“Careless Driving On Exit Ramp”

i was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on this situation.

I was coming back at night around 1:30 from toronto and i took the exit ramp for 16th avenue via the 404, i was driving around 60- 70 on the exit ramp and staying in my lane as there were no cars behind or in front of me. As it was one of those curved exit ramps i saw there was a ride program ahead and i had to brake relatively hard to stop as i saw the police officer. The police officer was adamant that i was drinking but when i took the breath analyzer test i was 0.00. He then took my license and insurance and gave me a ticket for careless driving as he said i was "way" to fast coming down the exit ramp and had to slam on my brakes and "had my brakes screeching". However there were no skid marks or anything when we went back and looked after he gave me the ticket. My question is can screeching brakes be enough for 6 demerit points? I do plan on going to court but i really would appreciate any advice anyone has on this situation on what i should do or what could happen and any input would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds like it was dark, there was a loud screeching noise at the officer got spooked. He then went on a fishing expedition to charge you with something. Did he insist on the breathalyser or did you voluntarily offer? The reason is that it is questionable whether the officer had enough grounds to administer the test. Which further supports the argument you'll make in court that the officer was just looking to charge you with something.

And careless is a great charge, it can be handed out for almost anything knowing full well that that the prosecutor is going to offer you a lesser charge to plead guilty to when you go to court. Don't do it. Fight the original charge. There is little evidence to suggest you did anything wrong.

This site has a considerable amount of discussion about what to do to fight the charge. You can go to my site to get a primer on traffic court. Make sure you request disclosure and specifically ask why you were charged with this offence or on what grounds was this charge laid. You are doing this to prepare your defence. It is doubtful you will get anything meaningful in reply and the charge should evaporate on your court date.

But do your research and be prepared!

Thanks you so much for the advice, he actually forced me to take a breath analyzer test even after telling him numerous time that i did not drink. Yet he forced the issue and kept asking me if i was drinking beer or hard alcohol . I do once again thank you for you advice as it was very helpful, i will be checking your web site as well as asking for a disclosure and looking to see how i can prepare further for my case.

The fact that they asked you to do a road side test will have no bearing on the careless driving charge, the only issue is, were you driving without due care or attention....

The court will not care about the breath test, unless you failed the test which would have resulted in another charge.