Your Referrals Make a Difference! Thanks to your 91 referrals in November, we were able to donate $1,320 to help fight human trafficking and lead medical missions. INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION To learn more about International Justice Mission and their mission to protect half a billion vulnerable people from exploitation, please go to IJM.org . MEDICAL MISSIONS OUTREACH To learn more about showing God’s love by providing quality medical treatment to some of the poorest people in the world, visit the Medical Missions Outreach home page at Medical-Outreach.com .
LANE
CHARGE?
Changing lanes safely in a commercial truck is an essential skill for a professional driver. Getting it wrong can threaten a trucker’s livelihood. HIRE A LAWYER FOR THE BEST DEFENSE Many clients have come to us with career-threatening citations alleging violations of California’s lane-change laws. Convictions are considered serious offenses because hazardous lane changes pose risks to other vehicles, especially cars traveling in a driver’s blind spot, and they carry heavy penalties. The law requires motorists to avoid changing lanes until they can do so “reasonably safely” and only after signaling their intentions for at least 100 feet before moving over. Drivers must make sure their lane change doesn’t cause problems for other vehicles. Also, some officers erroneously write unsafe lane change tickets on drivers who stray into the third lane of a California highway, violating the state’s requirement that commercial trucks stay in the two right lanes. Trying to handle an unsafe lane change citation without a lawyer is hazardous. A conviction results in state Negligent Operator Treatment System (NOTS) points on a professional driver’s commercial license and also in federal Compliance, Safety, and Accountability points on the driver’s safety record. The points remain for three years, jeopardizing the driver’s future job prospects. Any additional convictions of serious violations within three years will result in a suspension of the driver’s license. There is plenty of room for disagreement on what constitutes “reasonable safety” when changing lanes. Also, signaling a lane change in advance is only required when other vehicles might be affected by the lane change. An experienced traffic attorney can gather all relevant evidence on these and other questions to seek a dismissal of the charges. In other cases, a lawyer may be able to negotiate a lesser charge, such as a non-moving violation with a fine only, to avoid jeopardizing a trucker’s livelihood. If you have been hit by a citation for an unsafe lane change, don’t try to handle the problem yourself. To avoid a potential conviction for a serious offense, call us today for a free consultation.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” PROVERBS 3:5
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