****ed up and got a ticket for aggressive driving. Am I done for?

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emtpulledover

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I ****ed up on my way home. I was tired, stressed, and irritated. I was going on a 3 lane highway and there were vehicles all going the same speed in each lane next to each other which made like a blockade that no one could pass. I went from center lane to left lane (passing lane) and got up behind the person there and flashed my brights. A police officer saw this and pulled me over and now I have an aggressive driving charge, which in my state is a misdemeanor of a “high and serious nature.” I wasn’t arrested but they wrote a ticket. Prior to this I never had even a speeding ticket. I just got hired by one of the best, most reputable companies in my area (city of more than 6 million) and I’m so crushed and angry at myself. I don’t even know what to do. Am I done for with EMS?
 
Possibly for the near future until the ticket falls off your record, but honestly it depends on 3 primary things:
A) disposition of case
B) agency hiring standards
C) state EMS board disqualification lists

Your best bet is to talk to a lawyer about the ticket and the agency ro see if it disqualifies you. Word of warning...not being upfront and honest about the ticket with them will be worse, because they will find out when they pull your driving record.
 
You aren't the first person who flashed brights and someone driving slow in the fast lane. You just got caught. Plead it down. IANAL
 
I’d be surprised if your state allows you to apply band aids after this settles.
We’ll take it from here, brother.
 
I'd absolutely hire a lawyer. Depending on your driving history this could be a non-issue or a life-changing event.

Good luck!
 
Summit said:
You aren't the first person who flashed brights and someone driving slow in the fast lane. You just got caught. Plead it down. IANAL
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preach 🙌
 
ffemt8978 said:
Possibly for the near future until the ticket falls off your record, but honestly it depends on 3 primary things:
A) disposition of case
B) agency hiring standards
C) state EMS board disqualification lists

Your best bet is to talk to a lawyer about the ticket and the agency ro see if it disqualifies you. Word of warning...not being upfront and honest about the ticket with them will be worse, because they will find out when they pull your driving record.
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Thank you. I’m waiting until my court date (mid June) to tell my company about the ticket because I’m hoping I’ll be able to plead it down and then I won’t be telling them about as bad of a ticket. I also spent $1k on a lawyer so hopefully that will help
 
MMiz said:
I'd absolutely hire a lawyer. Depending on your driving history this could be a non-issue or a life-changing event.

Good luck!
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I spent $1k on a lawyer and I have an otherwise completely clean driving record so hopefully that will help me out
 
@emtpulledover All you have to do is prove to potential employers that would absolutely never happen when you are on the job. Along the lines of teaching fish to ride bicycles.
See if you can get your lawyer to have it dialed down. Make offers like community service... essentially, get it knocked down to an infraction.

Come to think I did that once. 200 hours community service, several character references from influential people, a traffic school stint and an inferred from the judge: your *** is grass and I'm a lawn mower if you ever come before my bench again.

Community service and references is actually pretty easy. Hit up the local FDs that use volunteers for work, explaining to the chief what you are doing it for. Get a recommend from the chief as well helps grease the wheels. Also hit up small communities for public service work. Sweeping, cleaning vehicles etc. Do a bang up job abd grab a few more recommends. It all gives your attorney some ammunition to fight with.
 
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No one wants to hire an aggressive ambulance driver. If you can't handle the simple stress of driving in normal traffic, as has been fully documented, what happens if you're faced with the many aggravating things drivers do when confronted with an ambulance coming up behind them Code-3? For most companies, and agencies, the potential risk and legal liability would be something to shy away from. You might look for future employment as an ER tech.
 
CarSevenFour said:
No one wants to hire an aggressive ambulance driver.
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Agreed, nolo contendre, but let's look at the larger picture.
An officer determined the actions of the driver were so far over the line that it should go on the record as a serious criminal offense. This is a snap judgement call of the officer. It gets cemented as fact if a court convicts.

The way out of the jamb is to demonstrate to the court that it was a one off moment, a lesson has been learned, and that it will never happen again. This is a pretty steep hill to climb. Very steep.
In my case, I had a class A drivers license on the line, I appeared at prelim before the judge and requested an opportunity to demonstrate it was a one off. The judge granted me two weeks. At the end of the time period I appeared with what I had, a load of character witness stuff and heavy community oriented and requested an additional time period. The judge was aware I had more than one career on the line and I was attempting to demonstrate lesson learned. He gave me an additional time period where I had to take and pass a drivers training course and come up with additional community service hours. I did double on both, got it knocked down to an infraction and the hint to never appear before him on such matters again.
But some judges can be hard nosed. No guarantees with this. The judge normally will always assume the officer was correct. The burden of proof is squarely on the defendant to prove otherwise.
 
RedBlanketRunner said:
Agreed, nolo contendre, but let's look at the larger picture.
An officer determined the actions of the driver were so far over the line that it should go on the record as a serious criminal offense. This is a snap judgement call of the officer. It gets cemented as fact if a court convicts.

The way out of the jamb is to demonstrate to the court that it was a one off moment, a lesson has been learned, and that it will never happen again. This is a pretty steep hill to climb. Very steep.
In my case, I had a class A drivers license on the line, I appeared at prelim before the judge and requested an opportunity to demonstrate it was a one off. The judge granted me two weeks. At the end of the time period I appeared with what I had, a load of character witness stuff and heavy community oriented and requested an additional time period. The judge was aware I had more than one career on the line and I was attempting to demonstrate lesson learned. He gave me an additional time period where I had to take and pass a drivers training course and come up with additional community service hours. I did double on both, got it knocked down to an infraction and the hint to never appear before him on such matters again.
But some judges can be hard nosed. No guarantees with this. The judge normally will always assume the officer was correct. The burden of proof is squarely on the defendant to prove otherwise.
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It’s not a “snap judgement...”. It would be refreshing if you posted something that you actually know about.
As to your story...character witnesses have ZERO to do with traflic tickets and Judges, nor do they “give you” two weeks to prove something. Your story has zero veracity.
 
An officer often has leeway to make judgement calls. One common instance is driver vs driver where the officer calls offsetting penalties. With moving violations an officer can run the gamut from a verbal warning through infraction and misdemeanor on up to felony reckless, all for the same violation of speeding.

Character witnesses can be accepted by the judge as amicus curiae, offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. In this instance persons of solid standing in the community giving reference that the defendant does not act the a certain way under normal circumstances.
 
One interesting instance, a reverse effect so to speak. Vehicle southbound, highway 101 MCKinleyville, a driver lost control of the vehicle and did significant damage to Cal Trans equipment. CHP cited him for excessive speed, 30 in a 50 MPH zone. All similar situations come under 'conditions permitting'. In this case it was raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock and officer McG determined the speed excessive under those weather conditions.

Verifiable.
 
CCCSD said:
It’s not a “snap judgement...”. It would be refreshing if you posted something that you actually know about.
As to your story...character witnesses have ZERO to do with traflic tickets and Judges, nor do they “give you” two weeks to prove something. Your story has zero veracity.
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Your statement encompasses all courts and jurisdictions in the entire country, all the vehicle codes and all the penal codes.
Judges call their own shots as they choose to see fit. They are not rigidly bound by laws and rules.
Suggested reading, the purpose of a preliminary hearing.

Judge making a judgement call. CHP ticketed the judge for a DWI. Judge conferred with the DA then appeared before himself. Plead guilty at the prellim and handed himself down a pretty severe judgement.
DA, Terry Farmer, Humboldt County, early to mid 1980s. A hot shot legal eagle should be able to dig out the case.
 
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