I met with an accident and I have ticket on failure to control and have a court date in 3 days. I am recovering from pain and concussion and...

Question

I met with an accident and I have ticket on failure to control and have a court date in 3 days. I am recovering from pain and concussion and wanted an extension. I called up the court and the clerk informed me that I need to fax a letter to the court and the extension will be only for 30 days. But I am traveling outside country for my vacation and I cannot appear in the court within 30 days.

What can I do in this case? I thought If I can attend the court I may take some courses and lose the points but I cannot attend the court. Is my only option to pay the fine?

Or is there any way I can request extension for more than 30 days in my fax? or will it be rejected since I asked for 30+days extension.

Answer

If you state your reasons and your letter to the court, they will give you all the time you need. You should also include in that letter however a waiver of speedy trial rights. This will permit the court to extend the time for you without exposing them to other issues. Fax it.