wonder if pics the day after would still be permisable

 

[Blown_By_You]

I may see If I can talk to the City Attorney before I go in and talk them down to a careless.. I will just tell them the truth of exactly what happened.. I got mad, and spun out a little after a guy almost hit me.. I don't know if telling them that I've maintained a clean record even while owning a fast car will help plead my maturity or not.. I might have to play that one by feel with the City attorney.

I was going 15mph and endangered no one's live's, not deeming it reckless..

I also turn 25 in a month lol.. Just in time for that drop in insurance rates..

 

[txyaloo]

The judges around here are pretty leniant (hoping not to jinx myself like I did today)

I could end up just having a fine anywhere from $25-$300 and nothing more...



My driving record should be clean, but there may be one speeding ticket from almost 3 years ago left on it, but would be ready to come off this month...

I have no other felonies, tickets, or convictions

Your driving record will only be "clean" for insurance purposes. Those tickets don't just disappear from state records after that.

 

[Blown_By_You]

Your driving record will only be "clean" for insurance purposes. Those tickets don't just disappear from state records after that.

And thats all I care about..

A ticket stays on your insurance record for 3 years in montana...

It will stay on my rap sheet forever.. Which I do not care about whatsoever..



Anything other input Jeff??




Guilty as sin or not, what I did is nothing like drag racing or endangered any "highway workers" lives..



oh... Reckless carries the same amount of points as drag racing does here..



Careless driving or excessive horsepower?? Yeah..

Reckless? NO

 

[FordSVTFan]

Here is MT code for the ticket...

61-8-715. Reckless driving -- reckless endangerment of highway workers -- penalty. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person convicted of reckless driving under 61-8-301(1)(a) or (1)(b) or convicted of reckless endangerment of a highway worker under 61-8-301(4) shall be punished upon a first conviction by imprisonment for a term of not more than 90 days, a fine of not less than $25 or more than $300, or both. On a second or subsequent conviction, the person shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 days or more than 6 months, a fine of not less than $50 or more than $500, or both.

That is the fine section. That is not the code for the violation. The following is the Mt. Code section.

61-8-301. Reckless driving -- reckless endangerment of highway worker. (1) A person commits the offense of reckless driving if the person:
(a) operates a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property; or
(b) operates a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property while passing, in either direction, a school bus that has stopped and is displaying the visual flashing red signal, as provided in 61-8-351 and 61-9-402. This subsection (1)(b) does not apply to situations described in 61-8-351(6).
(2) A municipality may enact and enforce 61-8-715 and subsection (1) of this section as an ordinance.
(3) A person who is convicted of the offense of reckless driving or of reckless endangerment of a highway worker is subject to the penalties provided in 61-8-715.
(4) (a) A person commits the offense of reckless endangerment of a highway worker if the person purposely, knowingly, or negligently drives a motor vehicle in a highway construction zone in a manner that endangers persons or property or if the person purposely removes, ignores, or intentionally strikes an official traffic control device in a construction zone for reasons other than:
(i) avoidance of an obstacle;
(ii) an emergency; or
(iii) to protect the health and safety of an occupant of the vehicle or of another person.
(b) As used in this section:
(i) "construction zone" has the same meaning as is provided in 61-8-314; and
(ii) "highway worker" means an employee of the department of transportation, a local authority, a utility company, or a private contractor.

Section 1(a) is likely what he wrote you under.

You know, I even had my Digital Rebel with me and thought about that.. But I was still too mad to do anything about it.. Its dark now, but I can go back first thing in the morning... It shouldn't rain tonight..

I wonder if pics the day after would still be permisable

The pics are not contemporaneous with the violation so they would likely not be admissible.

I got mad, and spun out a little after a guy almost hit me..

This is your admission.

I was going 15mph and endangered no one's live's, not deeming it reckless.

However, that is not what the statute calls for. You only need to show willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. Since other cars and people were present that fulfills that portions of the statute.

Guilty as sin or not, what I did is nothing like drag racing or endangered any "highway workers" lives..

oh... Reckless carries the same amount of points as drag racing does here..

Forget the points. This is a criminal charge and not a civil traffic violation. A conviction for reckless will leave you with a misdemeanor criminal record which can impact your future as you will have to admit on applications for employment, professional licenses, and background investigations/security clearances that you have a criminal conviction.

You should really consult an attorney that specializes in criminal traffic violations.

 

[Blown_By_You]

Thank you very much..

I have spoken to her and she said to plead not guilty and then we will talk to the city attorney to try to get them to defer it.

 

[FordSVTFan]

Thank you very much..

I have spoken to her and she said to plead not guilty and then we will talk to the city attorney to try to get them to defer it.

Do yourself a favor, dont be cheap. If she is not a criminal attorney find someone else.

Good Luck. I would bet you could get this knocked down to careless.

 

[Blown_By_You]

Do yourself a favor, dont be cheap. If she is not a criminal attorney find someone else.

Good Luck. I would bet you could get this knocked down to careless.

She is a criminal attorney, but in another town..

I will look into attorneys here and ask them what they think they can do for me and what it may cost..

 

[04spinbra]

Do yourself a favor, dont be cheap. If she is not a criminal attorney find someone else.

Good Luck. I would bet you could get this knocked down to careless.

Thats what happened to me here in Florida!! After the judge told me he could take away my license, take away my car, and put me in jail!! I was happy for the careless!! But it stays on your license for 5yrs!!:nonono: Good luck!!

 

[Badass_Forever]

Go in the to court room and tell them what happened. Done.

 

[Jolly Jerboa]

Go in the to court room and tell them what happened. Done.

This is probably not a good course of action for a criminal offense.

OP, definitely follow FordSVTFan's advice to use a lawyer for this one. I don't know how these types of cases usually play out in your state, but in my area a lawyer + a fairly clean record otherwise + a good courtroom appearance goes a very long way.

 

[Blown_By_You]

They really aren't that big of a deal here.. and most people wouldn't get a lawyer.. But I'd rather pay a lawyer than pay the insurance companies even more absurd amounts of money to insure my cobra, sebring, and powerstroke..

 

[Stop&turnFreak]

I see your in MO, so I am not sure how this works, but I will tell you how it did for me. Disregard the circumstance, but needless to say I was charged with this in NC. I got a lawyer, as I travel for a living and wanted to be sure I did all I could to keep this off my record.

In NC, I ended up with a PJC for this charge, which meant, I paid the fine admit guilt, and basically it is shown on my record, in some manner, as a charge dropped (actually as PJC). I recieved no points, and all was well for 2.5 years.

Tell recently ... when my company did a risk assessment, and called me in for a full interview on the topic. I passed this, they sided with me, and agreed to let me keep my car, and benefits. Second, not a week later, I get another call from my insurance agent, despite receiving no points, or being what I would assume as formally charged (I am not a lawyer or officer, so please be easy on me here), my insurance went to high risk ONLY and they dropped all my umbrella coverage, as I was too high risk. My record to this point was pristine, nothing for over 16 years (since I started), and this one offense screwed me huge. The good news was the state took 2.5 years to post it to my record, so I only have to endure this for another 6m and it officially drops, and I go back to 'normal' coverage.

My advice to you would be to get a lawyer, a very good one, get the charge reduced, if possible, even if it gives you points, and keep this charge anywhere from your permanent record.

Again .. I am not a cop or lawyer, so my apologies for the laymens terminology, but I want you to know what happened to me.