And, possibly Lousiana!
My suspicion, and the reason I asked what the charges were, is that there’s more to the story than we’ve thus far heard. Countrydriver may agree that the story that evolves with a few questions or a bit of research is often very different from the initial impression.
I got the impression that some charges were filed. In a single car accident charges aren’t generally filed unless there’s real evidence of wrongdoing or liability has to be established.
I’m still wondering.
That’s because Louisiana is unique in the US in that it’s laws are based on French, not English, common law.
Don’t guess we’ll ever hear “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey says.
My point about a low tire peeling the bead loose on the inside tire is feasible because even though the majority of the load is on the outside tire a lot of force is transferred back to the inside tire because of the sway bar; it’s whole reason for being.
Also, the fact the OP may have been charged with something does not mean they’re guilty. The first ticket I ever got was for “Reckless Driving” when I was a teenage. I picked up a friend of mine one morning, backed out of his drive, and half a block later tapped the curb and bent a street sign. Speed was about 20 MPH and he had distracted me by hitting my arm and telling me to look at a textbook. My mistake entirely and it happened in front a house that had 2 elderly men sitting on the porch with a morning cup of coffee.
I asked them to call the cops anyway (sign leaning a little and one small dent in the front bumper) and when the cops got there they claimed I had to be doing “at least 65 MPH” when I hit the sign. Of course, this got a little vocal because the heap I owned was about to go through a badly slipping transmission and it would take at least a couple of blocks to even hit 65 at all.
The elderly gentlemen heard what the cops were running me through and came back over as witnesses. When they told the cops they saw the whole thing and I was not going very fast the cops told the old men, quote: “You’re not xxxxxxx involved in this so get the xxxx out of the way”. Justice at its best.
I totally agree that the actual situation could be significantly different than my speculation. These cases are quite common, though, especially on dangerouos roads where accidents happen more frequently due to speeding, intoxication, carelessness, etc. An officer is called to a scene of a one car accident and if there is no obvious reason for the accident, or if the driver gives an explanation that leaves the officer shaking his head, the officer will be able to make a case for careless or reckless driving, which is called “careless and imprudent” in my state. I see these all the time and usually, but not always, the cause is loss of concentration, speeding, going too fast for conditions, driver fell asleep, or was intoxicated or was taking medication that made the driver sleepy, etc., etc. But, if the car suffered a malfunction, that is a defense. The problem arises when there is a question of whether the damage occured prior to the accident, or as a result of the accident To make that determination an accident reconstruction expert is needed and that is very expensive and only done where there has been serious physical injury, death, or if there is a civil suit involving the parties where lots of liability ($$$$$$$) is involved.
For a one-car, ran-off-the-road accident like the one described here, you pay your $2 and go home (a little slower).