Legal Question in Traffic Law in New Jersey

I live in NJ. I was making a left hand turn into a road at the mall. It has a single lane in both directions. I had come to a stop before entering the road, and waited for three cars to pass from the lefthand direction, checked both directions several times and then proceeded. While pulling fully into the lane, my daughter who was on the passenger side, middle row of my van, yelled that there was a car trying to pass me on my right side. A second later the driver was even with my front passenger side window where my other daughter was sitting. I turned my steering wheel to the left to avoid the other car, but she came into the side of my car. The other driver told the police officer that she was in the lane and I pulled out into her. It took me two weeks before the police report was made available to me. No summons were issued, but the officer denoted that I was an inattentive driver, and noted that there were no contributing circumstances to the accident on the other drivers part. The summary of my statement to the police officer was incorrect and I printed an amendment to the police report with my corrected statement. I was informed that the officer would not be available to take the amended statement until she was back to work which would be two more weeks. On the last day possible (30th day) I received a certified letter which had a complaint summons filed against me by the other driver. 7/12/14 was the last possible date that a summons complaint could be filed, which was a Saturday and the clerks office wasn't open. When I went to the clerks office to file on Monday 7/14, I was told that I was too late, the summons had to be served to the other driver within 30 days. The complaint was careless driving. When I met with the officer, she accepted my amended statement, but when asked why she charged me with inattentive driving she just kept stating that the other driver was in the roadway when I pulled out. I told her that the damage to both of the vehicles does not lend credence to the other drivers story, and she disagreed. I have no front end or back end damage, only a small dent above my passenger wheel well, the other driver had a big dent in the driver side door, I think from my wheel as I attempted to turn away from her vehicle. Both of my daughters were witnesses, and the officer said, well I took their statements, right? She did not. The officer was very insistent, well I'm not going to change my report. And made a statement, well her car didn't just plop down on the road. She did not check the curb, or dirt on the other side of the lane that I think the other driver must have had to partially go up on and then come down off of, as she tried to squeeze by my car. My question is, now that the other driver has opened this up to a trial case, can my daughter's testify? And, can the other driver have sworn witness to the actions of my vehicle if she if fact (as she stated) was driving straight, eyes forward, and said I came out in to her? She drove recklessly and tried to pass me on the right in a single lane and could have seriously injured both of my daughters, and now she seems to know how to play the legal system, or have a friend in it.


Asked on 7/15/14, 6:30 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jonathan Mincis Jonathan J. Mincis, Esq. Law Offices

How old are your daughters. If they were there and they are old enough to understand the difference between being truthful and lying then they should be permitted to testify. You should bring them to Court because it would be up to the Judge if based on their age they would be allowed to testify. You should also speak to the prosecutor about trying to resolve it before you have a trial.

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Answered on 7/16/14, 4:09 am


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