Point on record after supposed “felony hit & run in commercial vehicle”.

I’ve been a Class A CDL driver for more than 7 years. I’ve never had a ticket or been in an accident. I’m currently driving a 10-wheel dump truck. The tare weight is 23,100 pounds when I’m low on fuel.


I was the first vehicle at a red light intersection. There’s a lane to my left, and the driveway to a strip mall and gas station to my right. The two lanes merge into one just beyond the intersection. The accident happened at around 5:30 pm, which is evening commute hour in California. Traffic was heavy.

The light turns green. I start to take off. I hear a loud noise. I thought I was rear-ended. I pulled the brakes and walked to the rear of the truck. The driver is looking at me like, “What”? His car is not damaged. I walk up the passenger side of truck and look underneath it. There’s no moped under the wheels, or anything like that. I walk around the front of the truck and look in the intersection. Nothing. No damaged cars. No broken brake lenses on the ground. Nothing.

I get back in the truck and think it must have been a mechanical failure. I scope out a spot to park and inspect the truck. The shoulder beyond the intersection starts out narrow, but then widens due to the two lanes merging into one. There’s a small, late model blue sports car parked in the narrow spot. A woman is talking on her cell phone. I squeeze the truck between her and the traffic, and then park in front of her. I get out, spend about 5 minutes crawling around and under the truck, but can find nothing wrong. I decided I must be really tired and hearing things. I get back in the truck and go home.


The next day, I’m working on the interstate. The phone rings. It’s a police officer.

Cop: Do you drive a blue dump truck with a white dump bed.

Me: Yes.

Cop: Were you on Vasco Road around 5:30 pm yesterday?

Me: Yes.

Cop: We need to talk.

Me: About what?

Cop: The felony hit and run you committed in your truck yesterday.

Me: What?

Cop: Can I come to your job site? I need to inspect the truck.

Me: No, you cannot.

Cop: Why not?

Me: Because it will make the company look bad in front of our customer.

Cop: When can I inspect the truck?

Me: In ½ an hour at the DOT Scale. I’ll tell the foreman I’ll be right back. Meet me there.

I get to the scale house. The cop is waiting. She looks at the front of my truck and says, “Yep. It was definitely you. The bolts that hold your bumper on left a perfect imprint on the car bumper”. I tell her I have no idea what she’s talking about. I wasn’t involved in any accident or hit and run. She asks if anything unusual happened on Vasco Road the day before. I say yes, and relay the info stated above.

Cop: You rear-ended a car and left the scene of the accident.

Me: That’s impossible. There was no car in front of me.

Cop: I think it’s strange that you remember so much detail about the car on the
shoulder if you didn’t think you hit it.

Me: I remember the car because I liked it. It was a beautiful car, and I didn’t notice any damage.

Cop: Why do you remember that the woman was talking on a cell phone?

Me: Because I felt bad idling past her in the middle of her conversation. I hoped I
wasn’t disturbing her.

Cop: You hit that car, and you know it.

Me: How can I hit a car that was never in front of me?

Cop: She pulled out of the driveway in front of you when your light turned green.
Then, she had to stop abruptly because traffic stopped in front of her. You hit her.

Me: Then why wasn’t she there when I walked to the front of the truck?

Cop: Because she pulled onto the shoulder.
Me: Then why didn’t she flag me down when I parked in front of her and inspected my truck?

Cop: Because she thought you knew you hit her.

Me: How is that my fault? I didn’t know I hit her. I never even saw her. And, if I committed a felony, why didn’t you chase me down last night? I was stuck in traffic for more than an hour on a one-lane road. It’s not like you couldn’t have caught up to me.

Cop: Because we were busy.

Me: Okay… What now?

Cop: She’s refusing to press charges. She wants to talk to you.

I call the lady. She’s very nice. I explain that I never saw her in front of me, and she wasn’t there when I walked around the front of the truck. I didn’t put two-and two together when I saw her on the shoulder because I didn’t know I hit her. She says she understands. I ask how badly her car is damaged. She says it’s very minor. I ask if she’s willing to let me pay for her damages personally instead of running it through insurance. She says yes. She agrees to get an estimate and fax it to my employer. I call my employer and ask if he’s okay with this. He says yes. I ask if he’ll front me the money and take installments out of my paycheck. He says no problem. Hang up with the boss and tell the cop that everything is handled. Everybody is happy. There’s no crime here. I need to get back to work.

Cop: Not exactly.

Me: What are you talking about?

Cop: Just because she doesn’t want to press charges, doesn’t mean you didn’t commit a hit and run.

Me: It clearly wasn’t a hit and run! I got out of my truck TWICE and searched for the source of the noise! She never flagged me down! It was a misunderstanding, and it’s been resolved.

Cop: I don’t care. If you had resolved it with her yesterday, everything would be fine. But, since I had to make a police report, you’re getting a point on your license.

Me: WTF????


Can the cops put a point on a CDL driver’s license just because they have to take a report? How do I contest it? Aren’t I entitled to my day in court? This is my livelihood, for crying out loud! A point on my record could impact my job prospects and earning capacity for years to come! Please advise!

 

I didn't "hit" her. I barely nudged her. I was doing a 5th gear take-off (4th gear is shot). A lot of rev. Not much power. She was driving a late model BMW that had been lowered, and had low-profile tires and wheels. This is likely the reason I didn't see her in front of the big hood of my Peterbilt. The nudge barely left an impression of my bumper bolts in her bumper. Didn't crack, bend it, or cause other damage. She said she felt a slight push, and that was all. No impact. She had to have been pretty close in front of me because I never gained enough speed for an impact.

 

There is nothing missing from the story. I'm telling it EXACTLY as it happened because I'm asking for legal advice. The police report is titled Traffic Collision Report-Property Damage only. It only lists my information and her information as Party 1 and Party 2. Under my info, there's also a reference to the company name and address. That's it. They aren't charging me with a felony because the woman refuses to press charges. They are putting a point on my record because they "had to take a report".

 

My question is, can the police put a point on my record simply because they had to take a report? Can I contest it?

If cops can put points on a CDL holders record simply because they take a report, the guys who are divorced better look out because your ex-wives have a legal means to ruin your lives!