Hitting lamp post and fail to report

Yesterday, I made the stupidest mistake of my entire life. I was on the way back to my apartment after studying at school. It was around 8:30 pm. What happened is that I tried to follow the curve of the road, which is very icy because the city truck does not usually pour salt on the road ( there was a snow storm in the early morning that day), I was going 55-60 km/hr. The speed limit was 50km/h. My car started to slide and then I applied the hard brake which caused my car to spin and hit the lamp post. The lamp post fell to the ground. At that moment, I couldn't find my phone to call the police and there was a few people around watching me. Because I' m a new driver and haven't been involved in any accident, I was so scared and nervous. Therefore, I decided to drive me car to the nearby road and look for my phone to call my friends ( my parents live in Vietnam). My friends said i must go back to the scene. I did exactly what he told me but the cop caught me when i was on the way back to the scene. He give me careless ticket and fail to report ticket. There was no witness, no camera, no polices at the time. Should I go to the court and fight? If so, how much chances that I will win?

A conviction for failing to report an accident will make you all but uninsurable and a conviction for careless driving isnt much better. Do NOT simply plead guilty to the charges as they stand. While we often recommend a DIY self-representation approach on this forum, due to the seriousness of your charges Id strongly recommend you seek professional legal representation. Theres a lot of factors that come into play for both charges and the police may or may not have a strong case. Thats why professional legal representation would be advantageous in your situation. You need someone to thoroughly review the evidence who knows the relevant case law.

And when it comes to legal representation, take your time to speak with several paralegals/lawyers to see who will best represent you. Many will simply hammer out a quick and easy plea deal that you can do yourself for free. Youll want them to actually review the evidence against you and explain why they think you should or shouldnt take the matter to trial.

To get the process rolling along, plead not guilty and request a trial on both charges (don't worry, you can always change your plea down the road if an agreement is reached). You'll also want to request disclosure to see the actual police evidence. Any legal representative will need this disclosure to make an accurate assessment of your case, so having it ready will help speed the process along. Search through the forums if your new to the process and you'll find information regarding how to request disclosure. In your case, since there was an accident, at the very minimum you'll want:

1) A copy of the officer's notes

2) A copy of the full accident report

3) A copy of any witness statements (I know you said nobody saw the accident, but someone must have called in as you left the scene)

Good luck!

I'm not sure I follow.

Why would you need to leave the scene to be able to look for your phone at a "nearby" road? Where is this phone that you need to drive away to look for it?

How close is this "nearby" road?

There was a few people on the side walk look at me. That makes me feel nervous. Besides that, this is my first accident and I don't really know what to do. I just want to go somewhere else to calm myself and to find my phone. The "nearby" place was like 300m away from the scene

You would need your friend to act as a witness to say that he advised you when you didn't know what was required and that you were on your way back when you were stopped. The officer should be able to confirm that. All of that may be enough for the justice to overlook the fact that you did leave in the first place.

These are some pretty serious charges. You may want to talk to a legal professional before making a decision. If you don't want to wait until Monday to get a hold of someone, I know that my paralegal is open 7 days a week. Its mg legal services. I don't have the card around me, or else I would provide there number.

do you not have a certain amount of time to report an accident,

as long as no-one is injured,?

UK there is not sure about here

in other words you can drive off, as long as you do report it within 24 hours

txs

bobajob wrote:

do you not have a certain amount of time to report an accident,

as long as no-one is injured,?

UK there is not sure about here

in other words you can drive off, as long as you do report it within 24 hours

txs

If the lamp post stayed standing, you could go to a collision reporting centre. Once it obstructs traffic (i.e. cars/pedestrians) then you need to call 911 immediately.

Don't quote me on this. This is my opinion based on prior experiences.

There's no grace period, but it's possible under certain circumstances that you may not be able to report the accident within lets say 24 hours (e.g. you were injured in the accident)

HTA Section 201 wrote:

201. Every person who, as a result of an accident or otherwise, operates or drives a vehicle or leads, rides or drives an animal upon a highway and thereby damages any shrub, tree, pole, light, sign, sod or other property on the highway or a fence bordering the highway shall forthwith report the damage to a police officer.

You have to report it immediately as soon as it's possible. If you're at the scene with a phone and it's possible for you to report it, then you have to do so.

What if I couldn't find my phone to report to the police. And since this is my first accident, i was nervous when people are watching me. I then decided to drive to the nearby road (300m away from the scene) to calm myself down and started to look for the phone