Son was in car accident, hitting a car in intersection. totaled both cars,

Question

He is sixteen. There were no injuries. It was storming on the night it happened. He said that the light was yellow when he applied his brakes and the brakes locked up and he skidded (hydroplaned) into intersection hitting other car. Before applying brakes he was traveling approx. 45 mph. The police officer said that he ran a red light. Should we get a lawyer?

Answer 1

What for? Just let your insurer handle this. Once you get a scumbag lawyer involved you lose complete control of the situation.

Answer 2

I don't know what state you live in but in Ohio you have to drive at a safe and reasonable speed and some times even the speed limit isn't safe and in this case driving in a storm at night 45 probably wasn't safe. You say the policeman stated the boy ran a red light. If I was going to cite some one for a red light violation out of a crash I would want an impartial witness. Get a copy of the crash report and see what kind of evidence there is to prove the boy ran the red light. If there is a witness you are wasting your money buying a lawyer. As a juvenile he may be required to appear as they do in Ohio. If that's the case just admit the charge pay the fine and hope he learned from it. I was in the trooper business for 30 years and I caught a lot of people red handed and they would try to lie their way out of a ticket.

Some city policemen don't do to well in crash investigation and may not have any evidence in the crash report. In that case I would contest the ticket. If it is clear to you there is no evidence your son should be able to tell the judge what happened and introduce the crash report to the court as evidence that there is no proof of the charge and you don't need a lawyer to do that unless you want to  pay one. Good luck.

Answer 3

Yes you will need one unless you have over a million dollars of insurance coverage...

Answer 4

Do not get a lawyer.

1. Road conditions did not warrant the speed he was travelling.

2. Skidding means he reacted at the last second so he was not aware of what was going on around him due to lack of concentration.

3. Amber light can be crossed if road condition mean you will cause an accident by breaking to sharp so the is a built in time belay between your red and the other traffic green light so looking at it he went through on a red.(sorry)

4. The only way the collision happened was if the other car set off before his lights went to green jumping the lights but you would have to prove it.

Answer 5

he was at fault,he failed 2 yeild the right away,just let his insurance skyrocket and let him lose points,or hire a liar and try to get it reduced

Answer 6

Does NOT look good,, #1 you said these facts.....STORMING,,NIGHT, YELLOW LIGHT,BRAKES LOCKED -UP,SKIDDED (HYDROPLANNED) 45MPH.  

Now here is why the officer said it was a red light violation,.... It was "Storming" heavy rain, Night time ,the light was RED because he hit the other car that had a greenlight, or the officer would have given V#2 a ticket,skidded means older car without abs system or too slick of a road, and WORSE 45MPH!!!!! what was the posted speed limit ? But forget about the posted speed limit .....your 16 yr old was driving too fast for the conditions of that day. Being 16 is not a crime , but threr is not enough driving experence to his credit . SORRY save your MONEY