Careless Driving in NJ
 

Hi,
15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not guilty.
however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
How it happened:
I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull down. I
do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit. I
don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i was
speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving at
60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work and
came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a 'speeding
ticket'. to that i said 'ok' and drove to work.
later, i realised that atleast i should have asked him that why did he
give me a careless driving ticket instead.
Thats pretty much, I know i was not driving carelessly, it was a clear
road, clear weather, my ticket also says the same. the speeding is not
mentioned on the ticket as well.

what do you people think, how should i represent this case in the
court. I have a fine on $87 and 2 points.
will appreciate any suggestions on this.
Thanks in advance.

s wrote:
>
> Hi,
> 15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not guilty.
> however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
> How it happened:
> I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
> following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull down. I
> do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
> work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit. I
> don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i was
> speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving at
> 60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work and
> came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
> that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a 'speeding
> ticket'. to that i said 'ok' and drove to work.
> later, i realised that atleast i should have asked him that why did he
> give me a careless driving ticket instead.
> Thats pretty much, I know i was not driving carelessly, it was a clear
> road, clear weather, my ticket also says the same. the speeding is not
> mentioned on the ticket as well.
>
> what do you people think, how should i represent this case in the
> court. I have a fine on $87 and 2 points.
> will appreciate any suggestions on this.
> Thanks in advance.

If you want to get a "fair" hearing, you need to hire a
lawyer, preferably a good one that works in the jurisdiction
where the ticket was issued. Better still, hire the judge's
son-in-law. But a good friend of the judge is almost as
good. You can pile opinions of the people in this group to
the ceiling, but nothing will work as well as having a
lawyer take care of the case for you. Of course a lawyer is
going to cost more than $87......

Ed

C. E. White wrote:
> s wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> > 15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not
guilty.
> > however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
> > How it happened:
> > I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
> > following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull
down. I
> > do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
> > work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit.
I
> > don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i
was
> > speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving
at
> > 60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work
and
> > came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
> > that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a
'speeding
> > ticket'. to that i said 'ok' and drove to work.
> > later, i realised that atleast i should have asked him that why did
he
> > give me a careless driving ticket instead.
> > Thats pretty much, I know i was not driving carelessly, it was a
clear
> > road, clear weather, my ticket also says the same. the speeding is
not
> > mentioned on the ticket as well.
> >
> > what do you people think, how should i represent this case in the
> > court. I have a fine on $87 and 2 points.
> > will appreciate any suggestions on this.
> > Thanks in advance.
>
> If you want to get a "fair" hearing, you need to hire a
> lawyer, preferably a good one that works in the jurisdiction
> where the ticket was issued. Better still, hire the judge's
> son-in-law. But a good friend of the judge is almost as
> good. You can pile opinions of the people in this group to
> the ceiling, but nothing will work as well as having a
> lawyer take care of the case for you. Of course a lawyer is
> going to cost more than $87......
>
> Ed

I don't think i would be going for a lawyer!! ?

On 15 Mar 2005 08:54:16 -0800, "s" > wrote:

>Hi,
>15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not guilty.
>however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
>How it happened:
>I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
>following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull down. I
>do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
>work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit. I
>don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i was
>speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving at
>60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work and
>came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
>that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a 'speeding
>ticket'. to that i said 'ok' and drove to work.
>later, i realised that atleast i should have asked him that why did he
>give me a careless driving ticket instead.
>Thats pretty much, I know i was not driving carelessly, it was a clear
>road, clear weather, my ticket also says the same. the speeding is not
>mentioned on the ticket as well.
>
>what do you people think, how should i represent this case in the
>court. I have a fine on $87 and 2 points.
>will appreciate any suggestions on this.
>Thanks in advance.

Ed gave some good advice.
I will add this: do a little looking on your own. What's the
difference between a speeding and a careless driving ticket? Why the
difference in your case? If you don't know, what could you possibly
say in court?

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

"s" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi,
> 15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not guilty.
> however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
> How it happened:
> I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
> following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull down. I
> do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
> work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit. I
> don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i was
> speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving at
> 60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work and
> came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
> that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a 'speeding
> ticket'. to that i said 'ok' and drove to work.
> later, i realised that atleast i should have asked him that why did he
> give me a careless driving ticket instead.
> Thats pretty much, I know i was not driving carelessly, it was a clear
> road, clear weather, my ticket also says the same. the speeding is not
> mentioned on the ticket as well.
>
> what do you people think, how should i represent this case in the
> court. I have a fine on $87 and 2 points.
> will appreciate any suggestions on this.
> Thanks in advance.

39:4-97. Careless driving
A person who drives a vehicle carelessly, or without due caution and
circumspection, in a manner so as to endanger, or be likely to endanger, a
person or property, shall be guilty of careless driving.


