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Saturday night, I was driving out to my girlfriend's house. The roads were a bit icy, but nothing out of the ordinary, I was on a state route with a speed limit of 55. I come up on a car doing 35, and I decide to pass. I check my lane, all clear, boot it to 45, and pull out to pass.
Once I was beside the car in the left lane of the road, a car on my left side decides to pull out of a driveway, turns right, and heads straight for me. So I now have a choice: Go back right and plow into the car I'm passing, go straight and barrel straight into the Chevy Trailblazer that pulled out into me, or take my chances with the side of the road.
I took my chances with the side of the road, narrowly missed a storm drain, lightly clipped a mailbox, came within a foot and a half of a telephone pole and a fire hydrant, and came to rest 100 feet later.
The guy in the SUV who pulled out in front of me pulled back in, made sure I was ok, and helped push me back onto the parking lot. The damage to my car was largely superficial, with the only damage being from the mailbox. I called the state police, who came out and made a police report. The problem I have is that the trooper that came out found ME at fault, and said I was going too fast for conditions. The other driver told the officer what happened, to which the officer told him that's all he needed, and he was free to go...then he asked me for my license and registration. I was cited for evading a car that came into my lane, failing to yield my right of way, as I was on the road passing, and he was pulling out onto the road. I checked the NY state laws, and it's clearly written that any driver entering a roadway from a driveway is required to yield the right-of-way to ANY car already on the roadway.
So, my question is for anybody who knows the law well, and especially to the law enforcement members of this forum. What's the best way to proceed? It seems pretty clear cut that even though I was passing, I was already on the roadway and he had to yield to me. I think the state trooper saw a 20 year old driving an '05 Mustang and automatically figured I was in the wrong. Help!
Once I was beside the car in the left lane of the road, a car on my left side decides to pull out of a driveway, turns right, and heads straight for me. So I now have a choice: Go back right and plow into the car I'm passing, go straight and barrel straight into the Chevy Trailblazer that pulled out into me, or take my chances with the side of the road.
I took my chances with the side of the road, narrowly missed a storm drain, lightly clipped a mailbox, came within a foot and a half of a telephone pole and a fire hydrant, and came to rest 100 feet later.
The guy in the SUV who pulled out in front of me pulled back in, made sure I was ok, and helped push me back onto the parking lot. The damage to my car was largely superficial, with the only damage being from the mailbox. I called the state police, who came out and made a police report. The problem I have is that the trooper that came out found ME at fault, and said I was going too fast for conditions. The other driver told the officer what happened, to which the officer told him that's all he needed, and he was free to go...then he asked me for my license and registration. I was cited for evading a car that came into my lane, failing to yield my right of way, as I was on the road passing, and he was pulling out onto the road. I checked the NY state laws, and it's clearly written that any driver entering a roadway from a driveway is required to yield the right-of-way to ANY car already on the roadway.
So, my question is for anybody who knows the law well, and especially to the law enforcement members of this forum. What's the best way to proceed? It seems pretty clear cut that even though I was passing, I was already on the roadway and he had to yield to me. I think the state trooper saw a 20 year old driving an '05 Mustang and automatically figured I was in the wrong. Help!