Resli

I guess I am joining the many A4 drivers who have gotten a speeding ticket, but I was wondering if anybody knew if speeding (briefly) to avoid an accident is a defense. I went approx. 12 miles over the speed limit to avoid a swerving truck and then slowed down again. Two others can verify this. Any ideas?

Bobby Kinstle

When I took drivers ed some time back, they taught that one should not discount acceleration when avoiding an accident.

myke050

grill that cop in court is my suggestion

Resli

Problem is that it happened out-of-state. I will have to submit my defense in writing.

tk2x

Nolo Press makes two books which are excellent in this sort of situation, and will surely give you lots of good advice:

If you are in California, get "Fight Your Ticket" (it has a lot of CA-specific law info). If not, the generic version is "Beat Your Ticket."

The books are available from your local bookstore, or their web site..it's nolo.com


Not affiliated with them... Just a happy customer

tk2x '00 1.8TQMSX

Rela

I had learned that a driver is allowed to do whatever is needed to prevent getting into an accident - including speeding up. To not have this option available is stupid as it implies that getting hit by someone else and risking serious injury and $$$ of damage is preferable to temporarily going a little fast. The cop who gave you that ticket must be a few sprinkles short of a doughnut.

I've managed to avoid a number of accidents by accelerating to get out of the way; if I had hit the brakes in any of those situations I would've been slammed into by another car or, on one occasion, a semi. (Usually some idiot who didn't know that a red light = "stop" or didn't bother to look when changing lanes.)

Write up what happened and get written statements from your witnesses. If the judge has two brain cells to rub together he/she should pardon the ticket.

ARCJr.

and I lost. Only difference was it was a bus. It's completely up to the Judge. In my case he said "Sorry, you still sped." Of course, I think it was a source of income for this tiny hick town in Upstate NY, so elsewhere in the country, you might have better luck. I'd say it's worth it. Worst case, you pay what you would have had to pay anyway.<p>Adrian '00 1.8TQMCS (I hope!)

eriqc

Happened to me. But cop believed me (I ran red light to avoid hitting a car in front of me).

ImprezaGuy

The law says that speeding is a strict liability offense. What this means is that generally it doesn't matter why, or even if you didn't know you were speeding - tough! However, there are a few defenses to strict liability crimes. One of them is necessity. IF you can show that you were speeding to avoid a "greater" evil (that being the accident) then the judge may let it slide.

*Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer nor do I claim to be one. What I am dispensing is not legal advice, but merely my understanding of what the law is. What I have written is to be taken at the reader's own risk. BLAH BLAH BLAH, YADDA YADDA YADDA