“Careless After A Collision”

I received this ticket after being involved in an accident. The accident happened when a red sunfire came into my lane the left lane from the right lane without looking. His car hit mine and pushed me across the yellow line into oncoming traffic where I had a head on collision. The red sunfire also hit the third car.

Before the accident itself the red sunfire had cut me off attempting to pass a truck. When I honked my horn at him for doing this he slammed on his breaks causing me to almost rear end him.

At this time I moved to pass him on the right side and did so safely, tapping my break when merging back into the left lane retributively.

At this point the red sunfire went to pass me again and this is when the accident took place. All the witness statements say that they saw him come into my lane and both of us hitting our breaks, obviously I was not trying to keep him from passing me.

The police officer when giving me the ticket said he thought did not have enough evidence to convict me of careless, and was only doing so because witness statements could not prove I was forced across the yellow line by the red sunfire. Finally the address on the ticket he issued to me does not match the address on my drivers license.

I guess my questions are, do I have a leg to stand on in court as I am pleading not guilty.

Secondly does the adress not matching the adress on my drivers license at all make the ticket invalid?

Was the other driver charged?

ANM13 wrote:The police officer when giving me the ticket said he thought did not have enough evidence to convict me of careless, and was only doing so because witness statements could not prove I was forced across the yellow line by the red sunfire.

They have to prove that you were driving without due care and attention; although it is one of the most serious charges under the Highway Traffic Act, it is also one of the hardest to prove. If there is damage to your vehicle indicating you were sideswiped by the Sunfire, plus witness statements, the charge should be beatable. However, careless driving carries a whole gamut of serious consequences. Realistically, for this case, the most severe consequence will probably be your insurance doubling (or more) or possibly being cancelled, although there are the 6 demerit points, possible licence suspension, etc., to worry about. For that reason I'd suggest a paralegal. To get started in that regard, there's a form at the bottom of the page you can fill out for a free quote.

ANM13 wrote: Finally the address on the ticket he issued to me does not match the address on my drivers license.

That won't affect anything. Ticket is valid even if the address is incorrect.

ANM13 wrote:tapping my break when merging back into the left lane retributively.

You might want to avoid doing that sort of thing, because if a police officer witnessed it, you might be pulled over for STUNT DRIVING!! The other driver could have been smoked for that, too, based on your description. Did you mention that you braked "retributively" to the officer who responded to the collision?

If the other vehicle made a lane change in front of you, then the accident happened, then the other driver should have been charged not you.

The other driver should have been charged with "lane change not in safety, HTA 142.1".

Especially if the witnesses come to court and say that the other driver made a lane change and then the accident happened.

I don't think you should have been charged with Careless Driving, the charge says that you where driving without due care and attention, but from what you say, you were driving with due care and attention, and the other driver caused the accident.

Make sure the officer has the witnesses statements.

Prior to court the court is required to provide you with the complete accident reports. If the accident report and statements say that the other driver made the lane change then the prosecutor at court should drop the charge.

If the officer didn't feel the accident was your fault they should not have charged you.

If you are listed as driver number one on an accident report, that means that the police officer believes you are at fault in the accident.

You might be able do do this yourself, if you look for licensed paralegals, look for someone who has experience in accident investigation.

Thank you for the replies,

Yes the other driver was charged, i believe with careless as well.

I did mention to the police officer in my statement that i had tapped my break when i passed the red sunfire. made the statement in the hospital while i was on morphine for back injuries though.

The last thing i forgot to mention is that the police officer said that from what he understood from the statement he thought me and the red sunfire were jockeying for position (whatever that means). I obviously was not jockeying for position if i was applying my brakes when he came into my lane.

I really appreciate all the help because I am a student and really can not afford paralegal services since they are going to cost me more then the ticket itself, at about 700 dollars for my defense. At that price its more pheasable for me to just not drive for 3 years because i cant afford insurance.

Just another follow up post. If you have any information that can clear this up for me please reply.

I sent my ticket in and plead not guilty and that i intended to challenge the evidence against me.

A week later i recieved a letter from the court that says that the ticket was considered canceled and will not exist in there records. I am unsure as to exactly what this means... because at the end of the letter it says an agency can pursue the charges by way of a subpoena?

Also does this mean the charge still exists? how does all this work?

ANM13 wrote:Just another follow up post. If you have any information that can clear this up for me please reply.

I sent my ticket in and plead not guilty and that i intended to challenge the evidence against me.

A week later i recieved a letter from the court that says that the ticket was considered canceled and will not exist in there records. I am unsure as to exactly what this means... because at the end of the letter it says an agency can pursue the charges by way of a subpoena?

Also does this mean the charge still exists? how does all this work?

It could mean your ticket is gone and that you may be subpoenaed for the crown as a witness against the other driver for the careless driving charge?

I suppose it may be helpful to give the letters exact text so here is what it said exactly

WE ARE RETURNING YOUR OFFENCE NOTICE:

Your ticket is considered cancelled by the Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Offences Office. Therefore no trial is required and this ticket will not exist on our records.

As a result your information is bieng returned to you. Please not however that the provincial offences act provides the enformcement agency withe ablilty to pursue the charges by way of summons if they choose to do so.

That is exactly what it said, if you can decode that for me please do.

Again Thanks for all the help

ANM13 wrote:I suppose it may be helpful to give the letters exact text so here is what it said exactly

WE ARE RETURNING YOUR OFFENCE NOTICE:

Your ticket is considered cancelled by the Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Offences Office. Therefore no trial is required and this ticket will not exist on our records.

As a result your information is bieng returned to you. Please not however that the provincial offences act provides the enformcement agency withe ablilty to pursue the charges by way of summons if they choose to do so.

That is exactly what it said, if you can decode that for me please do.

Again Thanks for all the help

It looks like your careless driving charge is no more, however, they are saying that, there is a chance, that the Police can still come to your door and issue you a Summons charge, which is actually worse than careless, and requires you to go into court to have the charge/offense laid on you.