Ran a red light and caused an accident

I was in a unfamiliar area of Toronto and was not feeling very well and god knows how that happened but I hit a car in near the driver's side front and my right side front. Air bag burst in my car. That driver hit the other car in the lane because of the impact. My 2008 Honda Civic and their 2002 Cavalier and 2002 Sienna were written off for insurance.

Fortunatly no one was injured otherwise I would not have forgiven myself. Still feeling guilty and shaken because of this. 50 Year old mom-secondary driver for hubby's car, have been driving for 14 years and this first accident- non drinker nothing of that sort- usually very careful driver. Today after 3 weeks I got a summons to appear before the Ontario court of justice for fail to stop, section 144, subsection 18 of the Highway Traffic Act.

I do not recall anything about how it happened but it must be my fault. Now what will happen in court? I feel so guilty that often think of killing myself for this.

Hello,

I cannot offer an experienced answer to your question; sorry. But I wanted to respond none the less. We call them "accidents" not "on purposes" for a reason. This was a sentement shared with me when I backed into a car that I inexplicably managed to never see before I heard the crunch. I understand that likely your failure to pay the proper attention in those moments caused a lot of damage, and no doubt much inconvenience, thankfully without serious injury. Those moments do not define you. Please don't let them. The uncomfortable part of this experience is not over, you seem to be in touch with how tough this is, and how easy it could have been so much worse; you'll learn from the mistake. I hope you have people you can lean on for support to help you through this tough time and know there will be good in each day ahead, good that you are deserving of.

I am sure others here can answer the questions about what to expect in court, and I wish you well.

Unless you received a summons instead of a regular ticket, you're not actually required to attend Court. You can simply pay the fine and be done with it.

Can you scan the summons/ticket and post it here for us to look at (with personal info blacked out)?

If it is a summons you do have to attend court that day (or have somebody represent you if you can not attend), but this is not a trial date. You simply have to show up and you can (1) plead guilty and be done with it (not recommended as it will affect you insurance), or (2) state you would like to see disclosure before you decide how to plead (recommended).

We all make mistakes but wanting to kill yourself over a car accident where nobody was even injured is certainly extreme. And remember you have been forced to pay for insurance since you owned the car to cover this exact situation.

Absolute worst case scenario in all this is that

(1) you are found guilty of fail to stop and have to pay a fine, and

(2) your insurance goes up.

But remember everybody is still okay and everybody still gets their cars fixed.

Thanks 287 and Jshrek for your kind words. Yes, I should think it in a positive way that at least no one was hurt.

Please find the attached copy of summons.

So this is a summons and not a ticket. So on December 8 when you show up (or have someone go for you) you can just simply say that you would like to get disclosure before you decide whether to plead guilty or not guilty.

Remember December 8 is not your trial, but you will appear before a Justice of Peace just to say you want disclosure before you plead.

So I will have to wait till December 8 and then ask for disclosure. I can not get that earlier than that, right?

Thanks jshrek.

You can try... you could write your disclosure request and see if you can get it ahead of time. You may or you may not.

But let me point out why you probably want to fight this ticket all the way...

At least one of the other two drivers MUST show up on the trial date (not December to testify that you were the driver.

The police officer will be there to give his evidence but without one of the other drivers, they must drop the case. Will they show up? They may or they may not!

So in your disclosure request you want to ask for the Notes of all officers involved and the Witness statements and Will-say statements of all witnesses involved.

Thanks Jshrek.

Good to know that if one of the driver doesn't come to trial I will be lucky;) I will ask for disclosure using Traffi combat format.

To clarify, if ONE shows up, that may still be enough convict you. But if both do not show up, then they must drop the charges.

However one might or might not be enough, depending on what their statements say. You have to read what they said carefully and see what they are specifically saying about you and your car.

Today received letter from lawyer that the driver of the car I hit the wants to commence legal action Nothing happened to him. I wish there is a way for these lawyers to know how much grief they are giving it to the people they sue for nothing.

I am ready to admit that yes, it was my mistake and I am going to feel guilty for it for the rest of my life but do you want me to pay for it by giving my life!

Just hand it over to your insurance company and let them worry about the lawsuit. Take comfort in the fact that if the person isn't really hurt and if they do get any money, it is nothing in comparison to the amount of BS your insurer will make them go through.

Yep, just call your insurance company and let them deal with it.

If a car accident is causing you to consider taking your life when nobody was even injured, then you should consider seeking proper medical/mental/spiritual treatment to deal with those issues, as I am sure your family does not want you to hurt yourself.

