Reasonable period of time

Linda:

I guess my question would come to what rule did they violate? I am assuming speeding, unless you have a rule that you can't get in an accident. How does anyone know they were speeding, did someone pace them or have a radar gun?

Are they allowed to drive to their home or must they park the car outside the subdivision and walk? At first glance I see it as the BOD getting into issues they don't need to be in, perhaps you can fill me in so I can understand a bit more.

Hi Linda:

A judge would likely not look favorably on denying an owner access to their house with their car. However, if you were to deny the car driver to use a golf cart on the premises, that might be something that would pass judicial muster, depending on the driver's age and health and whether she golfs. Denying access to a community-owned golf course, pool, etc. might also be an effective means of enforcement, depending on the amount of use they make of any amenities. If there's no use of any amenities or common areas other than the streets, a simple fine might be best.

JPM

Okay let's see if I can briefly explain what happened...........The woman in question driving the truck is an employee of the HOA.. And lives here full time..She feeds the horses at our stables..... We have private dusty roads and a posted speed limit of 25 MPH all roads except 10 mph at and around the stable area... None of our intersections have stop signs either..... The other party that was invovled, was in a golf cart type vehicle....Woman in truck ran thru the "intersection" clipped the right rear part of the cart and flipped the cart- The two people who were in the cart were injured....They chose not to call law enforcement even though Fla State Statutes state that any accident occuring on private property involving bodily injury or damage to vehicles SHALL be reported to the authorities.. The injured persons did not seek medical attention until the day after the incident...The woman in truck has not made any contact with her neighbors inquiring as to their condition or shown any remorse.... She is known to be a habitual speeder here in the community....
At yesterday meeting she chose to appear as requested by managment so they could discuss this issue with her...She has chosen to "fluff" it off.
So the management commitee recommended that she be charged with reckless driving $100.00 fine
charged with speeding $100.00 fine
Not allowed to drive her truck to and from her house to stables while performing her duties -only may drive her gator- a golf cart type vehicle...She may not drive around the subdivision in her own vehicle like say to go mailbox area,garbage dump area, or to other areas...Her privileges are to be revoked for SIX (6) months .No rights to go to use the pool.lodge.tennis courts etc...She may only drive her truck to and from the gate to her own private residence.
Some of us here feel the 6 months is excessive and do not mee the definiton of being reasonable.... Would that punishment be more severe if she had been charged by a law enforcement person. Some people here are questioning the right of the Board to even impose this outside of the $200.00 fine...... Hope this sheds some light to you about this and all comments are welcome..Thanks Bunches LindaC

Ludicrous! What was the violation? Who investigated the incident? Where's the burden of proof? What ever happened to negligence per se? Oops! It's an accident. That's all.

This sort of thing burns me. This person behaved in a reckless manner, caused injury to someone else, shows no remorse, and people are concerned that her "rights" are being violated because those in authority want to try to prevent her from doing so again. Too many people seem to think that operating a vehicle is an inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution. It's a PRIVILEGE, not a RIGHT! More people are killed/injured by motor vehicles every year than are involved in incidents with firearms, yet if she had used a gun to injure those people the neighborhood would have been demanding that she be locked away.

Ok, I'll climb off my soap-box now. Outside of my HOA responsibilities I'm involved in various transportation issues in this area, and something like this tends to get me wound up.

Frankly, the police should have been called regardless of what the injured people wanted. If this person is known for speeding / reckless driving, then she has shown a general disregard for the safety of others. In order to help protect the people in the neighborhood, at a minimum a police report should have been filed. If the police had been called in, then if she had gone before a judge she might have lost her driver's license (not just her neighborhood driving privileges) for a year or more. A 6 month loss of privileges is fairly mild for causing injury to another person.

Well said Dwight - The police should have been called and the association should probably have a letter of authorization on file so that they can come on site anytime and enforce traffic code. It's worked for us here in Northern Virginia. On another note, it's presumed that the homeowner was travelling too fast, but all this really should have been investigated by professionals. (the police). Even though it's on private property, they'll come in a write a report anytime there is an injury. All this falls under civil tort law and later if there is a serious injury, this could all blow up into a very serious law suit later on. Even though everyone seems fine right now, you never know...

I see this alot differently from those quickly judging/imposing fines etc.

Innocent until proven guilty?

This seems like a MAJOR overstep by the HOA BOD in terms of this person as a 'resident' and in fact the HOA could be held responsible for claims by either party for some of the reasons below (lawsuit anyone?).

The HOA BOD DOES have authority to act as the employer to discipline/terminate an 'employee' especially if they fail to show when asked by their 'employer'.

I do have some questions though:

1. When did BOD become accident investigators? What training/equipment do they have to do so? Otherwise how can they legally attribute 'blame'?

2. How do you know speeding was involved? Radar gun, skid mark analysis?

3. No stop signs at intersections? Then the golf cart equally 'ran through the intersection' didn't they? Common sense dictates that intersections be signed. Maybe time for some just to reduce liability to the HOA!

4. It seems the Police should have been called, particularly if the injured parties develop some medical ailment that can later be attributed to the accident..and thus insurance company claim becomes part of the picture.

Maybe the BOD should lose their privileges for 6 months for failing to act diligently ...not having signs.

I am curious as to why the golf cart riders choose not to have the police involved since they sustained injuries? There are just some matters that are "police" issues, this fits very nicely into that catergory.