Hereβs one to file under βthe least you can do.βΒ
A couple who was issued a $166 ticket after crashing their car into a median to avoid a couch that jumped from another driverβs truck to the interstate will get a recommendation from the Florida Highway Patrol that that ticket be dropped.Β
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 forΒ failure to drive in a single lane. Both Singer and the driver (Singerβs girlfriend who asked not to be identified)Β went to the hospital. They both avoided serious injury.Β
βHe gave us a ticket for basically swerving lanes while trying to avoid a couch that was flying at us on the highway,β said Singer. βWe got so pissed.β
To say nothing of the people inside, the car really got messed up:
Itβs not every day Florida car crashes get covered byΒ The New York Daily NewsΒ or The Associated PressΒ (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 youβre free to read between the lines) a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman said theyβd recommend dismissing the ticket.Β
βFHP 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,β said Lt. Yanko Reyes in an email. βThus, recommendation of dismissal seem reasonable.β
The Orlando SentinelΒ reports that Reyes had previously defended issuing the ticket.Β
βYou have to look at the totality of the circumstances,β he had said. βRemember, 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, youβre able to avoid any and all difficulties.β
TheΒ SentinelΒ also notes Singerβs claim that the Highway Patrol has been courteous since it gave out the ticket.