Here’s one to file under ‘the least you can do.’
A couple who was issued a $166 ticket after crashing their car into a median to avoid a couch that jumped from another driver’s truck to the interstate will get a recommendation from the Florida Highway Patrol that that ticket be dropped.
The single-vehicle accident happened last month (specifically, February 20). It was reported that a sofa fell out of a truck onto I-95. According to one of the two people in the car that crashed (passenger Jake Singer) they swerved to avoid the tumbling piece of furniture. The car lost control, and rolled over as a result. A trooper than issued the aforementioned three-figure citation for failure to drive in a single lane. Both Singer and the driver (Singer’s girlfriend who asked not to be identified) went to the hospital. They both avoided serious injury.
“He gave us a ticket for basically swerving lanes while trying to avoid a couch that was flying at us on the highway,” said Singer. “We got so pissed.”
To say nothing of the people inside, the car really got messed up:
It’s not every day Florida car crashes get covered by The New York Daily News or The Associated Press (or Complex now that I think about it) but, well, weird shit gets picked up. After media coverage of the incident (but not necessarily due to media coverage, though you’re free to read between the lines) a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman said they’d recommend dismissing the ticket.
“FHP is working with the courts to have the citation dismissed after supervisors conducted a meeting in reference to this incident and a decision was made that the citation had been issued in error,” said Lt. Yanko Reyes in an email. “Thus, recommendation of dismissal seem reasonable.”
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Reyes had previously defended issuing the ticket.
“You have to look at the totality of the circumstances,” he had said. “Remember, in Florida it is recommended to have at least a two-vehicle length between your vehicle and the vehicles in front of you because that way you have enough time to react in case something like this happens, in case somebody brakes, in case debris falls on the roadway, you’re able to avoid any and all difficulties.”
The Sentinel also notes Singer’s claim that the Highway Patrol has been courteous since it gave out the ticket.
