Hey All

Hey again everyone,

Been a while since i was last in here. How've you all faired?.

Im wondering if anyone here knows how to structure a speech for court to
defend against a charge from an accident i had last year.

Charge is 'Drive Without Due Care & Attention'. Any help would be greatly
appreciated, my appearance is this friday at 2pm at Southport Magistrates
Court.

Cheers,

Josh - '00 ZX-9R

 

9:00 pm, wet road.

Merging lane from hooker blvd onto gold coast highway (60kmh zone to a 70kmh
zone)

I left a gap of around 50 metres between the 4wd in front and myself, i
wasn't speeding, was in fact on my way to the gym.
The 4wd enetered the corner adn continued around i then hit the corner
(merging lane) and had to weave between crissing strips (being a wet road),
i then continued to check my blind spot for oncoming traffic. When i looked
back the 4wd had come to nearly a complete stop (15 maybe 20kmh) near the
end of the merging lane, i had already started accelerating , as soon as i
seen the 4wd i reacted, braked and couldnt stop in time.

I personally don't believe i was driving without care or attention. I left
ample room between myself and the 4wd, it was a wet road so, as you know,
there are many 'shiny' things we must watch for on wet roads. Then the time
i lost sight of the 4wd was to shoulder check for oncoming traffic.

I'm not trying to blame the 4wd, im just trying to show that i did all i
could to avoid the accident, which i did.

I'll include the statement i mad ein hospital that night.
'As i was driving eastalong Hooker Blvd and was turning left onto the gold
coast highway, i'm pretty sure that the other vehicle was around 50m in
front of me. As i was turning i was looking over my shoulder watching
merging traffic, as ive gone to turn around i saw the vehicle in front of
me, he was around 5m in front of me. I applied the brakes, the back wheel
locked up and then i hit the back of the ute.'

I had just done my drivers licence the week before and was comended on my
driving. He also mentioned to me that a vehicle is to speed up to the speed
of the road they are entering when in a merging lane. Which this 4wd didnt
do. If he had, he wouldnt have been there and the accident would not have
happened. I'm arguing not-guilty because im positive i wasnt driving or
riding without due care or attention, and i dont want the blemish on my
record.

Cheers,
Josh

 

....and less than 48 hours notice... tell us more, mate. I can probably
still find the notes for my "speech".

Might be some clues here:

http://groups.google.com.au/group/aus.motorcycles/msg/544ec8db44e4b795?
dmode=source&hl=en

Gary

--

"As the Bush White House desperately maneuvers in Iraq to prevent the new
government from being run according to the dictates of religious
fundamentalists, it desperately maneuvers here to pander to religious
fundamentalists who want to dictate how the government should be run."

Maureen Dowd, the New York Times

 

Forget it. The 4WD "shouldn't" have stopped, but he had every right
to do so, and you were required to drive with due care and attention
to (amongst other things) the vehicle in front of you. Which you
weren't doing, or you wouldn't have hit it.

And they'll take one look at your week-old driver's licence and snigger.

-----sharks

 

[...a lot of boring 'facts' snipped...]

How did this come to end up in court? Were you written "lots fo
tickets" on the side of the road that you proceeded to fill out
the "court election" on the back of, or were you formally charged
and indicted to appear in court?

GB

 

I think he's probably seen this and shit 'imself...

http://tinyurl.com/84xcg (austlii.edu.au)


Or the 'by indictment one that is worth two years.

GB

 

You're just trying to ride on the coat-tails of that other
thread.

GB, is it harsh week again already?

 

Its now day 695 of Harsh Week on Usenet
http://tinyurl.com/kfd1

big

 

I don't like your chances. Admitting that you were accelerating and not
looking forward but sideways is not good. Good luck
Magoo

 

Well, yeah, but he'd be better off either:

a) having a daddy who's a Judge, QC or media magnate; OR

b) hiring a shmick lawyer to get him off on a technicality; OR

c) pleading guilty and asking the magistrate to go easy on you
given it's a first offence and you've learnt your lesson, etc.

-----sharks

 

Heard nothing of the incident. Everything as dealt with by insurance... no
fines were handed out on spot...nothing....this is the first i've heard from
it since the night of the accident...in september last year.

 

It would be nice to get a copy, so i have some sort of structure to follow.

Cheers,
Josh - Gold Coast

 

That link goes...
[...or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road ...
shall be guilty...]

I believe i had reasonable consideration...

 

Actually, i''ve had motorcycle opens for 3 years and held a licence for 6
years in total. I've also raced motorcycles and go-karts professionally
before and during the time i've been licenced on the road.

As for his right to stop, that is true, but he is also meant to have sped up
to speed. I left a very considerable gap for the conditions.

If a car hits you for not checking their blind spot, because they were
looking ahead so they didnt hit someone in front, would you say the same
thing. We are required by law to check our blind spots, which is taking our
eye's off the road. If i wasnt doing this, i wouldn't have hit him, but i
ran the risk of hitting oncoming traffic. How is this blindspot law
practicable, when one can be persecuted for doing it.

Josh

 

Heya, Josh, long time no type...

.... to be honest, if you've only had few weeks' notice or less of the
court appearance, ask for a continuance on Friday, buy yourself some time.

Then, go find a lawyer who'll appreciate your situation (Brisneyland
must have its mc-friendly solicitor) and have a decent-length informal
chat with him; it's good pr for them. If they do it for you now, it
increases their chances of getting your business when something happens
that allows them to make some real money through you.

Seriously, asking on here_is_a bit of last throw of the dice...

 

Get a solicitor. You're be absolutely screaming mad not to. (Unless
you're going to take the (very sensible) plan 'B' proffered by a
couple of other here, plead guilty, apologise profusely, don't make
excuses, hope for a light fine.

If you can't arrange a solicitor in time, your speech should be
to the effect that you would like an adjournment so that you can
get a solicitor. Be aware that the magistrate doesn't have to even
give you that.

GB

 

"A man who represents himself has a fool for a client". If you're
not pleading guilty (and possibly even if you are), get a solicitor.

GB

 

Understand that you're not challenging the 'colloquial meaning'
of those words, you're challenging the legal meaning which may
or may not be the same thing. If you want to challenge it, you
need a representative who knows the difference.

As several have already said, you'll simply be told "If you had
reasonable consideration, you wouldn't have run up his arse".

GB

 

Well, he did say something about only doing a test a week before.
Perhaps I misunderstood. *shrug*

I am not a lawyer, and as IK pointed out, a lawyer is what the
defendant needs to talk to.

-----sharks

 

When i looked

ahh, the old 'vehicle in front of me didn't go when i expected it to!!'
trick

this effect is also seen at stop signs and stuff...

i once did almost the same thing...took off into traffic, looking for
mate behind...looking, looking, accelerating...looking to
front...applying brakes...performing spectacular stunt...not going to rally

cost, $1100 for BMW fairing, $25 for Patrol ute taillight