That is the careless driving law in NJ. I would imagine speeding would be
better. Here's a tip... Get your court date postponed so it is over 1 month
beyond the date of the ticket. The statute of limitations on careless
driving is one month, and I believe it is the same for speeding. It will be
easier to show you weren't driving carelessly than speeding. So once you
show that they should not be able to give you a speeding ticket since it
will have been past the statute of limitations.

Cory

Is the careless driving fine more than it would be for speeding? How
many points is it in comparison? it might be worth accepting the
careless driving charge if it's less on both counts.

Cory Dunkle wrote:
> "s" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Hi,
> > 15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not
guilty.
> > however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
> > How it happened:
> > I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
> > following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull
down. I
> > do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
> > work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit.
I
> > don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i
was
> > speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving
at
> > 60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work
and
> > came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
> > that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a
'speeding
> > ticket'. to that i said 'ok' and drove to work.
> > later, i realised that atleast i should have asked him that why did
he
> > give me a careless driving ticket instead.
> > Thats pretty much, I know i was not driving carelessly, it was a
clear
> > road, clear weather, my ticket also says the same. the speeding is
not
> > mentioned on the ticket as well.
> >
> > what do you people think, how should i represent this case in the
> > court. I have a fine on $87 and 2 points.
> > will appreciate any suggestions on this.
> > Thanks in advance.
>
> 39:4-97. Careless driving
> A person who drives a vehicle carelessly, or without due caution and
> circumspection, in a manner so as to endanger, or be likely to
endanger, a
> person or property, shall be guilty of careless driving.
>
>
> That is the careless driving law in NJ. I would imagine speeding
would be
> better. Here's a tip... Get your court date postponed so it is over 1
month
> beyond the date of the ticket. The statute of limitations on careless
> driving is one month, and I believe it is the same for speeding. It
will be
> easier to show you weren't driving carelessly than speeding. So once
you
> show that they should not be able to give you a speeding ticket since
it
> will have been past the statute of limitations.
>
> Cory


Hi Cory,
What does that 'statute of limitations' actually mean?

A stautue of limitations is a time period in which a charge must be
brought against someone or else the charge is no longer valid. So, if
the staute is 1 month in this case, they could not charge you with
speeding after a month has passed from the point at which you were
ticketed.

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 13:34:24 -0500, "Cory Dunkle" >
wrote:

>"s" > wrote in message
roups.com...
>> Hi,
>> 15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not guilty.
>> however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
>> How it happened:
>> I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
>> following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull down. I
>> do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
>> work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit. I
>> don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i was
>> speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving at
>> 60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work and
>> came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
>> that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a 'speeding
>> ticket'. to that i said 'ok' and drove to work.
>> later, i realised that atleast i should have asked him that why did he
>> give me a careless driving ticket instead.
>> Thats pretty much, I know i was not driving carelessly, it was a clear
>> road, clear weather, my ticket also says the same. the speeding is not
>> mentioned on the ticket as well.
>>
>> what do you people think, how should i represent this case in the
>> court. I have a fine on $87 and 2 points.
>> will appreciate any suggestions on this.
>> Thanks in advance.
>
>39:4-97. Careless driving
>A person who drives a vehicle carelessly, or without due caution and
>circumspection, in a manner so as to endanger, or be likely to endanger, a
>person or property, shall be guilty of careless driving.
>
>
>That is the careless driving law in NJ. I would imagine speeding would be
>better. Here's a tip... Get your court date postponed so it is over 1 month
>beyond the date of the ticket. The statute of limitations on careless
>driving is one month, and I believe it is the same for speeding. It will be
>easier to show you weren't driving carelessly than speeding. So once you
>show that they should not be able to give you a speeding ticket since it
>will have been past the statute of limitations.
>
> Cory
>
I don't think any statue of limitations would apply, since he got a
citation already.

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

"s" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi,
> 15 days back I got a careless driving ticket. I am pleading not guilty.
> however I am not sure how i should be representing my case?
> How it happened:
> I was driving to work on a saturday morning, when i see a cop car
> following me, the lights start to blink and i am asked to pull down. I
> do so. The cop asks me if i am fine and i tell him i am heading to
> work. He says i am speeding and i should maintain the speed limit. I
> don't argue and i say a 'yeah!' though i was really not sure if i was
> speeding at all, may be on a 50 MPH speed limit road i was driving at
> 60 or so. Anyways, i said nothing. he asked me for the paper work and
> came back with a 'careless driving' ticket. He explicitly announced
> that he is giving me a 'careless driving' ticket and not a 'speeding
> ticket'.

Why protest it? It sounds like he did you a favor. In most states, the
speeding fine would be much higher, and probably carry more points. -Dave