I'm going through Farmers. Has anyone been through a trial and knows kind of what to expect?

 

It is the officer who handled the scenes responsibility to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty. Contest the citation with a good lawyer and then the other stuff will fall into place. Sounds to me like you have the ability to cast a reaasonable doubt.

Edit: If you do not get the ticket overturned, then you will not have two legs to stand on in anything else. Your insurance will pay out to her and you will get nothing. Despite what everyone says, you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Prevent that from happening and you will have a case.

 

Ouch, that sucks.
Doesn't it just suck when you get in a wreck?
Hope it turns out for the better for you.

 

Cops lie on the witness stand. I have a reckless driving conviction to prove that!! But, you do have witnesses. In my case it was my word against his, so guess who won!

 

Well I don't think that I can hire an attorney. Also am I suppossed to call witness or should their statments be enough

 

If you cannot hire an attorney the court will appoint one for you. Get your hearing continued and seek legal advice from a friend if you have one that knows the law. Ithink thatthere are legal advice websites that you can check out too. You have rights in this process. But you have to be willing to go through the process.

EDIT: If you have photos it will help. Any car that impacts another car will leave a signature behind.Looking at the damage to your vehicle will help indicate direction the other car was traveling. The officer that handled your crash should have taken them. See if you can get ahold of the crash report so that you can review it before court too.Lookupthe section of law you were charged with. The internet should have the legal code of your state. If you dont get a lawyer, represent yourself. What do you have to lose?

 

Get the witnesses IN COURT! Judges like to interview them for accuracy as opposed to written statements that they cannot cross examine.

 

Ok so here is the end of the story. I went to the insurance company and got all of the witness statments. All of them said the same thing she hit me intentionaly. The most important one said that it looked like there was room and then she pulled up and around me. So I went to court thinking I've won sweet. When I get there the lady, the cop and one witness had shown up. Before everything starts I went back and talked to the prosecuter and cop.Theywanted to talk me down. I showed them the witness statments and they said that they wern't admissiable in court because they are hersay unless the witness is there. grrrrrr. So after talking to the prosecuter and after she had talked to everyone else Icould fill my impending doom. The lady even admitted to hitting me on purpose.I asked to read the law. When I looked it up online it said that it was my responsiblity to make sure the lane is resonably safe to merge into. When we read the law as it appears now it saysunder no circumstance does the other lane have togive up the right of way. BUL****!!!!!!!!!!. It basically means that if your merge and someone is going faster then you are they don't have to slow down. SO I did a plea in abeyance (gulity) this way it dosen't show up on my record. Also her insurance company has already offered me 80%/ So the moral of the story is if someone hits you take alot of pictures befor you move your vehicles.

 

That is exactly correct, if you are moving into a lane, it is your responsibility to yield to right of way. I sounds like you two got into a pissing contest, you thought she'd yield to the big, gnarlytruck, and she called your bluff.

I know you're pissed your truck got hit, but you got lucky you walked out with anything. Take this as an expensive and time consuming learning experience and move on.

I know that sounds pretty dark,butthat'sthe way it is, and it ain't changing for any of us anytime soon. You gotta know the laws, not just think you know them.

EDIT: After re-reading what I wrote,it sounds pretty condescending.That'swasn't my intention. I got in the same type of accident in highschool and got called on the carpet too. Couldn't believe it then, but now looking back on it, it makes sense.Ifthe law was reversed, then all these crazyricers and crotch rocketsthat weave in and out of traffic wouldn't be guilty if they hit you cause they shoved thenoseof their carin front of yours.Heck, you migt even get rung up on manslaughter charges if you smeared one of them under you 35's.

 

Offtopic, I hope OP doesnt mind.


The accident I was in, I was rear ended, pushed into a Van ahead of me., and the Guy who hit me got a lawyer trying to knock the blame off him.. so if he does this, why can't you get a lawyer and get the ticket dropped, as well as her insurance paying full cost of repairs.


as for mine, the lawyer talked to me once, I hav't heard from him since.. He must have realized it was a no win case as I was at a complete stop.