Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
The light turned yellow and I came to a stop behind the white line. Just then I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the car behind me fishtailing as it's driver tried to stop. Panicked, I surged into the still clear intersection to avoid being hit. No one was hurt, although I clearly broke the law by running the then red light.
Is there a legal term for "breaking the law to avoid injury to self or others"? Also, how do I communicate to the judge that breaking the law in this one case was the right thing to do? The potential fine is over 500.00, and with a five week old baby I don't want to give up the money.
1 Answer from Attorneys
The defense you describe is called necessity. It's perfectly legitimate. But in order to win, you will have to prove both that the other car would have hit you had you not moved and that the foreseeable risk of moving was substantially greater than the foreseeable risk (to you, the people in the other car, and to third parties) of remaining where you were and getting hit.
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