I have recently had an accident in an intersection after leaving work at night and am kicking myself about the entire situation, especially since I wound up hitting another vehicle. But I am still baffled on how the accident even happened.

I had just left work on an evening and had exited onto the street in the city. Only a minute or so later, I realized I was in the middle of an intersection going one direction, with traffic going in the other direction, hence the accident. Apparently I went through the red light in the intersection. After re-tracing my driving location, here is what appears what I think happened.

I normally go through this intersection a couple of blocks after leaving work. This major intersection has lights. But it appears that there is now a new set of lights one block before this intersection. I can only imagine that I went through this new set of lights (due to habit) thinking that it was actually the other intersection/lights ahead of me. Hence when the second intersection with lights (which used to be the first set of lights until very recently) came up, I had actually thought I had already gone through it.

Right after the accident, I explained to the police I couldn't figure out what happened. I knew I wasn't speeding, I wasn't on my cellphone, I didn't think I was distracted (although I was worrying a bit about a personal situation that happened to me earlier in the day) -- but the next thing I knew it right after leaving work, I was in the middle of an intersection where I shouldn't be. Obviously, at that time, I was a bit in shock and confused, and worried that it could have been a lot worse, but now I am figuring out what I think happened.

I wound up getting a ticket for running a red light. Am I a terrible human being and there is no excuse whatsoever what I have just done, or does it make any sense for me to go to court and try to fight the ticket, with my confusion about the new set of lights being my defense? Or will the judge likely say it doesn't matter that about the new set of lights -- and what really matters is what happened at the intersection where I had the accident.

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

mkbcan wrote:

Am I a terrible human being and there is no excuse whatsoever what I have just done, or does it make any sense for me to go to court and try to fight the ticket, with my confusion about the new set of lights being my defense?

Habit isn't a defense. The courts aren't going to be satisfied to hear you were simply going through the motions. Signs will change regularly as long as there are roads, whether they long term signs or short term construction signs. An accident isn't going to wait till you realize a sign is there. While I can sympathize, your current defense not going to get you the result you want in court.

Either change your strategy or consider taking a plea deal (if offered).

Considering this is an accident where no officer was originally present, it's probably going to require some witnesses to attend your trial. That is unless you admitted yourself that you went through a red light. Request a trial, disclosure, and go from there. Worst case scenario is you plead guilty at your trial.