Yes, ynotp and Jshrek. I will inform insurance company and let them take care of it.

I am bit over sensitive and take things seriously. Have to learn "to let it go" and stop blaming myself.

Today I received 'Notice of Fine and Due Date" by post for $330 and due date is Nov 10. What does it mean? As per summons my trial is on Dec 8 2015 then why I have to pay now? This is the first time I have received this for fine. Very confused with the whole process!

Well I would take the Notice of Fine and the Summons and go to the Clerk of the Courts office at the Provinvial Offences building and ask them what is going on.

Show them you have a summons and ask them why they sent you fine already.

Seems to me somebody just made a mistake.

Thanks Jshrek.

When I called their office lady told me that I need to go there and ask for re-opening. I will take all the papers with me to show that I never received any thing for that.

Went to the court on Friday and told them that Officer never issued me any ticket and I had a summons scheduled on Dec 08. Today received email that

"Your application for a re-opening was granted. You will receive a Notice of Trial in the mail at the address provided on the Notice of Intention to Appear.

You may also view your case information by following the link below. If you have any questions/concerns, please contact our Call Centre at 416-338-7320."

I am still confused about ticket they are referring. Is it possible for the officer to send ticket by post?

I would go to the clerks office and ask for a copy of both sides the original ticket (Certificate of Offence).

I would also verify whether you need to attend the Summons date that you got.

It is all very confusing to me since they issued you a summons so why was there a charge issued? Possibly it is for some other charge but you really need to get it all sorted at the clerks office as they are the ones that receive the tickets from the police and issue the court dates.

You need to go ask LOTS of questions until you understand. I have no idea why it happened the way it did so the clerk is the only one that can figure it out for you. Don't leave until you get the answers you want and understand completely.

Jshrek,

Finally I went to their office today and asked for copy of Original ticket and he told me that your case is gone for re-opening and you will get trial date in mail. He just gave me a printed copy of offence inquiry with all my details and offence date etc.

He told me that I should go on Dec 8 for my summons and tell JP that I am waiting for trial date for re-opening of my case. I clearly asked him that "Am I charged for anything other than red light stop" and he said it is for that -nothing else!

What I am not getting is- Office never gave me any ticket and I got summons after 3 weeks delivered by officer at my home. Is it some kind of mistake and will it be good for me? I wish and pray that there is some mistake

Okay well you sort of have it sorted out! I would make sure you take any paperwork you got from clerk with you on Dec 8 as it will all be very confusing.

The officer has 6 months to issue a ticket, and a summons is a common way to do that, so yes they can do that and there is nothing wrong with it.

Went to court for my summons. Prosecutor didn't ask me anything and when my name was called JP gave a trial date of Jan 26. Received disclosure copies by prosecutor at that time.

Only one driver has given witness statement. He is a Driver of the first car I hit. He stated that I ran a red light. It was raining and roads were wet at that time.

On the Collision Field Notes, under offence office has noted Red light fail to stop HTA 144(18) and on PON/FORM 104# 12345678 is crossed out and office has initials there. That number matches on the notice of fine and due date I received in November. Below the crossed number officer has written my summons number. Don't know why first was crossed out!

Now do not know what will happen on Jan 26 but I can forget about it till Jan 26!

January 26 is your trial date so you should not forgot about it until then. You need to start preparing for your defense or finding a good lawyer to represent you. Waiting until the last minute will almost guarantee you lose.

I suppose that I have to just pray that either cop doesn't show up or witness driver. What other defence I have? Even if I hire some lawyer how is he going to help me?

I will post a request for interpreter as well as English is not my first language.

Can I send a interpreter request by post or I need to go in person?

I always send a fax as it is quick and easy. You scan your letter and upload it to a "send free fax" site.

Thanks Jshrek. I will send a fax to them.

Went to court thinking that it was my trial date! No, they gave me new date in May. My insurance renews in April, so hopefully no conviction increase at that time;)

Why do they just drag things like this? It is good for me but just want it to be over for good.

At your first summons date, if you say you will plead not guilty and want a trial then they will set a trial date. But if they just gave you disclosure, and you did not specifically ask JP for a trial date, then usually they will give you time to review the disclosure and then you have to come back and then they will ask you if you want plead guilty or if you plan to plead not guilty they will then set your trial date.

So most likely you did not specifically ask for trial date at first summons meeting so they did not set a trial date.

Yesterday received "Notice of Motion" for the "re-opened" case date to April 1 as the witness is not available on original date of April 20th. I have a specialist doctor's appointment on that date.

Can I object to the given date and ask them to set another date? What is the procedure for that?