OHTA.ca

I was charged for failing to yield, but I believe fault should be on weather conditions.

Person ahead of me lost control of their vehicle at the top of a hill. i turned around at a safe place further up the road, then pulled up behind them to make sure they were okay (they were). Leaving the scene, I pulled a U-turn onto the highway to drive in my original direction. A vehicle at the top of the hill *almost half a kilometer* away put on their brakes as they were about to go down the hill, and lost control of their vehicle in the same location as the first accident. They said they put on the brakes because I drove out in front of them, and so I was charged.

Thoughts?

If this changes the details above, here are a few more. The second accident involved a transport, and I had stuck around because I was the one who called 911 after it jack-knifed. Also, there was no damage to my vehicle, because I was a safe distance away the entire time this whole thing went down.

Lesson learned: Never stop to help someone on the side of the road. Thankfully no one was hurt, but I'm sure I'm still going to end up being sued or something.

hate to say it.. the old adage

"No good deed goes un-punished"

helpfulcitizen wrote:

Lesson learned: Never stop to help someone on the side of the road. Thankfully no one was hurt, but I'm sure I'm still going to end up being sued or something.

Better option would have been to proceed to the same safe U-turn location you used in the first place rather than turn close to the brow of a hill. How bad were the conditions ?

The first location I turned around in was a gas station. This situation was on a highway, and if I had continued driving in the same direction I was facing, there wouldn't have been another place to turn around until I got to town, unless I turned around in someone's driveway. The conditions were pretty bad. I had already avoided being hit twice in town (from people sliding through the intersection when I had a green. Being a defensive driver though I saw that they wouldn't be stopping in time). The person ahead of me who lost control was only doing about 60km/hr before she slid to the bottom of the hill and landed in a snowbank. I was a safe distance behind, and while I fish-tailed a bit, I didn't lose control.

Ah I see, I thought you were following the initial car that left the road. Unfortunately the bottom line is that your action caused the second vehicle brake. Certainly the conditions played a big part in that but either he braked reasonably in which case you are at fault or he had no need to brake at all in which case you would need to have good testimony in regards to distances, slipperiness of the road, etc. It'll be a tough one to win.

Just because someone is helping someone else doesn't absolve them from driving appropriately.

Unfortunate situation all round.

Yes, it is very unfortunate, and I am finding it very stressful. I believe it was not necessary for him to brake. There were two lanes on each side of the road, and we were about 450m away from each other when I made the U-turn.

Thank you for your responses, I really appreciate it. I have no idea what I'll be facing in court, and really don't want a long drawn out insurance battle. I'm meeting with a paralegal next week, because I really don't feel like I was at fault, and I don't know how I could have done things differently. Another accident in that location was imminent imo because there was no indication that the roads were so icy.

Remember that even if you take a plea deal down to a 0 demerit point charge, it can still affect your insurance.