OHTA.ca

Hi there...I have a huge problem and need some advice. My 18 year old daughter was in an accident. The officer wrote her a ticket for "careless", yet later in the hospital after speaking with the others in the cars and witnesses (including the other driver of the other vehicle) he told her that he wishes he could rip up the ticket and she should fight it as it would be dropped.

His determination of fault was apparently derived from where her vehicle ended up after the collision on a sharp turn on a loose gravel road.

Apparently, when she hit the brakes, they locked and she slid across the "middle line". He determined that she was going approximately 40 km/hr. No measuring of the other drivers skid marks or determination of speed. The other driver had adult guidance and I was not contacted. The cars hit head on causing identical damage to both vehicles. (drivers side front quarter panel and bumper)

Yet many factors now point to at least equal fault with both young drivers, and ALL witnesses state that my daughter was on her own side of the road when the accident occurred... again (including the other driver of the other vehicle)plus the other girl was waving her down with her hand out the window...they are friends. Long story but on to my main issue..

So heres my biggest dilemma...my insurance company says they are deeming my daughter to be 100% at fault as she was initially charged....and even if she gets the charges completely dropped, they will not change that determination. They are only going to take the initial police report as evidence,(although none of us has received it yet) they do not want the pictures the teenagers took nor will consider witness testimony as they all were acquaintances. Nor will they accept any future court decision.

Her rates will increase SUBSTANTLY for the next six years and her car is a total loss....but the other girl will receive coverage through the direct compensation on her insurance....I was willing to settle out of insurance to save this and both of the girls insurance rates as the other drivers cars black book value is only $500-700, and accept the loss of my daughters BBook $3300 car.......but greed has gotten the better of them so heres my mess.

Questions are this...

1. Can the insurance company actually take that stance? Do I have any way to fight their fault determination and have her rates and 4 star rating returned?

2. Can taking this to court determine the other girl at partial fault for taking her hand off the wheel on a tight corner to wave? Not sure if it matters, but daughter has a clean driving record, no infractions in almost 3 years of driving. The other girl has had her G2 for 4 months and has already had 4 speeding tickets.

3. Can or will the officer change his initial report to reflect the new evidence he is in receipt of? This would be the ONLY thing my insurance company said they would consider.....damn me for being honest and follow the law by disclosing that she was charged when they asked that direct question!!

1) If the initial report is shown to be incorrect or missing details, I don't see how the insurance company could stand by it. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario oversees all insurance providers and sets the rules that they may follow. Their website might be a good starting resource.

2) While the Court will examine the role of other drivers, it's only to determine if your daughter is guilty of careless driving or not. Determining percentage of fault would be a civil matter.

3) Yes, police accident reports can be amended by the investigating officer. If the officer truly feels the charge is without merit, he should contact the Crown so they can consider withdrawing it. At the very least, the Crown will likely offer a plea deal to a much less serious charge.

thank you for your post....I am having a meeting scheduled with the crown before a trial date has been set. I have new info for the officer but he will not call me back and apparently the report has not been written yet for me to pay for a copy.

I hope the crown will be open to viewing the new info and make a determination from the meeting.

1. I have text msg's and a phone call from the other driver's cell and it appears she was was sending them to a friend of both the girls at the time of the accident...she was asking where my daughter was and to have her call her asap as her cell was dying.

2.A witness in one of the car's who confirms that the other driver was waving out the window trying to flag down my daughter as they came around the corner and the biggest argument is that:

3. I took my car out to the scene and drove it so close to the trees on the side where my daughter was, that the leaves were resting on my mirror and I could not fully open the passenger door...I then took a measuring tape and measured from my drivers mirror to where the ditch descended and it was only 5.5 feet.

The road /corner from tree to ditch is only 13 feet across....my car mirror to mirror is 82 inches or 6.83 feet; therefore even if I drove with the trees scraping down the side of my passenger side of my car, I would STILL be across the "middle line". On the contrary, on the other side of the road, one would have to drive partially in the ditch to avoid being across the "middle line" of the road.

I took many pictures from every angle, with the measuring tape out.....keep in mind this IS a township maintained road, no signs about using at own risk etc. and the kicker is that the is no posted speed limit either on this skinny winding loose gravel road.....

Do you think I have some good arguments to have the decision reversed? My main concern is not to have the other girl charged, but to have my daughters charged deemed without merit and should not have been laid in the first place....not just dropped on a technically....

Thanks sooo much for any advise and opinions!