OK guys take a chill pill here on contesting the careless driving thing. As an ADA I don't appreciate it when the first thing out of someone's mouth in court is, "there's no way that trooper could have . . . " LEO's on the road are for the most part highly trained, and alot of them around here are crash reconstruction specialists. So when they say careless/reckless driving, they usually can back it up in court. When I have someone start out by bashing my troopers, I immediately call it for trial, and "my opinion is that I wasn't reckless/careless" doesn't stack up to an expert opinion. Keeping control of our bikes is our responsbility. Don't try and spin this. Careless driving just means you were not driving in a way that was suitable for the then existing conditions. If you top a rise into backed-up traffic, you should have slowed enough before reaching that blind spot to be able to stop. Or, look at it this way: if you had been in a car, and wrecked your car because of the traffic, do you think it's defensible? Of course not.
What WOULD work is to ask the DA if you could go to a driving school to reduce the charge to a non-moving violation (which we do all the time, and ESPECIALLY if I find out the Defendant is a motorcycle rider - and preference to METRIC bikes!) and/or tell the DA this was an accident case and your insurance is covering all expenses and damages. In that case, I ususally dismiss the charge altogether, all of the above being approved with the troopers as business as usual.
Thank goodness you're safe, and I'm glad your bike is going to be OK too!
Last edited by BikerWannabee; 10/22/2008 10:44 PM.
