municipal Court trial
I have a trial in municipal Court on Monday afternoon. The officer saw a driver spin his tires, accelerate, and throw gravel as he was on the property of a gas station in the city limits. The officer said he was a danger to others nearby, and wrote a ticket for reckless driving.The driver maintains that he was on the gas station parking lot, and not on public property, when the incident occurred, and that he may not be prosecuted on this ticket.(This is the third separate incident that this particular officer has written a ticket to this Defendant.)Thoughts?All comments appreciated.
Kay Wall
Does your definition of streets include adjacent parking lots? But, usually it takes a DUI for justification to write a ticket.
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On Mar 19, 2021, at 3:24 PM, Kay Robbins Wall lkrw@sbcglobal.net wrote:
I have a trial in municipal Court on Monday afternoon. The officer saw a driver spin his tires, accelerate, and throw gravel as he was on the property of a gas station in the city limits. The officer said he was a danger to others nearby, and wrote a ticket for reckless driving.
The driver maintains that he was on the gas station parking lot, and not on public property, when the incident occurred, and that he may not be prosecuted on this ticket.
(This is the third separate incident that this particular officer has written a ticket to this Defendant.)
Thoughts?
All comments appreciated.
Kay Wall
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Here is the state statute that makes the rules of the road applicable to public roads, highways, etc. except article 9 is applicable on public parking lots. Article 9 includes reckless driving. I suppose your argument could be that the gas station drive is a public parking lot if he was on public right of way. I dont have any case law to support that contention. To say a gas station drive is a public parking lot would be a stretch under definition of parking lot below.
itle 47. Motor Vehicles
[https://www.oscn.net/Images/Applications/search/WDFolderOpen.gif] https://www.oscn.net/applications/OCISWeb/index.asp?level=1&ftdb=STOKST47#Chapter11-RulesoftheRoad Chapter 11 - Rules of the Road
[https://www.oscn.net/Images/Applications/search/WDFolderOpen.gif] https://www.oscn.net/applications/OCISWeb/index.asp?level=1&ftdb=STOKST47#Article1-ObediencetoandEffectofTrafficLaws Article Article 1 - Obedience to and Effect of Traffic Laws
[https://www.oscn.net/Images/Applications/search/WDDocument.gif] Section 11-101 - Provisions of Chapter Refer to Vehicles Upon the Highways - Exceptions
Cite as: O.S. §, __ __
The provisions of this chapter relating to the operation of vehicles refer exclusively to the operation of vehicles upon the highways except:
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Where a different place is specifically referred to in a given section.
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The provisions of Chapter 10 of this title and Article IX of this chapter shall apply upon highways, turnpikes and public parking lots throughout the state.
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Unless otherwise provided for by law, the general provisions of this title regulating traffic on public highways shall apply on turnpikes.
klahoma Statutes Citationized
[https://www.oscn.net/Images/Applications/search/WDFolderOpen.gif] https://www.oscn.net/applications/OCISWeb/index.asp?level=1&ftdb=STOKST47 Title 47. Motor Vehicles
[https://www.oscn.net/Images/Applications/search/WDFolderOpen.gif] https://www.oscn.net/applications/OCISWeb/index.asp?level=1&ftdb=STOKST47#Chapter1-DefinitionsofWordsandPhrases Chapter 1- Definitions of Words and Phrases
[https://www.oscn.net/Images/Applications/search/WDDocument.gif] Section 1-142 - Park, Parking, and Public Parking Lot
Cite as: O.S. §, __ __
(a) Park or parking means the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading merchandise or passengers.
(b) A public parking lot is any parking lot on right-of-way dedicated to public use or owned by the state or a political subdivision thereof.
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From: Kay Robbins Wall lkrw@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2021 3:24 PM
To: Oklahoma Muncipal Attorneys Oama oama@lists.imla.org
Subject: [Oama] municipal Court trial
I have a trial in municipal Court on Monday afternoon. The officer saw a driver spin his tires, accelerate, and throw gravel as he was on the property of a gas station in the city limits. The officer said he was a danger to others nearby, and wrote a ticket for reckless driving.
The driver maintains that he was on the gas station parking lot, and not on public property, when the incident occurred, and that he may not be prosecuted on this ticket.
(This is the third separate incident that this particular officer has written a ticket to this Defendant.)
Thoughts?
All comments appreciated.
Kay Wall
Kay,
I am assuming that you trial is based on a municipal ordinance. This is how we have presented the issue in Norman:
Most of the time, accident that occur on private property are the result of failing to devote full time and attention to driving. However, our Careless/Failure to Devote Full Time and Attention Ordinance, § 20-502(a) states:
(a) The operator of every vehicle, while driving upon the streets and highways of this City, shall devote full time and attention to such driving, and the failure to do so shall be a violation.
Because this ordinance is limited to “driving upon the streets and highways of the City,” it does not apply to failure to devote full time and attention on private property.
The careless provision in § 20-502, subsection b, states:
(b) No person shall operate a vehicle carelessly, without due caution and circumspection, or in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger any person or property.
Moreover, our reckless driving ordinance, § 20-519 states:
No person shall operate a vehicle in a willful and wanton manner without regard for the safety of any person or property, or in violation of the provisions of article X of this chapter.
Unlike § 20-502(a), careless and reckless are not limited to driving upon the streets and highways of the City. The statutory construction argument is the City’s governing body knows how to limit driving offenses to streets and highways and the fact that they did not do so in §§ 20-502(b) and 20-519 shows that the latter provisions apply to both public and private property. I would look for similar provisions in the applicable ordinances for a similar distinction.
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From: Kay Robbins Wall lkrw@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2021 3:24 PM
To: Oklahoma Muncipal Attorneys Oama oama@lists.imla.org
Subject: EXTERNAL EMAIL : [Oama] municipal Court trial
I have a trial in municipal Court on Monday afternoon. The officer saw a driver spin his tires, accelerate, and throw gravel as he was on the property of a gas station in the city limits. The officer said he was a danger to others nearby, and wrote a ticket for reckless driving.
The driver maintains that he was on the gas station parking lot, and not on public property, when the incident occurred, and that he may not be prosecuted on this ticket.
(This is the third separate incident that this particular officer has written a ticket to this Defendant.)
Thoughts?
All comments appreciated.
Kay Wall