01WS6 said:
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The cop wrote me down as at fault saying I clipped her rear end while making a lane change, and wrote me a ticket for careless driving.
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Make SURE you know exactly how many charges you are getting. IF these two charges are separate, and depending on what statute they fall under, they COULD result in enough points to lose your license. If so, you will face a CDL suspension of at least 2 months. More on this below.
ALSO..... remember that a District Attorney CAN add charges above and beyond what the officer ticketed you for. See below.
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Now I'm hiring an attorney to take care of the ticket.
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ABSOLUTELY!! This is extremely important to fight this! (I would also discuss with him suing the b*tch, AND maybe the cop. Having a ticket made out before he talked to you???)
Take your little green book of regs to the attorney and make SURE he reads and understands reg 383.51 Disqualification of Drivers.
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Assuming I can get it dropped how badly is this rear-end collision going to hurt my job prospects?
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I assume you meant
CAN'T get it dropped. If it is dropped, I would think it won't hurt you a bit.
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Do I have to report the accident to my employer and if so will they fire me?
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You don't need to tell them NOW. Each year, you have to fill out a form listing all tickets and/or accidents. IF you are convicted, you will need to list it
then. The only accident you must notify them immediately on, is one in your CMV.
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The event in question involved my personal vehicle not company equipment.
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There are STILL repercussions. Again...depending on what he wrote up. If you are charged with
leaving the scene of an accident in a POV, you lose your CDL for 1 YEAR!
Another thing to consider is this. Even if you don't lose your CDL over THIS incident, IF you let it go on your MVR you will put yourself in danger of having ONE STRIKE down within 3 years. IOW.... something happens AGAIN within 3 years, and you could lose your CDL and job.
Good luck and keep us posted.
P.S. I forgot to mention. IF they believe you rear ended the lady, that could be reckless driving AND
"following too closely." ALL of these that you and I have mentioned, are considered MAJOR violations. You cannot afford to have ANY major violations on your MVR if you want to continue being a CDL holder for very long.