Am I guilty of running a stop sign if water gathered at the base of a hill and caused my car to slide through the sign?

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Am I guilty of running a stop sign if water gathered at the base of a hill and caused my car to slide through the sign?

After a day of raining the sun came out and dried up most of the water on the streets. That night I was driving down hill on a side street and went to break at a stop sign. After breaking my car began to slide through the stop sign, and realising I was going to end up stopping in front of oncoming traffic, I chose to accelerate out of the way. The officer tailed me for a few blocks before pulling me over and issuing me a citation. I tried to explain what happened but he stopped me midway through and told me no excuses. I need to know fix my ticket and if I can do so before my court date?

Asked on December 13, 2011 under General Practice, Missouri

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

Technically from what you wrote, you did in fact run a stop sign resulting in the traffic citation that was issued to you by the police officer. Whether you are guilty of the infraction that you have been cited for depends upon what the traffic court judge decides.

From what you have written, it sounds as if you have a viable defense and excuse for not stopping at the stop sign. The question is whether or not the judge hearing your case will accept the defense or not.


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