confuzzled
New Member
My jurisdiction is: Tennessee
Let me preface by saying that as a parent, we are NOT trying to absolve our son of responsibility for inappropriate actions! :no: I need advice if we should seek council and try to dispute the validity of a ticket under the given circumstances.
High School gravel parking lot is located beside a Medical Office. All high school students are assigned parking spaces within that gravel lot and the medical office also parks in spaces that are close to their building that are unused by students.
My son entered the parking lot (too fast) and turned in a semi-circle to pull along side of a parked vehicle. A lady inside the medical office called the school and asked to speak to the high school officer on duty who is also a City Police Officer as well. He was in a meeting and so she reported him for "cutting donuts in the parking lot" to the assistant principal. The assistant principal drove over to the parking area and instructed my son to follow him back to the high school. When they got there, the officer came out of his meeting and wrote a ticket for Reckless Driving. Here is the exact wording of the ticket in the narrative section.
"Juvenile operated the vehicle in a reckless manner by spinning the tires and fishtailing in a gravel parking lot next to a medical office. Others were present at the time and repeated complaints have been received about his driving in the past."
Since the ticket was the first notification I have received of his driving improperly, I contacted the lady at the medical office building to ask specifics of what all he had done so that I could punish appropriately. She said this was the FIRST time she had seen him specifically do anything wrong but that she had called numerous times about other drivers slinging gravel onto their cars and building. I asked for details about what she had observed my son do that day so I would know his actions to punish him. She said he spun his tires in the gravel while attempting to park. I asked her if he was "showing out" or purposely trying to spin to sling gravel and she said no. She said on the loose gravels in the lot, even she had trouble pulling out without spinning until getting traction. She went on to say that she had called the school before because of the amount of kids that had slung gravel onto parked cars, but this was the first and only time she had observed my son specifically doing anything inappropriate. There was no property damage and she wasn't filing any complaint, she just wanted the school to tell ALL the kids to slow down and to be more aware of the loose gravels slinging onto cars.
I went and took pictures of the parking lot which showed the tire tracks in the gravel and they are perfectly symmetrical and prove the truck was not fishtailing as the officer wrote. The tire tracks show no loss of traction or any spray of gravel outward as if the tires were sliding. There is a small mound of gravel on each side of the tire as if the tires were sinking down into the gravel but nothing sprayed to either direction that would indicate fishtailing or the vehicle out of control.
I think he was guilty of bad judgment in entering the parking lot too fast and making a wide turn at a higher than appropriate speed but I do not think a charge as serious as reckless driving should be ticketed considering the officer was not present nor was any school official and it was based on telephone call. The officers narrative says there has been multiple complaints in the past but the person making the complaint says this was the first time she'd seen him specifically and at no time has the child been reprimanded at school nor have I been contacted by anyone saying he was misbehaving in a vehicle. I would think if he was as bad as the officer wrote, someone would have at least said something to him or me before giving the ticket. I would have taken his driving privileges myself after the first complaint. (And have until this is resolved) It makes me question the "repeated complaints" comment by the officer as exaggerated but that is what a judge will see in juvenile court.
Reckless driving on a teenager will mean licenses suspension for 3-6 mths and it will also raise our insurance rates well beyond the ability to afford for him to drive for many years to come.
Should we seek council? I do think he should be punished for inappropriate driving but I really think a reckless driving charge is too strong for what occurred and given the fact the officer based his information on hearsay. He was inside the school, in a meeting, not even near the parking area.
Advice?
P.S. The medical office building is in the background of the picture. Several hundred feet away from the assigned parking spot.
Let me preface by saying that as a parent, we are NOT trying to absolve our son of responsibility for inappropriate actions! :no: I need advice if we should seek council and try to dispute the validity of a ticket under the given circumstances.
High School gravel parking lot is located beside a Medical Office. All high school students are assigned parking spaces within that gravel lot and the medical office also parks in spaces that are close to their building that are unused by students.
My son entered the parking lot (too fast) and turned in a semi-circle to pull along side of a parked vehicle. A lady inside the medical office called the school and asked to speak to the high school officer on duty who is also a City Police Officer as well. He was in a meeting and so she reported him for "cutting donuts in the parking lot" to the assistant principal. The assistant principal drove over to the parking area and instructed my son to follow him back to the high school. When they got there, the officer came out of his meeting and wrote a ticket for Reckless Driving. Here is the exact wording of the ticket in the narrative section.
"Juvenile operated the vehicle in a reckless manner by spinning the tires and fishtailing in a gravel parking lot next to a medical office. Others were present at the time and repeated complaints have been received about his driving in the past."
Since the ticket was the first notification I have received of his driving improperly, I contacted the lady at the medical office building to ask specifics of what all he had done so that I could punish appropriately. She said this was the FIRST time she had seen him specifically do anything wrong but that she had called numerous times about other drivers slinging gravel onto their cars and building. I asked for details about what she had observed my son do that day so I would know his actions to punish him. She said he spun his tires in the gravel while attempting to park. I asked her if he was "showing out" or purposely trying to spin to sling gravel and she said no. She said on the loose gravels in the lot, even she had trouble pulling out without spinning until getting traction. She went on to say that she had called the school before because of the amount of kids that had slung gravel onto parked cars, but this was the first and only time she had observed my son specifically doing anything inappropriate. There was no property damage and she wasn't filing any complaint, she just wanted the school to tell ALL the kids to slow down and to be more aware of the loose gravels slinging onto cars.
I went and took pictures of the parking lot which showed the tire tracks in the gravel and they are perfectly symmetrical and prove the truck was not fishtailing as the officer wrote. The tire tracks show no loss of traction or any spray of gravel outward as if the tires were sliding. There is a small mound of gravel on each side of the tire as if the tires were sinking down into the gravel but nothing sprayed to either direction that would indicate fishtailing or the vehicle out of control.
I think he was guilty of bad judgment in entering the parking lot too fast and making a wide turn at a higher than appropriate speed but I do not think a charge as serious as reckless driving should be ticketed considering the officer was not present nor was any school official and it was based on telephone call. The officers narrative says there has been multiple complaints in the past but the person making the complaint says this was the first time she'd seen him specifically and at no time has the child been reprimanded at school nor have I been contacted by anyone saying he was misbehaving in a vehicle. I would think if he was as bad as the officer wrote, someone would have at least said something to him or me before giving the ticket. I would have taken his driving privileges myself after the first complaint. (And have until this is resolved) It makes me question the "repeated complaints" comment by the officer as exaggerated but that is what a judge will see in juvenile court.
Reckless driving on a teenager will mean licenses suspension for 3-6 mths and it will also raise our insurance rates well beyond the ability to afford for him to drive for many years to come.
Should we seek council? I do think he should be punished for inappropriate driving but I really think a reckless driving charge is too strong for what occurred and given the fact the officer based his information on hearsay. He was inside the school, in a meeting, not even near the parking area.
Advice?
P.S. The medical office building is in the background of the picture. Several hundred feet away from the assigned parking spot.
