hit an animal and got a citation

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Thanks for posting in r/oklahoma, /u/honkwaves! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. Please do not delete your post unless it is to correct the title.

hey so i’m a newer driver, i’ve only had my intermediate license since september. last night while i was driving home around 9:50 i had hit a dog that ran into the middle of the road on a bridge. i slammed on my breaks but still hit it and ran over it completely, and in shock had the passenger get out and look at the front of my car quickly as i called my mom. as i was going to pull off a car swerved past me, going well over the speed limit of 45, and had hit the edge of the bridge. i got a citations for “illegal parking, although i wasn’t parked only stopped. i feel i can fight the citation and win. i feel even if i was driving, just going slower, the same thing would have happened either way since he simply just wasn’t paying attention. you’d be able to notice the car due to the break lights and notice you were getting closer if you were paying attention, which he wasn’t until last minute which is why he swerved. do you think this is something beatable?

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u/ReddBroccoli Mar 02 '25

If you tell the judge that you felt justified to park in a lane of traffic instead of pulling over to the side of the road, you're more likely to make things worse for yourself than better.

You were completely in the wrong. Moving onto the shoulder if your car is capable of it is the law for a reason, and you causing an accident that could have gotten someone killed is a perfect example of why.

1

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

again, didn’t park. i stoped bc i slammed the breaks because i was going straight towards something in the middle of the road.

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u/ReddBroccoli Mar 03 '25

You were stationary long enough for your passenger to get out and to start making phone calls. You were parked, even if you didn't put the gear lever in park.

The fact that you still don't understand this makes me hope you tell all of this to the judge in great detail.

1

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

i can make phone calls by pressing a single button on my car.

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u/ReddBroccoli Mar 03 '25

I notice how you keep ignoring the fact that you caused an accident. You are not safe to be a licensed driver.

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u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

i didn’t cause an accident and the blame was never put onto me, even by the guy, because he was speeding and not paying attention. if i had caused it i’d have more then just my single citation, but all i have is one for parking. continue to argue but evb around me, including the local cop believes i should fight it.

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u/ReddBroccoli Mar 03 '25

And it was your parking that caused the accident. Please please please, go in front of the judge and tell him why you need to be let off. Nothing would make me happier

1

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

and there isn’t a shoulder to pull off on on a bridge.

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u/ReddBroccoli Mar 03 '25

Then you keep driving until there is a shoulder or an exit. How are you making this so incredibly difficult.

You almost killed someone by being a complete idiot, and now you're trying to justify your behavior.

Just stop.

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u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

the guy almost killed himself. anyone going 80 in a 45 and isn’t paying attention to the road is doing that to themselves. if he was paying attention he’d have realized he was coming towards a car, stopped or js going slower then him, and would have passed correctly.

1

u/ReddBroccoli Mar 03 '25

Yeah, no. You're clearly lying to cover up the fact that you and only you are in the wrong. Plus, you can't argue he would have had an accident if you weren't stationary in a lane of traffic.

You are willfully ignorant and since you insist on feeling justified in your ignorance and disregard for anyone else's safety, you will eventually kill someone. You'll take a human life just from being completely wrong, so look forward to that.

Answer this, why did you stop in the road in the first place? Was there any reason not to pull over somewhere safe to look at the car and make calls? The answer is no.

You are wrong. You are a bad driver. You will hurt someone if you don't do better and learn the rules of the road. This is literally in the driving manual we hand to kids in drivers ed.

1

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

nobody is lying, saying as ik the guy and he didn’t want cops called he wasn’t sober and ended up with a lot more shit then i did.

1

u/ReddBroccoli Mar 03 '25

If you don't know enough to get off the road before getting out of the car, I know your estimates of speed are gonna be way off, plus you're dishonest so your inaccurate guess is gonna be exaggerated.

You're an unsafe driver. Go back to driver's Ed

1

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

calling me dishonest as if you were there. i know the kid. he was drunk and admitted that he was looking down trying ti grab something he had dropped. he also admitted to going 85 and got a citation for it. you can argue with me all you want but when i’ve literally been told this from him himself then ik what’s true. the bridge is coming up on a turn and he still either way would have been going ten times too fast for that turn.

1

u/ReddBroccoli Mar 03 '25

Lol. I know you're dishonest from how much your story keeps changing to make you look better. But go on with yourself.

Try not to cause any fatalities other than your own out on the road.

