Careless driving charge! Help

[normajeane]

Diversion is fine BUT it requires you to fully accept the charge, recognise you were in the wrong, apologise, offer reparation to the other motorists etc. So it's a one-way process. You can't argue a defence because that means you don't accept being guilty.





Very rarely you might be able to prove negligence by a council/Transit but that's only going to help with paying for repairs. And I think they are protected from liability by law - otherwise the courts would be full of cases against roading operators and contractors.

However a fault in the road would provide you with a defence - the problem is proving it.



Fair comment but accidents do happen. It could even be a fault with the bike - but you need expert evidence to persuade the court.

Stuff it, own up and stop blaming the SYSTEM.

[MaxB]

Hi, any updates to the story? Would be interested to know how court date went...

I was wondering that too.

[Max Preload]

No internet in the cell he's sharing with Bubba... or maybe he's just 'pre-occupied"...

[scracha]

First time gt the "careless driving charge 37(1)" NOt to sure what too do..should i pay some lawers?or just use a free duty lawer out side the court?

You my son, are fucked

Even when lawyered up, you're very unlikely to get off a careless driving charge. It's a real catch-all charge. Don't waste the court's time. Plead guilty, write a nice explanation letter explaining any mitigating circumstances and explain how sorry you are for the injuries, damage, distress and wasted police time you've caused. You're unlikey to loose your license.

[JohnC]

Loss of licence is up to the court. Its a min $400 fine.

Now maybe ??,but in 99 I walked out with a $380 bill all up including costs for careless.
These things seem to constantly change for some reason.

[Tink]

Are you taking kidding? It's such a pissy non-event it's not even worth worrying about.

I really don't understand, would it not be up to the people driving the vehicle that was coming the other way to make the charge. And an accident occurs for reasons beyond a lot of peoples control, regardless if 10 riders went through it or not, it could have just been a accident waiting to happen and A. happened to be the unfortunate person, possible not concentrating that day, I see it only as a accident, and being charged by the police is a waste of tax payers money... hope that the price you may have paid was not to severe, and your recovering well.

If I was you defending the charge, I'd find a mature credible motorcyclist to give supporting evidence about tankslappers. I've just seen a case where the Court was told sliders were used on racing bikes - which implied the dead bike rider had been speeding and did so regularly. No one in the court knew any better and so it was accepted.

Is there such a thing as a motorcycle lawyer!!!!

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

You could always do what lots of good Kiwi's have done before you.

Jump the ditch .... head for Queensland or the NT.

Change your name

Get a job in the outback.

But remember if you take this option you can never come home again.

the mass intelligence for bot countries goes up by do this... its a good move for both...

[klingon]

it was careless use causing injury that I was charged with

obviously the law has changed in the 25 plus years since I got charged

Yeah I've only ever managed to injure myself!!

injuring yourself does meet the ingredients of the offence, but a cop would be roundly criticised by O/C prosecutions for charging careless injury on a single car (injury to driver) crash.

i know this for a fact - i tried it.

Interesting. A woman I worked with (many years ago now) crashed her car in heavy rain and really bad driving conditions. She was doing less than the speed limit (100kph zone) but somehow managed to go off the road and flip her car over. Hers was the only vehicle involved - it was written off and she was lucky to come out of it with just a sprained ankle.

Anyway, she got charged with careless driving causing injury - even though she only injured herself!

I don't remember a lot of details about the incident but I do remember my reaction:
1) surprised that you could be charged for accidentally injuring yourself
2) thinking she probably got this charge due to her very arrogant attitude and that she probably deserved it!

[scumdog]

I

Anyway, she got charged with careless driving causing injury - even though she only injured herself!

I find THAT a tad hard to believe..

[klingon]

I find THAT a tad hard to believe..

As I say, it was a few years ago now but it's the kind of thing that sticks in your mind so I'm sure I'm not mistaken.

Really though, you need to meet this woman to appreciate it - she was extremely arrogant and probably started accusing the police officer of something-or-other and somehow blaming him for the state of her car. She also would have been rude to the ambos and told them it was all their fault too.

She was one of those people who really rubs people up the wrong way and thinks she knows it all while not taking any responsibility for her own actions.

If I had been one of the polices attending the scene I probably would have charged her with every possible thing in my little book of words.

[Kickaha]

Anyway, she got charged with careless driving causing injury - even though she only injured herself!

I find THAT a tad hard to believe..

I believe it a guy, I went to school with crashed and broke his arm and was charged with the same, this would have been back about 89-90 though

[klingon]

I believe it a guy, I went to school with crashed and broke his arm and was charged with the same, this would have been back about 89-90 though

Yeah the incident I'm thinking of would have been in the early 90s. Maybe it was the same cop...

[Mom]

Yeah the incident I'm thinking of would have been in the early 90s. Maybe it was the same cop...

I dont know of this incident, but I do know of one where a 20 year old girl lost control of her car, on one of the blackest corners, on one of the blackest portions of road in NZ (no exageration, I am talking Dome Valley here), about 9pm at night, on a truely filthy weatherwise night, on her way home from her mid semester break part time job. She was heading north and lost control of her car. Destroyed the car and thankfully was not badly injured. Ambulance, along with Fire and Police were called and she did receive roadside care.

She received a careless driving charge that she was found guily in court. She sadly forgot to let her other mother know about this till after the fact.

The cost to her. A fine and some time off the road. The ability to insure any vehicle ever again till she reached the age of 25 and even then it is very expensive for her.

It happens. Single vehicle accidents, with single people injured can and most certainly do end up in court with a careless charge attached

[Badger8]

oh heck yeah, the cops will show up and charge willy nilly alright...
Mate of mine had a spill on the motorway, avoided going up the back of a car, swerved a bit much, ended up sliding and rolling. His bike slid on its side and touched the bumper of a car in front. $12k of damage to a $5k bike, and he was the only one hurt (turned down the three ambo's that stopped)
There was seriously a light dent on the bumper of the car, you had to get down on the ground and look up to see where the bike had slid and the front tire touched their bumper.

Cops showed up (no less than 5 cars. Must have been a boring day, one of them said he "just stopped to stretch his legs", had a laugh at the state of the bike, and got back in his car). Charged him with failing to stop and following too close.
Well he wasnt following too close, and had plenty of room to stop... Just not enough room to SLIDE to a stop!
Naturally he took care of fixing the minimal cosmetics damage to the car, and sorted himself out for bike and gear, yet the cops still felt the need to slap a ticket on top.

[z99]

Hey Guys< I got confirm today, I got DIVERSION .the police dropped the charge, sorry for the late reply. I’ve been waiting for this result for a long time.
And I will post some helpful information later which my lawyer gave me to help me get this DIVERSION.
And just let you guys know
1. Yes you can get the DIVERSION for first time carless driving.
2. Some of the duty lawyer doesn’t really know anything, they told me I won’t get it for driving charge until I show those information and example on paper which my lawyer gave to me.
They went to check with the court, and then I got it.......Lucky I did lot home works.

Thank you for your all.