how best to handle traffic citation for 17-year-old son? (cars, road)

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Hope the son has learned never to speed up when you are doing the speed limit and some one decides they are going to ride your bumper.

Yeah, he should have done a brake check.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by Harrier

Yeah, he should have done a brake check.

Is that what Harrier would have done? I'd rather just continue on at the speed limit rather than causing a wreck and then having to drive around for who knows how long with a smashed up car and what do you suppose the cop behind you would have done after you deliberately caused the accident?

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Is that what Harrier would have done? I'd rather just continue on at the speed limit rather than causing a wreck and then having to drive around for who knows how long with a smashed up car and what do you suppose the cop behind you would have done after you deliberately caused the accident?

The cop was driving recklessly.

[dburbs1975]

the kid was likely driving poorly and the cop was trying to get a handle on if he was drunk or something like that. newly permitted drivers are not good drivers. parenting issues here, too if the kid was out too late - this may be a driving without a license issue, and is very serious.

I agree with the people who suggest getting an attorney. maybe the parents will wise up and put a leash on the kid if it hits their wallet.

[leaningfizz]

I had something similar happen to me a few months after I got my license. I was driving through my South San Jose neighborhood when a car started to tail gate me. He followed me for several miles and was so close that I couldn't even see his head lights in my mirror. As I got closer to my house, I started to panic and was afraid that whoever it was driving was going to follow me home. So I sped up slightly (from 25 to 30) in order to create more of a gap between us, and bam, lights come on and I get pulled over. To make matters worse, the cop accused me of being high on meth (have never tried it and never will) and had me take a field sobriety test on the sidewalk. The whole time he kept telling me that I was going to be arrested for being high, but he ended up letting me go after I passed the tests with ease.

My hunch is that police like to target younger drivers, even if they're not doing anything wrong at the time, because younger drivers are more likely to be driving under the influence, or driving recklessly, or whatever. It's an easy bust. I used to get pulled over a lot when I was younger, "just in case." I had another officer tail gate me in the same way, except that time I didn't speed up. No, he pulled me over because I was apparently looking at my mirrors too frequently, and that was considered suspicious.

[Phil306]

Originally Posted by Grace Taylor

I know my son was truly shaken by the incident and felt in fear of being forced off the road. He was genuinely shocked that the aggressive driver was an officer.

He was driving home, up into the mountains, when this incident occurred. He is well aware of the sheer cliff to the right and just felt he had nowhere else to go, except to turn left, to get away from this dangerous driver tailgating him.

I was hoping the officer's car might have a video of the incident? But yes, I totally agree, a court is highly unlikely to believe an officer would behave in this way.

My son would be perfectly willing to plead no contest to driving after curfew, of which he is guilty. But he's likely to feel very bad about the justice system if he pleads guilty to crossing the double yellow after this officer's driving endangered him. If we convince him to just plead guilty in order to minimize the problem, I think he will be very cynical in thinking that the police are routinely abusive of their power. And that would be a very unfortunate lesson for a 17-year-old just embarking on his adult life. We're just trying to weigh how best to advise him as his parents.

Of course he was. Just like the hundreds of parents who have told me, "My son/daughter didn't do that." And when I show them the video tape of them, with a gun in their hands, robbing the store its, "That is fake. You make that video. My son is innocent."

Wake up lady, your son is guilty. Pay whatever fine there is, look in the mirror and find out what YOU did wrong, and fix it. Quit blaming everyone else.

Oh, by the way, my check for your cause is in the mail...

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I haven't been to a traffic court in ages, but my recollection is that they're very small and casual. No trial by jury, or anything like that.

I wouldn't waste money on an attorney.

Just go to court, tell your son to use few words and be very polite. Just say, a car behind you was tailgating him and the headlights in his mirror made it difficult to see and he felt the best thing to do was to pull over, but since there was only a cliff on the right side of the road, he turned left. And that he was really surprised the person tailgating him was a police officer.

Then I suggest he shut up. Short, simple statement.

The issue of him driving later than he should have been will be a separate issue, if it comes up. You should have an answer that the judge will believe and won't irritate him/her. And if there's no good excuse, just say so. Yes, your honor, I was driving later than I should have been. I'm definitely guilty of this.

And then just see what the judge says/does. If your son comes across as a nice young man, who is respectful, I believe the judge will be fair.

And your son should dress appropriately, respectfully, for court.

I really believe the worst case scenario is he doesn't get to drive for a while. It wouldn't be forever or the end of the world.

Those of us who screw up as drivers have to pay a consequence. If your son does, too, so be it.

But, I think you should just show up, be respectful, tell the truth in a short but sweet manner. No lengthy blabbing/whining, and no going on and on about how the cop behaved. If your son just says someone was tailgating him and gee he was so surprised it was the police officer. He might even throw in that he was really relieved it was a cop and not some scary crazy person ... then let the judge come to the conclusion on his own that the cop was probably having a bad night and was being a jerk. But, let the judge come to that conclusion on his own - if you get what I mean.

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by Phil306

Wake up lady, your son is guilty.

How do you know Officer Phil?

Did you issue the citation?

[Phil306]

Originally Posted by Harrier

How do you know Officer Phil?

Did you issue the citation?

Maybe I did. And?

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

I think NoMoreSnowForMe has the best advice for your son's situation. It seems like the most logical, least expensive way to go. Additionally, your son should ask to go to traffic school if that is available there, to remove the citation from his record, which will also help with insurance costs. My daughter no longer had the provisional license but it was just shortly after that she got a ticket. She went to traffic school, which she paid for herself.