<p>My son has gotten a driving violation- Four points</p>
<p>He was the designated driver for taking his friends from a party. Apparently, there were six in the car. One extra person with no seat belts on the front seat. All five kids except my son had been drinking. They had brought four beer cans to the car without listening to him. Their drive was only mile according ot him, then he ran a red light because of the distraction.
They were stopped by an officer.
My son was cited for (1) red light, (2) extra passenger, (2) two open beers - altogether four points.
The two passengers in the front seat had given a citation for two beers, and yelling from the officer.</p>
<p>How bad is this? What will happen?
Please help with ideas on what to expect and what to do. His friends have promised to chip in to pay the fine.</p>
<p>When my son got a speeding ticket while DD, he went to court. The judge waived the points but the fine stuck. But, that was just a speeding ticket. He didn’t face open container, extra passenger. In any case, it couldn’t hurt to go to court. </p>
<p>May depend on the state. In HI, we had no control over whether insurer assessed points or not, IF there was a charge & conviction, there were points, I believe. Your S can go to court and explain, pleading for leniency that he was trying to avoid having any drunk drivers and first violation ever (it is, right?) Does that state allow people to go to traffic school instead of paying fine?</p>
<p>Hope your S learned that when he is the driver, HE is responsible for possessions of whomever is in the vehicle & the # of people who ride in the vehicle. Glad no one was hurt!</p>
<p>His friends have promised to chip in to pay the fine. Oy.
Um…I’d rather have them promise to pay the increase in the car insurance for the next three years.
What state? Age?</p>
<p>Depends on the state. Find out what is common in your jurisdiction. In some states, you need a lawyer to get a reduction in points. In others, the lawyer may be more of a hindrance than a help. Find out the best way to get rid of the points and do it.</p>
<p>Nice of the friends to volunteer to pay, but he drove distracted, he let the 6th person into his car, and he drove with people who carried beer into the car with them. Were this Happykid, the driver’s license would be in my home lockbox until she’d paid the whole bill herself.</p>
<p>Gotta agree with Happymom, if this were my kid, access to the car would be gone! Your son exercised very poor judgement by allowing that 6th person in the vehicle, especially if the drive was only a mile. He could have easily made two trips. But the real kicker for me would be the open alcohol in the vehicle! The fact that you say the passengers did not listen to him regarding the beer shows that your son was not in control of the situation. He could have told those guys he was going to take the first group home and come back for them, giving them time to do whatever with the beer. He should not have allowed them in his vehicle with alcohol. I am happy that no one was hurt and hopefully this will be a learning experience for all involved, albeit an expensive one for your son.</p>
<p>Kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a DD.</p>
<p>I feel for your kid, but he displayed poor judgment and as someone above said, clearly had no control of the situation, therefore was a poor choice for DD.</p>
<p>I’m glad no one got hurt, and I hope he can learn a valuable lesson here.</p>
<p>Some states have mandatory driver “re-education” if you get too many violations when you are young. Some have it when you get a second ticket within 2 years of the first. If that happens, you may also be put on a probationary status which will cause any further violation to result in automatic license suspensions of varying durations.</p>
<p>I think some of this is not covered very well in the driver’s ed classes, but would be well for youngsters to pay some attention to. Check your state’s DMV site (the real one, not the spoof sites that are all over).</p>
<p>HImom, yes, this is his first violation.
My S said he wants to contest and explain. I wasnt sure how to go about that.
Should we initiate something now, or wait till he gets the actual letter/ So far we only have the citation from the officer. This had happened only four days ago.</p>
<p>I am also glad that no one is hurt.
Hope there wont be a next time.
He hadnt seen anything wrong with being the designated driver. Unfortunately, he learnt his lesson hard way. I asked him to call a cab if there is a next time.
I asked him to call a cab for others if there is a next time.</p>
<p>Doug betsy,
Did your son go with a lawyer to go to the court?</p>
<p>Dougbetsy,
He is 21 and from CA</p>
<p>Cartera45,
Thiis will be the first time for us to hire a lawyer. So I may have to do some reserach finding one, and the whole process involes is new to me.</p>
<p>If one of your friends has hired an attorney for this sort of thing and was happy with the outcome, call that attorney. If this situation isn’t in your friends’ experience call the local Bar Association for the area of the court jurisdiction and ask for a referral.</p>
<p>Yes, just tell the bar what the kid did, and then say you want to get him out of this mess.
No wait; that wouldn’t be well worded. maybe you could say you want him treated fairly, that is much nicer sounding wording.
The driver wants to contest the citations? He feels they were wrongly issued? What is there to contest? From the tone of the OP, I got the impression driver had actually done what was charged. Did I misunderstand?
Like student, I don’t see anything wrong with being the DD, either.
The problem is the choices he made when driving.</p>
<p>Of course there is a poor judgement by my DS. But, I have to help him. </p>
<p>He has done the red light. For some reason, two front pasengers get the citation for two, and th reamining has automatiocally goes to the driver. Even though it wasn’t his.</p>
<p>I’m not clear on what “wasn’t his”. (post 18)
He was driving, and ran a red light.
He was driving while 6 were in the car.
He was driving while open containers of beer were present.
Am I misunderstanding?</p>
<p>Son wants to contest this so he can explain to a judge that the only reason he ran a red light is because he had the car loaded over legal capacity with people drinking beer? That will be his defense?</p>