“Careless Driving For Crossing Impeded Traffic At 140km/hr On The 404, By Taking The Right Solid Lined Lane”

I was just wondering what should I do regarding this case.

My ticket was officially clumped together as Careless Driving, but the cop booked me in at 140km/hr at that moment when I was passing a few slow drivers by taking the right lane and leaving that lane that has solid lines instead of dotted (so I can't cross).

As I was following my GPS to the tee (Waze), it changed the fastest route abruptly due to traffic conditions so I left the solid lane WHEN SAFE (I had two other drivers in the car watching). As I would not prefer to have a post hit me and kill me, I had to speed up to a decent traffic speed, 10 over the normal driver's speed at the time, to take back the left lane, however without signalling because I was more worried about keeping up with the speed of the highway after leaving the lane.

The cop booked me in at that moment doing 140, and leaving the solid lane (Not HOV) and not signalling (basically an unsafe lane change)

I know people on this forum always say I should fight it. Should I go with a company, or should I talk with the prosecutor?

I have video footage of myself after the exact intersection driving at a decent speed and at the exact time the officer wrote on the ticket. Again, I was not distracted, I did not hit anyone and all in all it was basically just what happens on a normal day on the 404 when you accidentally take the wrong lane and have to go back to the main highway.

If I am understanding you correctly, you passed someone from the right and crossed a solid white line separating the 2 lanes while travelling at 140 kph? I don't think careless is an unreasonable charge. Your driving does not need to result in an accident in order to support a conviction, and saying you knew what you were doing and did it anyway probably will not help. I don't want to be condescending but, you are aware that you are not supposed to pass from the right, speed or cross a solid line (though I believe that it is not an offence in itself to cross a solid line in many circumstances). That being said, I would go to court meet with the prosecutor and offer to plead to either speeding or some other minor offence. No reduced charge offered, then ask for a trial and hire someone to fight the Careless charge for you. Careless is a horrible ticket to have on your record. Most insurers will refuse to insure you and if they do your rates will skyrocket. Your representative will tell you not try and justify your actions in court with "Millennial Reasoning" as the fault of the GPS (you are the one driving), had no choice (you will be told there was a safe and legal choice and you chose incorrectly) or saying that everyone else was speeding too (irrelevant and you will not be able to prove the threshold of speeding by necessity).

Good luck.

Hi ynotp, thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I understand it is not wise to explain using "Millennial reasoning".

May I ask how would I meet in court with the prosecutor to offer plead to either a speeding charge or some other one? (I would imagine Unsafe Lane Changes charge).

As I only have 3 options, where if I chose option 2 (to meet with the prosecutor), I would have to willingly give up the chance to have a trial.

I read online about instructions on how to the charges by myself, but I'd much rather hire a paralegal to help me fight this ticket. In this regard, I can see myself dropping down to a minor ticket, but who knows.

You don't give up your option for a trial if you request an early resolution. If both parties don't come to an agreement, they'll simply book you a trial date for the future and you'll go from there.

Like ynotp said, careless driving is the worst of the worst when it comes to insurance. It's so bad that you should probably consider accepting anything they offer you. If they are able to offer you something else, it'll almost certainly be a minor offense. Example, an insurance provider may charge you a 5% surcharge on a minor offense. Careless driving is an automatic 100% surcharge IF they don't decide to boot you first. It's the equivalent of driving drunk, driving without insurance, racing, etc. You'd be considered bottom of the barrel in terms of drivers.

You want to avoid a careless driving conviction at all costs, even if that means accepting another charge happily.