Florida Shooters Network

A friend of a friend is asking me to fix his buddies car. The front of the car is pretty banged up. Allegedly he was rear ended on the crosstown expressway in front of one of the tolls. The car was bumped in the rear pushing him under a the rear of a semi. The car allegedly took off after hitting him. The police officer on the scene wrote him a reckless driving ticket and told him the cameras don't work. But I know for a fact they do and they work quite well, since the tolls are all toll-by-plate now.

Someone is lying, big time. I don't know who or why.

My question is who should he contact to get the video? Should he call the sun pass people or just file a police report for the hit and run?
I'd imagine it would be quite easy for the police to acquire the video of the incident.

Sorry about the Grammar, cuz I'm using my phone and I'm also not very smart.

Here's the car, not really relevant

I would think the po po could get it IF they wanted to!

For a car having that much front end damage it seems the rear of the car would have to have about the same amount of damage from being hit in the rear with enough force to drive the front end under a semi trailer especially if he was stopping/stopped with his brakes being applied. Sounds like a tall tale to me. I think the cop had the right assessment of the wreck. Doesn't appear to have been another car involved.
Also the cameras are focused on the plate level only at the point of passing the sensor not a wide view of the whole lane for any extended range. JMHO

Yah I believe it might be a lie, just wanted to help him out if it's not. The rear bumper is creased and barely hanging on, I'm told.
If you've ever recieved a sunpass ticket, you'll have seen that those cameras see everything, not just the plate

Loan him your car tomorrow and take out the SunPass and have him run the toll, when you get the ticket you'll know exactly how much the camera will see

I'm not sure if you get subpoena the video footage I guarantee it's not going to be cheap

I'm betting somebody tapped him he looked in the rearview mirror and didn't continue breaking and smashed into the rear of a semi on his own.... that's just my opinion and I am a pretty smart guy

rentprop1 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:24 pm
I'm betting somebody tapped him he looked in the rearview mirror and didn't continue breaking and smashed into the rear of a semi on his own.... that's just my opinion and I am a pretty smart guy

He may have not continued "breaking" but the car sure did!

The story doesn't add up. Reckless Driving is a very significant ticket, and is described as "a willful and wonton disregard for the safety or property or others" or if you flee from the police. It's pretty rare for someone to get it on a crash after the fact (versus the cop watched him drive crazy first, or a reduction of a higher charge turning into Reckless). The cameras absolutely work, and get both the rear AND the front of the car (targeting the driver). Reckless involves a court date...your buddy needs to go to court and hear the story, or find out the name of the trooper that wrote the ticket and ask him the real story. There should be a crash report too; did he get a case number?

I would like to see the back end of his car if some hint him from behind and drove him into the truck I would think the back end would be jacked up as well.

Wakko wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 11:36 pm ... Reckless Driving is a very significant ticket, and is described as "a willful and wonton disregard for the safety or property or others" or if you flee from the police. It's pretty rare for someone to get it on a crash after the fact (versus the cop watched him drive crazy first, or a reduction of a higher charge turning into Reckless)...

As Wakko pointed out [emphasis is mine], your friend is facing a very serious charge and hiring a local law firm that specializes in traffic offenses / criminal law should be his priority (we're likely talking thousands of dollars here, and not just a couple). "Reckless Driving" is up there with DUI and that's the kind of offenders he is going to be mixed with on his court date as an overworked judge hands out one guilty verdict after another while "internet" and "referral service" lawyers in their cheap suits pretend to be surprised their clients got shafted.

The best kind of lawyer for this job is the one that has a "working relationship" with both the prosecutor and the judge so he will be able to negotiate something for his client before the court date. Should that prove impossible the lawyer should be willing to take the matter to trial and get the alleged tape in the process, provided such a tape actually exists.

If your friend does not take the steps above then he does not need to worry about fixing his car as he likely won't be driving for a while...

And if hiring qualified legal representation is not an option, then there's always the Dunning-Kruger way

rentprop1 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:24 pm Loan him your car tomorrow and take out the SunPass and have him run the toll, when you get the ticket you'll know exactly how much the camera will see. I'm not sure if you get subpoena the video footage I guarantee it's not going to be cheap...

Didn't one of those toll booth cameras catch a pic. of the guy who murdered his girlfriend and her daughter, somewhere in the central part of the state and he was fleeing towards Miami as the Boynton Beach toll camera took a pic?
Pretty freakin' high def. and high tech.

ETA: It looks like a classic "texting and not paying attention" crashes to me. Notice, they are no longer fender benders, but 20 to 30mph crashes.