My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington
Long story but I need to go into detail...
The Saturday after Thanksgiving my boys had a wrestling tournament. We live in Kent, WA and the tournament was in Olympia, WA; it takes 3 freeways to get there, WA-167 S, WA-18 W, and I-5 S. Weather conditions: Dark out (6:45 at the time of the accident), no fog, clear skies, no frost anywhere.
We took the 167 to the 18 to I-5. I was traveling in the right lane on the on-ramp to I-5 when the car in front of me spun out of control. (My first thought was what is this guy doing?!) I put my breaks on. (The guy was 80+yards in front of me so I had enough time to stop.) When I put the breaks on I realized the reason he spun; there was ice on the ground. I could feel my car fishtailing and this car was playing ping pong with the walls of the ramp (he hit the wall 4x, 2 each side) so I tapped my breaks a few times but I also needed to avoid his car so when the tapping didn't do anything, I slammed on my breaks spun, hit the left wall, finished the 360 I was in and managed to pull all the way over to the right out of the way of the 2 lanes of the ramp, in front of the other car.
Before getting to the ramp that morning we took 2 different freeways and a really steep hill and the road conditions were great.
So, I was in shock, my husband calls 911 and tells them there have been multiple wrecks, this ramp is not safe to drive on and can they send someone.
Officer shows up: Is everyone okay?
My husband: Yes
Officer: Do I need to call an ambulance?
Husband: No
Officer: Have you called a tow truck?
Husband: No
Officer: I will call one for you. (He stepped to the side and called a tow truck) As he was coming back he states: We should've de-iced this road early this morning.
Then he asked who was driving and for my license, registration, and proof of insurance. I gave it to him and he went back to his vehicle.
Tow truck came, loaded our car (some friends who's boys wrestle with ours saw us, pulled over and offered to take all 3 kids with them to the tournament so we could take care of everything. They were letting traffic by in the left lane only.)
We went to the officers vehicle to get all my info back and he handed me a ticket; I was shocked.
Me: You're giving me a ticket?
Officer: Yup, you were driving too fast.
Me: I was not driving too fast, there was ice on the road, you weren't even here and you didn't even ask me what happened.
Officer: You can contest it in court.
Husband: (He looked behind us at the beginning of the ramp (we were in the middle of it) What happened over there? Is that another accident? Did they hit a state trooper car?
Officer: Yup, and now I have to go yell at that guy.
Ticket code was: 46.61.400 (no speed shows on ticket) speed too fast for conditions
We had the car towed to our home and decided we still wanted to see our boys wrestle so we decided to leave. It was about 9:30 when we were back at the location of the accident but guess what? We couldn't go that way, they closed the ramp down; it was not safe to drive on it. I took pictures of my car at the scene, and I recorded and took pictures of the ramp being closed approx 3 hours later.
My questions:
Do I have a case? How do I present it? It is 1/7/16, the accident was 11/28/15, I have yet to receive anything in the mail regarding my case...I did look online and see that I have pre-hearing conference on 3/17/16. This is my first accident and I feel from the cops statement about de-icing the road and them closing the ramp after the fact, that I have a strong case...but then I've never been to court. (I did make my goal of avoiding the other car which was my main intention.) Any and all suggestions and help I can get would be greatly appreciated. (Please no rude comments about my driving, I'm mad enough at myself for getting in a wreck, embarrassed, and humbled as well, so those won't help me right now.) Can I subpoena his conversations with the dispatcher? I believe he was talking in the radio when he made the comment about de-icing the roads. Can I subpoena the records of all activity that happened on the freeway that morning? Where do I start?
Thank you for taking the time to read this!
Long story but I need to go into detail...
The Saturday after Thanksgiving my boys had a wrestling tournament. We live in Kent, WA and the tournament was in Olympia, WA; it takes 3 freeways to get there, WA-167 S, WA-18 W, and I-5 S. Weather conditions: Dark out (6:45 at the time of the accident), no fog, clear skies, no frost anywhere.
We took the 167 to the 18 to I-5. I was traveling in the right lane on the on-ramp to I-5 when the car in front of me spun out of control. (My first thought was what is this guy doing?!) I put my breaks on. (The guy was 80+yards in front of me so I had enough time to stop.) When I put the breaks on I realized the reason he spun; there was ice on the ground. I could feel my car fishtailing and this car was playing ping pong with the walls of the ramp (he hit the wall 4x, 2 each side) so I tapped my breaks a few times but I also needed to avoid his car so when the tapping didn't do anything, I slammed on my breaks spun, hit the left wall, finished the 360 I was in and managed to pull all the way over to the right out of the way of the 2 lanes of the ramp, in front of the other car.
Before getting to the ramp that morning we took 2 different freeways and a really steep hill and the road conditions were great.
So, I was in shock, my husband calls 911 and tells them there have been multiple wrecks, this ramp is not safe to drive on and can they send someone.
Officer shows up: Is everyone okay?
My husband: Yes
Officer: Do I need to call an ambulance?
Husband: No
Officer: Have you called a tow truck?
Husband: No
Officer: I will call one for you. (He stepped to the side and called a tow truck) As he was coming back he states: We should've de-iced this road early this morning.
Then he asked who was driving and for my license, registration, and proof of insurance. I gave it to him and he went back to his vehicle.
Tow truck came, loaded our car (some friends who's boys wrestle with ours saw us, pulled over and offered to take all 3 kids with them to the tournament so we could take care of everything. They were letting traffic by in the left lane only.)
We went to the officers vehicle to get all my info back and he handed me a ticket; I was shocked.
Me: You're giving me a ticket?
Officer: Yup, you were driving too fast.
Me: I was not driving too fast, there was ice on the road, you weren't even here and you didn't even ask me what happened.
Officer: You can contest it in court.
Husband: (He looked behind us at the beginning of the ramp (we were in the middle of it) What happened over there? Is that another accident? Did they hit a state trooper car?
Officer: Yup, and now I have to go yell at that guy.
Ticket code was: 46.61.400 (no speed shows on ticket) speed too fast for conditions
We had the car towed to our home and decided we still wanted to see our boys wrestle so we decided to leave. It was about 9:30 when we were back at the location of the accident but guess what? We couldn't go that way, they closed the ramp down; it was not safe to drive on it. I took pictures of my car at the scene, and I recorded and took pictures of the ramp being closed approx 3 hours later.
My questions:
Do I have a case? How do I present it? It is 1/7/16, the accident was 11/28/15, I have yet to receive anything in the mail regarding my case...I did look online and see that I have pre-hearing conference on 3/17/16. This is my first accident and I feel from the cops statement about de-icing the road and them closing the ramp after the fact, that I have a strong case...but then I've never been to court. (I did make my goal of avoiding the other car which was my main intention.) Any and all suggestions and help I can get would be greatly appreciated. (Please no rude comments about my driving, I'm mad enough at myself for getting in a wreck, embarrassed, and humbled as well, so those won't help me right now.) Can I subpoena his conversations with the dispatcher? I believe he was talking in the radio when he made the comment about de-icing the roads. Can I subpoena the records of all activity that happened on the freeway that morning? Where do I start?
Thank you for taking the time to read this!
Other Violations: Speed Too Fast for Conditions
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