Failure to control charges arise under many different scenarios. The most common situation involves an accident, including sliding on snow and ice. Anytime there is an accident — a one-car accident or involving two or more vehicles — it is likely that one of the parties will be charged with failure to control.
R.C. 4511.202 provides that “no person shall operate a motor vehicle . . . without being in reasonable control of the vehicle.” Violation is a minor misdemeanor. A failure to control conviction will add two points on your license.
Generally, if a driver’s vehicle slides off the road or causes an accident, it is assumed that they failed to maintain reasonable control over the vehicle. However, there are potential defenses. For example, if there was a “sudden emergency” that caused the driver to lose control, the Ohio Supreme Court has found that this can excuse the driver’s lack of control.
Icy or otherwise poor road conditions are not enough to create a “sudden emergency.” If it is snowing, the courts find that drivers should be extra careful given the conditions. Examples of a sudden emergency could be – an animal unexpectedly running in to the road, another vehicle causing the driver to veer or other unexpected event that caused the accident.
If you would like to avoid points on your license or would like to keep your driving record clean, talk to one of our Columbus failure to control attorneys about the specifics of your case. Our ultimate goal in all of our failure to control cases is to work toward having the charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser no-point offense.
Call (614) 361-2804 if you would like to discuss the details of your situation with one of our attorneys.