0

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

the story isn’t dishonest. i hit the dog, slammed on the breaks when i had seen it and still completely went over it. obviously once i stopped my bf hopped out of the car while i called my mom and looked at the front and hopped back in. the car that had just been a mile or two back was now right behind me and had swerved, went back into lane, and spun out and hit the side of the bridge. i pulled off and asked him if he was alright. my mom came out and talked. the guy had called a friend, someone ik, and he asked me and my bf if we’ve called the cops and we said no, he said good and to not call them he’s going to bring out a trailer and get the car out, and i told him to tell my mom that. she had already called the cops atp so they showed up. the guy is a kid ik, who admitted he was going 85 and was looking down trying to grab his wallet that he had dropped. he also admitted he was drunk and that’s why he had been calm, which i believed that he was high until he admitted he was drunk not high. he got multiple citations. cops came to me and told me i wasn’t to blame but i was illegally parked, and that it was on him for not paying attention and speeding, but they were still going to give me a citation for the illegal parking. my story hasn’t switched up to try and make me seem any better, pls get ur head out of ur ass old man.

45

u/selddir_ Mar 02 '25

You accidentally killed a dog and then almost caused another accident by having your passenger get out in the middle of a busy road and think you're going to be able to get out of the citation?

Pull over on the elbow or something next time. As soon as your passenger got out of the car you absolutely were parked. You aren't gonna win in court.

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u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

i did not park, car doors are openable without parking. lights were on and everything and obviously i had crashed and was about to hit something i’m going to slam on the breaks. wasn’t a busy road nobody was in it until the guy going 80 in a 45 was behind us. passenger wasn’t out of the car when the guy swerved. easily would have spotted me from a mile away if he was paying attention but he wasn’t.

5

u/emma_kayte Mar 02 '25

Yeah so next time don't stop in the middle of a lane (especially on a bridge) and have someone get out of the car. You could have killed more than a dog. Keep driving until it's safe to pull over. Why did you need to call your mom at that moment? Get someplace safe then do what you need to do. If you do pull over there, turn on your hazards. I don't see you winning this one

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u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

yes bc next time js barrel straight through something, possible human or not.

3

u/SouthConFed Mar 02 '25

Did you at least have your hazard lights on?

If a passenger had enough time to get out and check, you were parked. Which means you're more-than-likely going to have to pay the ticket.

Why not pull over to the shoulder from the get-go?

1

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

bc it’s a bridge? without a shoulder?

1

u/SouthConFed Mar 03 '25

Then pull off it.

Stopping in the middle of a bridge can get others around you killed, especially if you don't turn your hazard lights on.

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u/Whoreson-senior Mar 02 '25

Go to traffic court and ask the judge to keep the points off your license, then pay your fine and go on with your life.

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u/katedidnot Mar 04 '25

Do you think that the judge will side with you?

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u/honkwaves Mar 05 '25

unaware but the best i can do is explain myself and try yk. everyone that i’ve talked to about it thinks i shouldn’t have gotten a citation and believe its beatable, so it’s worth a shot.

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u/paddlethe918 Mar 04 '25

2024 Oklahoma Statutes Title 47. Motor Vehicles §47-11-1003. Stopping, standing or parking prohibited in specified places. 13. Upon any bridge or other elevated structure upon a highway or within a highway underpass;

You slammed on your brakes and stopped your car on a bridge in violation of this Oklahoma Statute. Your citation has nothing to do with the other vehicle or driver.

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u/honkwaves Mar 05 '25

i would have never gotten it if it wasn’t for him tho. i understand but evb my mom and me have talked to, even local cops, say they think it’s beatable. we are going to try and if it doesn’t work out then it doesn’t, but we can atleast say we had attempted.

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '25

[deleted]

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u/vwstig Mar 02 '25

They'll have to pay court costs.

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u/Less-Squash7569 Mar 02 '25

Exactly, it couldn't hurt to explain the situation. At the very least they'll correct OP and tell them how to properly pull to the shoulder in a situation like this in order to avoid it again and if theyre lucky the judge be cool and drop something just because theyre being honest and just didnt know. Op should just try it if showing up to court won't cost them more than not showing, as the potential could be pretty substantial when considering everything that's going to need to be bought when everything is said and done.

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u/[deleted] Mar 03 '25

[deleted]

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u/Less-Squash7569 Mar 03 '25

And most of the time they just don't show, or ive even seen the judge in my case ask about evidence (few grams of weed) which the state had lost or something so I got the case dropped, the judge even made a joke that the prosecution hadnt lost the evidence, but rather they smoked it. The judge asked me if it was any good while the lawyer was trying to laugh it off, but it caught him off guard too. Another time I had several outstanding tickets that totalled almost 3k that the judge dropped down to 1200 for me even though I didn't even ask, I had the money to pay the entire thing but I wasn't going to argue with the man. Same judge both times btw, the honorable Judge Young, i appreciate you dude if you're out there.

2

u/honkwaves Mar 03 '25

there was no shoulder to pull off on since it was on the bridge, the line and the rail on the bridge is only ab 2 feet wide the car would have still been in the road.

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u/Less-Squash7569 Mar 03 '25

Dang, yeah I think you should definitely talk to the judge then right? I mean what else were you supposed to do. Like i said, if anything he'll just suggest what to actually do if ever in that situation again, and then you can come tell all of us!

Legal Question hit an animal and got a citation

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