TO THE MUNICIPAL COURT MAGISTRATE:

Ticketed for wiping out on a motor scooter, Thompson refused to pay the fine. Instead, he fled West Milford, New Jersey - where the accident had occurred - and sent this letter of explanation of his actions.


November 6, 1959
Otisville, New York


Dear Sir,

Earlier today I was given a summons to appear before your court on November 9, on a charge of "leaving the scene of an accident". I shall have to decline this appearance, and I hope this letter will explain why. By November 9, I shall be well out of the state of New Jersey, but I don’t want to leave without explaining my position.

The accident occurred late at night. I was driving a friend's motor scooter, quite sober, within the speed limit, on an unfamiliar road. Suddenly, the road went over a small hill and turned sharply to the right. I touched my brakes, intending to slow down, and went into a long skid that came to an abrupt end when the scooter turned on its side and hurled me down on the asphalt. There was no damage done to anyone or anything except the scooter and my own body. No one witnessed the fall, and no one but me was involved.

For several moments I was stunned, dizzy, and in pain. Soon two men stopped in a car when they saw me lying in the road. They helped me up, saw that I was battered, but not severely hurt, and both men insisted that I ride in their car to my friend's cabin. Since I could not walk, they helped me into the car and took me to the place where I was staying.

Several minutes later the West Milford police arrived, very angry and without a warrant to enter the house. I was subsequently charged with leaving the scene of my accident, and told that I was lucky to be getting off with only one charge.

I called the Violations Clerk today and found out that the minimum fine for "leaving the scene of an accident" is $25.

So, faced with a choice of paying a minimum of $25 for falling off a motor scooter on a public road, and fleeing the state to avoid prosecution, I chose to leave the state. I am a freelance writer and simply cannot afford to pay a fine of $25 or more at this time. And, since I obviously left the scene and am therefore guilty, I would have no choice but to go to jail in lieu of paying the fine. Then too, since I could not walk after the accident, I had to have some help in accomplishing my crime. This would make the men who stopped to help me - and who were kind enough to ride me home - accomplices in this crime.

So, we are all criminals: those of us who skid and fall on damp, unmarked roads, and those others who stop to give aid to the injured. If this situation is not patently ridiculous to you, then I can only congratulate myself on having the good sense to avoid an appearance in your court. Frankly, I cannot believe that any thinking man would find me guilty as charged. My confidence in the mentality and reasoning processes of the law, however, is virtually nil. I feel sure that nothing but rouble would come from any appearance I might make in your courtroom.

If the thinking processes of the law were demonstrated by the fact that I was so charged with this crime - when I couldn't actually walk and had to be carried away from the scene of the accident by two men - then I feel quite sure that this same strange reasoning would lead to my conviction, in some way that would probably make just as much sense as the charge itself.

If I seem pessimistic, I can only say that these are my convictions and that I cannot apologise for them.

By the time you read this letter I will have left the state. I am purposefully not telling my friend where I am going, so that he can say in all honesty that he has no idea where I am.

In closing, let me say that I regret this situation tremendously. Ordinarily, I would come down to the courthouse and discuss it with you. Since I have no money, however, I can’t take the chance of going to jail - especially not for an offence like this, which makes no sense at all, no matter how you look at it.

Sincerely,


Hunter S. Thompson


Extract from collection of letters, The Proud Highway