You have a wonderful vocabulary and I congradulate you on showing the city your talent.
But you should have chosen another subject to write about.
Everybody who is young DOES make mistakes.. my first car (a saturn) was totaled shortly after getting it.. i was embarrassed, i took the blame, i'm lucky not to have had charges pressed against me, but just a fine, the same as you did. I never saw that beautiful car again, but I was okay with that, because I didn't hurt anyone, just our cars... And that's what we have insurance for anyway.

And you are not a minority, so stop pretending that you are. If you've got a good attitude and are sorry for what you did, the police have no problem with you.

Try writing an apology note this time to the lady for trying to make her sound like a criminal and for not respecting her right-of-way in the first place.

So what I am trying to figure out is what this letter was supposed to accomplish. Besides upsetting this woman more than she already was (she and her young daughter were in an accident that could have KILLED them by NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN), I can't see that this letter has done anything except prove her case and make you look bad. I happen to know them and for your information, since I can tell how concerned you are for them, the worst part was not the physical injuries they got, but the emotional ones she and her daughter suffered. Besides being terrified at the fact that she could have potentially lost her life, the daughter saw your passenger's face at the point of impact. Even though she knew that he was okay after it was all over, she had nightmares about it afterward. Could you stop one minute and think beyond the precious THING that you lost and consider someone else? Maybe one day when you actually have a REAL baby you will understand that whether or not this accident was your fault (and it CLEARLY was) the important thing here is that noone was seriously hurt. When you get through with traffic school and can finally go back "to practicing worship for my God, Jesus Christ" (as if you can't do that ANYWHERE, ANYTIME), you might ask Him to help you see what's important more clearly.

This letter exemplifies many of the character flaws that plague our youth today. You are obviously at fault in this accident, but sit here libel the woman you victimized through your carelessness. Your fork-tongued remarks about taking responsibility for your actions are a transparent attempt to make yourself look like less of a jerk for writing something like this. Let's take a look at some of the problems with what you wrote:

"There was no squealing of brakes, no swerving into the two completely open left-hand lanes of the minivan. Nothing. The car came."
--Here on planet Earth, people driving down the road minding their own business, obeying traffic laws, are not expected to make wild Matrix-like maneuvers to avoid somebody careening into their path against traffic controls. She probably didn't have time to respond to you anyway with the description of the conditions you gave. Either way, she has no duty to avoid you - you have a duty to not pull in front of her.

"But the minivan pulled off in the other direction."
--You hit somebody in the middle of an intersection and continued in the direction you were otherwise traveling afterwards (into the Avenues). She probably did the same thing, as she couldn't reasonably make a u-turn in the middle of the lane of traffic to pull in behind you. That would put the eastbound vehicle pulling over somewhere after the entrance to the Avenues - maybe around Rite Aid. This is NOT a hit-and-run, contrary to what your hero from the Books-a-Million told you.

"Our reasoning of the hit and run seemed feasible for this was their fault."
--HA HA HA. Are you serious?

“failing to yield to oncoming traffic... Now, sure, that does sound rather correct."
--Umm... yea.. that IS correct. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

"But keep in mind the medium traffic level described on my bright yellow ticket: the darkness and the rain, and not only this, but the hill right in front of the intersection."
--Here we go with the "but"... Traffic laws do not cease to apply when the weather is bad. In fact, you should be even more careful in this situation. And what hill are you talking about? There is plenty of visibility to the west there. Even if there wasn't, that is YOUR responsibility to take care of when you only have a circular green.

"I assume that there is enough time to reach The Avenue from that turning lane when a car is on top of the hill"
-- Well I don't see every other car driving through that intersection getting in an accident - so maybe, just maaaaaybe it's just that you did something wrong.

