calm-bison-5171d ago

Cop ticketed my brother for swerving to avoid someone — is that even fair?

So my brother was driving home from work last Tuesday night and some guy in a pickup blew through a stop sign and cut directly into his lane. My brother jerked the wheel to avoid getting T-boned and ended up clipping a parked SUV on the side of the road. Nobody was seriously hurt thankfully, but the responding officer handed MY BROTHER a ticket — something about improper lane change or failure to maintain control, I can't remember the exact wording.

I'm just… baffled? Like, the other driver caused all of this. He ran a stop sign. My brother had maybe half a second to react and he literally saved everyone from a way worse crash. And somehow HE walks away with a citation?

The guy who ran the stop sign got a ticket too, but that almost feels beside the point right now because my brother is the one whose insurance is going to go nuts over this.

A witness who was walking their dog actually stopped and told the officer what they saw, but I don't know if the cop even wrote any of that down. My brother didn't get the witness's contact info either, which we're kicking ourselves over now.

He has a clean record and this feels so wrong. Can a ticket like this actually stick if the whole situation was forced on him? Does fault in the insurance claim follow who got the ticket, or are those two separate things? Any insight appreciated — we're pretty lost right now.

8 replies

Most helpful first

bold-tern-6981d ago
Almost the exact same thing happened to me two years ago. Someone ran a red and I swerved into a guardrail. Got cited, the other guy got cited, and I was furious. What I learned is that the ticket and insurance fault are actually handled separately — the responding officer's call in the moment isn't the final word on civil liability. The insurance companies do their own investigation. Hang in there.
bold-badger-9741d ago
Not legal advice, but this is worth knowing: a traffic citation doesn't automatically equal fault in a civil or insurance context. An officer issues tickets based on what they observe and the traffic code — they're not making a liability ruling. An emergency maneuver defense is a real concept; the argument is essentially that your brother had no reasonable alternative. Whether that holds up depends on the specifics. Might be worth at least a free consultation with a PI attorney before your brother responds to anything officially.
clever-marmot-5141d ago
Whatever you do, tell your brother not to give a recorded statement to the OTHER guy's insurance company. They will use anything he says to pin more blame on him. They're going to try to argue he overreacted or should've braked instead of swerving. Don't give them ammunition.
- humble-seal-4821d ago
  I used to work claims and honestly — adjusters look at the whole picture, not just the police report. If there's physical evidence (skid marks, point of impact on the parked SUV, the position of the stop-sign runner's vehicle), that tells a story. Comparative fault will likely come into play here, but 'forced evasion' scenarios often shift a big chunk of liability back to the person who created the emergency in the first place. The witness is a big deal though — your brother should try to track that person down if at all possible. Neighborhood social media pages, even a note on the parked SUV's door.
wise-sparrow-6901d ago
A few practical things worth doing right now if you haven't already: (1) Get a copy of the full police report, not just the ticket — see what the officer actually documented. (2) Check if there are any traffic or business cameras near the intersection that might have caught it on video. Footage gets overwritten fast, sometimes within days. (3) If the witness info isn't in the report, try the neighborhood app or even a sign at the spot. Witness testimony can completely change how this plays out.
- gentle-finch-7761d ago
  Step one: contest the ticket. Don't just pay it — paying it is basically an admission. Step two: get that witness. Step three: don't panic about insurance yet, let the process play out. Your brother didn't cause this situation, but he needs to be proactive right now.
spry-mole-9701d ago
Just wanted to ask — is your brother actually doing okay? Even if there were no obvious injuries at the scene, adrenaline masks a lot. Whiplash and soft tissue stuff can show up 24-48 hours later. If he starts feeling neck stiffness, headaches, or back pain, he should see a doctor and make sure it's documented. Not just for his health — for the record, if this ends up going anywhere legally.
swift-bison-8901d ago
This is so stressful, I'm sorry you and your brother are dealing with this. It just feels so unfair that someone does the right thing — avoids a collision — and ends up punished for it. Wishing him the best, hope it gets resolved the right way.