The call you don't want to make..

[mikey101]

"hi uh, dad? This is mike. well i was driving up w. ranch rd, and a deer jumped in front of me, i swerved to avoid it, and landed in the ditch, upside down"

yea, that's right, I rolled my car. here's what went down: My friend called my up and said, hey, come over and spend the night. so I was on my way over, going through his neighborhood at about 40mph. It was night, and I was taking a right looping turn. As I go half way a deer jumped out in front of me, so i swerved right, and over-corrected lefted, which spun me 180 degrees, and heading sideways at the ditch. The tires hit the dirt, and it was all over, it flipped the car upside down. So of course i'm pretty shakin up and about three hours later the cops show up. first thing he says is "well, looks like you're gonna need a job so you can buy a car that's not crappy" ..I kid you not. Then he goes on to write me a 4 point ticket, with a $58 fine for "careless driving" .."careless driving?" I asked him. all he said was, well, you should have just hit the deer, then you wouldn't have flipped your car. Yes, I am 16, but i feel like i don't deserve a ticket for this. It's over now though, i'm home, i'm in good condition with minor bumbs and bruises. Personally, I think the big man upstairs played a huge role in my safety, and I am very, very greatful for that. Sorry about the rants, but this was a terrifying expirience for me..

[dcmander]

That is ridiculous. Talk to your dad about that and contacta lawyer!

Can they really do this? Gawd the government has gone bad....Corruption sucks.

[KHartley]

I'm glad to hear you are okay and were not hurt too badly.

[shartley]

Glad to hear you are okay.... I have serious doubts that a police officer however would say any of what you said he did..... about your car, or about hitting the dear.... if he DID I would advise having your folks send a letter to his boss and to your local newspaper.

Please next time slow down.

[Star_Base_CGI]

Well see thats why you have us for friends.

First of all Dont pay the ticket.

You will get a court summens. You goto court and explain what happened and how rude the cop was.

Plead Guilty with an Explanation.

I swerved to hit a deer. Im 16, I made a mistake and I had an accident. You will get 0 points and if the cop doesnt show up, it will get thrown out. You also say. I sat there for 3 hours before the cop showed up and he told me to get a job so I can buy a car.

Next thing you do, is when you go out at night. You drive 30 miles and hour so you can slow down and stop if you see the deer. In all actuality you were probably going 50.

Look at it as a learning experience. It doesnt seem like that but it is.

[e mag]

hmm, swerve to miss the dear, or hit it head on and risk it flying through the windshield killing both of you? i think that would be a pretty easy arguement to win.

[mikey101]

You are all right..yes, I was going too fast. yes, it is completely my fault, and I am taking full blame for it. I do have a court date later on this year, and I will go and fight the ticket. I feel horrible right now..but I have definently learned a lesson. maybe my mistakes can help others too.

[Star_Base_CGI]

You shouldnt feel bad. I had two accidents when I started driving and I got two points a couple years ago.

I hit a double parked postal truck. Yup, sometimes they leave those trucks double parked right in the middle of the street right in front of the post office. Accident.

Another time someone honked at me and I stoped. So they hit me and the person tried to sue the insurance company.

One time a cop put the lights on in 4 lanes of a traffic so I drove three blocks and turned into a quiet street. Failure to yeild. 2 points.

I hate cops so much now I didnt bother going to court. WHat a joke.

Sometimes no matter what you do, you get screwed. Just drive more careful.

[The Ralpst]

90% of the time, when a police officer is summoned to court for a contested ticket, they don't show. If you swerved to miss a dear, you are not driving recklessly. Anyone who has ever hit a dear will tell you that rolling the car is probably just a dangerous as hitting the dear. Hitting a dear going 60 is just about as bad as hitting a lightpole, they can total a car. I would have swerved too. Keep pressing your side of the story and it should end up alright.

[clanger]

you should have plowed that deer and had yourself some dinner!

[darklord]

I hate cops like that.... I'm sure you can have something worked out though, especially since you're a young driver... is this your first offense as a licensed driver? You should've been let off rather easily due to you being a young driver and a minor....

[oldsoldier]

Cops are intentionally hard on kids...dont take it personal. He said a stupid thing: eat it and go on. Fight the ticket. Thankfully, you lived. I am sure that, for everyone involved, they were thankful for that. Nothing worse than a new driver getting killed, or killing someone, due to lack of experience.
You walked away, count your blessings.

[ratmonkey]

hit 150lb deer or swerve and possibly total vehicle...hmmm tough choice. not really busting your balls that bad but seriously, unless you're driveing a ford fiesta or similar sub compact a deer at "30mph" is not going to do that much damage. i've hit enough of them to know. and deer flying up into the windshield happens about once every million times a deer is hit. i've only ever heard of it happening once in this area and if you don't see a dead deer every 5 miles of highway somethings wrong.
send the ticket in and plead not guilty for now. explain to the judge what happened and he'll probably just give you the fine and not the points. unfortunately instead of having a no fault deer damage on your record you now have an at fault accident to boost your premium.
you live and learn, you're ok and next time you may just want to hit the deer and have some venison steaks the next night.

[robertjuric]

Deers can do a lot of damage, my preacher has totaled 3 cars from deer. Its not pretty.

Anyways I remeber my first wreck(Im just now gettin my jeep fixed). My mom got there and started yellin at me. Im like sittin here shaken up from my 1st accident which would have been a LOT worse, and shes sittin here screaming at me. Then when I got home she screamed more. It must have been really bad b/c I tuned it out. But the next day my friend was like duude your mom went crazy on you. I accidently called him on my cellphone in my pocket and he heard everything. Kinda funny.

[gimp]

Originally posted by clanger
you should have plowed that deer and had yourself some dinner!

That is what I would have done. I'd probably damage the car less if I just hit the deer. And I'd get some food!