There are tens of thousands of careless driving citations issued each year in Colorado. Many are a result of rear-end collisions, but they can also be issued even when there’s not an accident involved. The law can be summarized as “Any person operating a vehicle upon the streets or highways within the state shall drive the same in a careful and prudent manner, having regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic, and all other attendant circumstances, so as not to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person. Failure to drive in such manner shall constitute careless driving and a violation of this section.” So, such charges can be open to interpretation and require specific evidence to convict you of the crime.
That’s why it is important to hire an experienced traffic offense attorney to protect your rights. The law firm of Jaray & Webster has vast experience in traffic offense cases and we will fight on your behalf to achieve the best possible result in court.
Non-Crash Cases
Law enforcement officials have typically used the careless driving statute to issue citations when they don’t think the alleged violation applies anywhere else. Police officers will issue such a careless driving charge if they believe the driver is driving poorly and can’t prove anything else. If followed to the letter of the law, the statute clearly states that your driving must have endangered the life, limb, or property of another, so if you were, in fact, driving erratically, but in an empty parking lot, it could be argued that you are innocent of careless driving.
There are instances where an officer believes the driver is driving aggressive and careless, whether it may involve speeding, unsafely or improperly changing lanes, following too closely, failing to yield the right of way, improper passing, or violating of a traffic control device. We know how to challenge such charges as well.
Crash Cases
If you are involved in a crash and deemed responsible for the accident, you may be charged with careless driving, particularly in rear-end collisions. When officers arrive at the scene, they interview the drivers and eyewitnesses, and then issue citations accordingly to whom they deem responsible. Under law, anything you tell an officer at the time of the crash is privileged, and thus any statements made to law enforcement officials following an accident shall not be admissible into evidence at any civil or criminal trial. So, when you fight a ticket for careless driving in court, typically the case can only be proven through the testimony of other witnesses or drivers. So if the person whom you hit from behind is unavailable for trial, and there are no witnesses, you have a good probability of beating the citation. In such cases, police officer prosecutes his/her own cases and therefore must depend on witnesses or drivers to help them prove the citation that they wrote.
Before just paying the fine and accepting the points on your driving record, call the law firm of Jaray & Webster.
Serious Bodily Injury Or Fatality
In the unfortunate instances of accidents where serious bodily injury or death is involved, a careless driving charge can be extremely serious, with severe penalties involved depending on the severity of the injury and the facts surrounding the citation. In some instances an accident investigator may be necessary to recreate the pieces of the crash to contradict the officer’s opinion.
If you’ve been involved in such an accident, contact the Law Firm of Jaray & Webster at
(719) 633-6620 immediately so we can review the case and gather our own evidence before it is removed. We understand the intricacies involved in such cases and will work to protect your rights.