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Jumping Frog wrote: I don't know Texas law on it either, but I know in other states there are some misdemeanor exceptions carved out.

Some states allow the officer to arrest without witnessing crimes like criminal child enticement, public indecency, domestic violence, violating a protection order, menacing by stalking, aggravated trespass, or a theft offense. Traffic tickets? I agree with you that they generally need to witness it or have pretty indisputable evidence (like video for example).

I don't recall ever seeing a provision for "indisputable evidence" as an exception to the general rule that an arrest without a warrant can only be made for offenses committed in the officer's presence. I can't even imagine what "indisputable evidence" might be, as even a guilty plea can be susceptible to interpretation.

There are statutes which define all this in gruesome detail. Not being a Texas lawyer, I really don't know where to look. Each state defines these things somewhat uniquely; I'm just giving the general rule, which most states will tend to follow with each having some unique exceptions and qualifiers, depending on the whim of each legislature. Once the legislature gets done with it, the courts get shots at interpretation of the statutes, so anything can happen!

WildBill wrote:

gigag04 wrote:

tbrown wrote:Did the police witness the collision?

Curious how this would play in to whether or not the other driver should be cited?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know having a car crash [accident] in the U.S.A. is not a crime.

If the LEO didn't see what caused the collision or whether any of the drivers were breaking the law, what would they cite them for? Following too close? Unsafe lane change?

Generally, police cannot arrest, or cite, without a warrant, for a misdemeanor not committed in their presence. An officer can arrest without a warrant if he believes a felony has been committed and the person he arrests committed it, certainly a felony committed in his presence. I don't know the specific Texas law but I bet there is a code section that spells it out in detail.

The officer has to see you run the light, or catch you speeding, typical traffic type misdemeanors/infractions. The citation usually is a promise to appear in court, in lieu of arrest and carting off to jail.

Many years ago, I rear ended a brown SUV that pulled in front of me by about 10 feet and immediately slammed on the brakes, at 65 mph. I was driving a brand new Lexus which sustained what turned out to be almost $10,000 in damage. I got to the side of the highway, somewhat shaken, and the other car disappeared down the road. There were few cell phones back then, and I didn't have mine installed in the new car yet. The Lexus was operable, so I made it to my home nearby and called CHP to report.

To my surprise, the operator said another operator was taking a report from a witness who told CHP that he saw the incident, and followed the brown SUV off the next ramp into a park and ride where the driver got out took and look at the rear and drove away. The witness jotted down the license plate numbers. I went down to CHP the next day and gave a written report, and never heard another peep about it. Insurance covered repairs to the car, and that was that.

CHP surmised that the other driver didn't want anyone to know where he was, or with whom, or what he had in the car, etc. Whoever it was was in a heap of trouble!

No citation means nothing, and in many cases officers can issue citations for offenses committed in their presence only. Insurance will sort this out, albeit somewhat imperfectly from your perspective.