OHTA.ca

Hi, just looking for some help on my situation and what I should do.

Was waiting to make a left turn, light turned amber still couldn't make the left safely, the light turned red and I had to make the left. A cabbie runs through the red light and tbones me.

Police were called by pedestrians that witnessed the accident and several of them pointed out the taxi driver did in fact run the red light.

I received a careless driving ticket and want to know what's my chances of fighting it off?

I've had situations like this before, quite often if you are charged with careless in a situation like this you can try to plea it town to a lesser offence, such as Turn not in Safety. You or your agent can speak to the crown about this if you want.

One thing to keep in mind... get your hands on the collision report and any evidence that shows the cab driver blew the red light. This is important, because although you were charged with Careless Driving, insurance will hold the cabbie 100% at fault if the evidence shows he ran the red light. Highway Traffic Act and Insurance Act are two different animals, and they operate under different rules. It is possible to have the other motorist charged under the HTA for a collision, while you get held 100% at fault for the crash by insurance. Marquisse can tell you more. BTW, was the cab driver charged?

Now for the charge. This is one of the most serious HTA charges you can get. I'd recommend that you seek out a paralegal. Even if the insurance company holds the cab driver 100% at fault, a Careless Driving conviction has some extreme consequences for your insurance. Your rates could double, or they could terminate your coverage. You could plea bargain, as Simon Borys says, but I'd still seek out professional help with this one. A competent paralegal should be able to beat this charge, given the circumstances you described.

Agreed! I wouldn't necessarily advise pleaing, I just wanted to say that was an option.

Simon Borys wrote: I wouldn't necessarily advise pleaing, I just wanted to say that was an option.

I wasn't saying you were only advising a plea bargain... but with the way this charge can go, what I was saying is, plea bargain or not, professional help is definitely warranted for this charge!

For sure! You definitely don't want to end up getting screwed with a careless conviction on your record!

The exact thing happened to me 4 years ago. I took it to court. Obviously they tried to make me accept pleading guilty to "Incorrect left turn" or something like that, which I refused. I thought this was going to get ugly, but when we got in front of the judge, the prosecutor said she doesn't see a way to obtain a conviction, and the charge was withdrawn. The other driver was present, the officer wasn't.