Legal Question in Traffic Law in New Jersey

Re: leaving the scene of an accident

Honestly, it sounds so far like you've tried to do the right thing and are now being treated pretty unfairly. With that aside, possibly depedent on the extent of the damages, you may have actually violated the letter of the law by your actions. However, the true test of your conduct must come by a bit of case research into the cases interpreting NJ Motor Vehicle and Traffic statutes 39:4-129 and maybe 39:4-130. My hope is that the research will show that by doing the right thing, even if not to the letter of the law, that you will be able to defend against this charge. Nevertheless, your entire situation should probably be reviewed by an attorney and compared with case research.

If you are in South Jersey or Mercer/Hamilton then please contact me if you would like to consider hiring an attorney.

Thanks and good luck,

Daniel B. Kelley

(856)616-8080

[email protected]

Re: leaving the scene of an accident

I would have done what you have done. Don't change because of one bitch.

You can reasonably request that she get 3 estimates for repairs. If there are places that will do the work for less, than you should only have to pay that amount. If she wants to use a shop that charges more, that is her choice, but you do not have to pay that. She has a duty to be reasonable in this instance. She is not being reasonable.

How about this, write her a letter... be nice, apologize for the inconvience, but remind her you did the right thing by leaving the note. State you felt the estimate was very high, but perhaps it is not, but to determine that, you need 2 additional estimates, then ask her to please be as reasonable with you as you didn't have to leave the note.

I would contact the prosecutor, and ask him iIf she won't be reasonable, then contact the prosecutor (by letter) spelling out what happened, and ask him i f he will dismiss the complaint. If he feels he can not, then tell him you wish to file a complaint for making a frivilous complaint against you.

You can always go back to court later if you decide you need an attorney.

Good luck to you.

Kevin J. Begley

Leaving the scene of an accident

Your question is, "Can she pursue it." The answer to that question is, "Yes." The next question, therefore, is, will you be convicted? That question is more difficult.

The requirements when someone is in an accident such as yours are very involved. You had no way of knowing it, but one of the requirements is to notify the police. Apparantly you failed to do that. Is all lost? Probably not.

Your actions clearly show a good faith effort to comply. Under the circumstances, a judge might well conclude that you did "substantially" comply, and are simply the victim of attempted extortion. You can also probably eliminate all risk of being found guilty and losing your license by negotiating a deal with the municipal prosecutor. The negotiated deal would entail your pleading guilty of a less serious offense, possibly the offense of failure to report an accident (to the police). That would result in a fine, but no loss of license.

I might also mention that, with repair bills being as outrageous as they are, that the woman's bill is, possibly, presented to you in good faith. Not having seen the damage or the estimate, that is something that I cannot readily determine at this point.