“Hta Caution 158(1)”

Hey gang,

My wife was involved in a bang up today. Traffic was accelerating North at Westney Road south of 401 in the rightmost lane from a red light. The driver in front of my wife was cut off abruptly by someone trying to squeeze in to get on an east bound 401 ramp. Couldn't have been doing more than 25kph from my estimation. She's in a 2013 Civic in eco-mode, so she's not exactly roaring off the line.

Driver in front stood on the brakes, and came to an abrupt stop. My wife braked but obviously didn't notice in time to stop. The guy that did the cutting off kept going... not even sure if he knows what he started. Frequently aggressive drivers are trying to cut into this right lane as it feeds the 401 east and west bound on-ramps at Westney Rd.

Nobody injured.

Wife exchanged info with the woman in front, and after a while, the left the scene with not visible damage. My wife's small sedan took the brunt of the damage, with her bumper, headlights, and hood smashed up pretty well. Only minor damage to the rad, no leaks, just some grill plastic jammed into the thin rad fins in a few small places. Car running fine, seems mostly cosmetic but insurance hasn't seen it yet. Reporting center estimated it at $2000 in damage.

Called cops and got directions to the reporting center. Drove the car to the reporting center, and wife filled in the incident report. While filling it up, she guessed she was going 35-40 kph, but I doubt that. Don't think there was enough distance to get up to that speed. I'm going to measure distance tonight and try it myself. I didn't notice she wrote 30-40 kph before she submitted the report.

Question is what does "HTA Caution" actually mean? Is that how they denote a charge under HTA 158.1? Is he just cautioning her? Didn't explain it at all. Just overheard him say that he "would consider laying charges against her." I was just within earshot, while on the phone with insurance.

I understand that she's likely considered at fault for the rear-ender. Just curious about the notation on the self-reporting collision report. Any advice? Haven't spoken with an insurance adjuster yet.

Thanks!

Moose

Sounds like the officer just warned her that she could be charged with the offence. If she'd actually been charged, she would have been served with a ticket.