about negligent driving tickets and some questions

[erichui]

ok, i just got some questions to ask......
about what excatly is negligent driving........
so it was in may this year when i have a car accident where i lost control..........
(wasn't in my mini, was in my mum's car that time)
it was in the rain.
when i was taking a 50km corner (there was a sign saying its a 50km corner) at around 50km/h (not excatly sure but i am sure i wasn't speeding)...
and at the end of the corner for some reason i lost control of the car (the back it was, its a rear wheel drive car, and also i'm not a very experienced driver as i am still on my P's, so please don't flame me for my driving skills or whatever) and then i've hit the side of the road , but the damage was on minor ones, since it was kind of a up hill and the car just hit some mud and grass (sorry for my bad english duno how to describe it) and since the front wheels got stuck by those grass and mud, i couldn't drive away, so have to call for tow.....
so suddenly here comes a cop and saw me having an accident. so instantly he did a RBT, then asked me what happened and i explained to him, he wrote a report and i signed on it.
it was pretty much asking me were there anyone else involved, where there any injury etc.
and what excatly happen.
after that they say that they will send me a negligent driving ticket. i was quiet nervous back then since thats my first car accident, so i didn't ask him that many things.
and few weeks after i received a ticket.
i've been writing them an appeal letter but no use.
so now i am just asking u guys under what circumstances can they issue me the ticket?
and btw, i knew that road really well, and have been driving there at very bad conditions as well, and nothing have ever happened..
sorry for the long essay and bad english, i really do appericate the help since i don't really want to take the ticket as i wasn't driving negligently..........

[Tigger]

Hi Eric.

They can judge your speed by things like skid marks you made on the road and where you had the impact. You should also take into account the weather on the day, was it raining? etc...

I think this was a case of you oversteering wasnt it??? Read their case as to how they think you were negligent and if you are not happy with that, you can take the issue to court. But they normally win in cases like this...

Goodluck...

[erichui]

humm, they thing is, they never told me why they think i am negligent, and also, i don't think they did look at any skid marks or anything.
all they did was come by and talked to me..

[Neeshil]

its sounds a bit harsh giving u a ticket for negligence. I think the clincher may be that because it is a 50km/h corner (which i guess is for 'ideal' conditions) and it was raining, so a 'reasonable person' taking 'reasonable' care would have slowed down to under the posted speed to prevent a potential accident.

I guess that is where they are coming from?

[erichui]

well im not sure............
but i don't think i was negligent driving anyway.......
oh well need to find out more about it.

also, just wondering how bad excatly is having a negligent driving under ur record??
anyone of u people had 1 before?
so does it hurt getting insurance and its premium or anything??
thanks.

[IML337]

I've not ever been booked with neg driving, but I think according to the technical definition, if you have an accident and the car can't be driven away, you can be fined for negligent driving.

Negligent driving is very broad though - it can range from having an accident to doing a burnout.

I think having a neg driving fine is just like having a speeding fine on your record - might put premiums up a bit but it's not the end of the world...

[warped]

I've come close once or twice and based on my observation it is very much the personal decision of the officer on the scene Technically you can be done for negligent driving for fairly minor infractions ... squealing tires indicates that you have exceeded the safe grip levels of your tires and would indicate dangerous cornering speed, or so I've been told

Personally I tend to regard neg driving as a more serious blemish to your driving record than a speeding ticket ... due to the fact that speeding is much more common than neg driving ... I would certainly fight this one as much as possible, because it could do some nasty things to your insurance

I would recommend talking directly to the officer involved and finding out why he has booked you ... mentioning something like 'I have since attended a defensive driving course to make sure I know how to react more appropriately to the conditions next time' probably wouldn't hurt either

[bkwalker]

i had to sit in a court case once for my uni degree... and it was on negligent driving.. from my opinion, i agree with Tim, its a very broad category given for accidents.. negligent, meaning you did not take enough care..

its not a specific offence (from what i percieve), basically the police has to write something on the ticket, you weren't drunk so he cant write that.. so he wrote negligent.
good luck with the letter though! try not to worry.. at least your mini is safe

[Tigger]

bkwalker...

Did you have to import your Whalen or did you buy it local??

[bkwalker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger

bkwalker...

Did you have to import your Whalen or did you buy it local??

i dont think you can buy it locally... i just sent an email to doug whalen. told him what i wanted engraved and then he shipped it the next day.. only took 4 days to get here.. all up with the engaving it cost me US$158
but i believe there is a sale on them now.. which is US$20 off.. (if it hasn't ended already)

[erichui]

hum, i think i might try to contact with the officer and see why he booked me , and see how things goes...
but there arent any officer name or anything on the ticket except his signature, so is it possible to ring up police and quote the infringement no, and find out who the officer is?
since its already few months since the accident, not sure if he would still remember it.....