"but since I was slammed, I have to also assume that they hadn’t slowed down from the 55 mph speed limit that is right before The Avenue (she could have been going anywhere from the 55 mph on Hwy. 54 to the 70 mph that traffic goes while they whizz by me right and left."
--That is a 45 mph zone - there is no 55 anywhere on Hwy 54 in Peachtree City. Also, to say people are going 70 through that intersection, especially in that weather, is ludicrous. You are fudging facts to excuse your mistake on both accounts.

"While I do take responsibility for my actions"
--This whole article is you NOT taking responsibility for your actions - stop trying act like you're a bigger person than you are.

"Would I still have received the ticket if I had short hair like I did this summer?...
If I wasn’t a teenager wearing tight pants and TOMS shoes? If I didn’t have tattoos? if I wasn’t with a friend dressed in thrift store attire?"
--My 85-year-old grandmother caused an accident several months ago, literally on the way home from church, and she got a ticket. I'm pretty sure it works like this: Person does something stupid to cause accident - Person gets ticket for their stupid action. I once got a ticket for "following too close" because I rear ended somebody. You know why? Because I was following that person too closely and hit them. My fault. People get tickets for this kind of thing regardless of age, race, creed, or whatever else. In claiming otherwise, you are no different than the liberal minority activists that try to make excuses for their bad behavior, and penalization for the same, by crying racism against police who catch them with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

"When you lie like that against someone you don’t know, and for that matter would probably never have met, does it make you sick to your stomach?"
-- What are you even talking about? What lie did the lady tell against you? You never say anything that the lady lied about. I'm sure her account of the incident had nothing to do with you getting a ticket or being found at fault - your own testimony in this article paints a crystal clear picture of who was at fault. If you told the police officer that story then he wouldn't even need her side of the story.

"Why can’t people just tell the truth?"
--I don't know Michael, why can't YOU?

I am 17 years old and if I can take responsibility for MY actions, then why can’t a middle-aged woman?
--Again, you are NOT taking responsibility for anything. You are making a public issue out of blaming an innocent third party for your mistake - and even accusing her of lying about something that you fail to explain.

It makes me sad that the editor of this paper even bothered to print this garbage. He would have served you better with a return letter that told you to grow up and stop blaming others for your short-comings.

You are okay, your friend is okay, the lady and her innocent little child is okay. Your car is totaled. It is still your car and thank GOD, not your baby (as you called it). You can lose a possession and get over it. If you lose a person you love, or cause this to happen to someone else, you will lose a part of yourself. Be thankful that this has not happened to you.

Sounds like you misjudged the oncoming vehicle's speed, a common error by young and inexperienced drivers, especially in bad driving conditions.

I do not think your dress,religion,piercings or whatever matters when you fail to yield. Be thankful you and especially your friend survived a T-bone wreck and the other driver/passengers did too.

Insurance or money can replace property, but not lives. Get over it and be glad everyone lived instead of trying to assign blame to others.

Im sorry your seats got wet, nevermind about your alleged friend trapped in your ride, you said he got out on his own. Some friend you are, What did you do jump out in the middle of the road to see if your spinners had spun.. Pathetic get real and quit wasteing the Editors time, pay your fine, and better luck next time...Are you in good hands...

It has been week and you do not know if they are hurt? Did you care enough to find out? Shame on you. Your bad driving could have killed those people. All you care about is your property? For a good Christian boy, you need to read your bible.

Sorry, but it has nothing to do with your hair. Bottom line was that you didn't obey the rules of the road. Listen to yourself: "But keep in mind the medium traffic level described on my bright yellow ticket: the darkness and the rain, and not only this, but the hill right in front of the intersection." The scene as you describe it warrants extra caution - such as waiting until the next green arrow. It is the left-hand turning driver's responsibility to make sure they can safely clear the intersection before they stick their nose out. I have one question, though. I'm confused about this being a "hit and run." You say the fireman told you that the woman and her child were in the ambulance. Sounds like they were still on the scene. If they pulled over, even if it wasn't right behind you, it doesn't constitute a "hit and run". I'm sorry that you wrecked your jeep - it stinks. Consider it a hard lesson learned. Glad everyone was ok.