“Careless Driving- Single Car, No Witness”

Hey guys,

Im looking for some guidance on how to approach my careless driving charge.

My wife picked up her car at the dealership. She decided to drive by herself in the new car & I followed her out of the dealership with my 6 year old son in the second car.

We drive on to North Service Road. My sons playing with this big balloon (from the dealership) that he throws right in front of me. It blocks my view of the road completely. In my awkward position trying to push the balloon off to the side, I momentarily lose control of the vehicle and hit a sign post. I try to correct the vehicle back on to the road, but being a service road with no hard shoulder, my right wheel gets caught in the gravel, continues to move right and ends up in a ditch.

Speed during the whole episode was around 30-35kph, so we both made it ok with no injuries.

My wife who is about 50 feet ahead of me sees than Ive vanished from her rear view mirror, stops turns around and finds me in the ditch. About 30 seconds later a couple of cars drive by and they call 911.

The police officer shows up a few minutes later, and I end up with a Careless Driving ticket. HTA Section 130. He also mentions that I should fight this ticket in court.

I show up at court, request a trial date and disclosure. Trial date is set for the end of November & I received disclosure. The Officers notes pretty much sum up what I have mentioned above since there are no witnesses.

My question is….since there are no witnesses, single car collision, should I take can chance and fight this in court? Or do I accept a plea bargain for a lesser charge?

I am a clean driven with no convictions or tickets in the last 12 years since Ive been driving.

Any help or pointers would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

If you explained all that to the officer as part of the investigation you are likely out of luck. Allowing a child to play with a helium balloon while you're the only adult passenger sounds has a somewhat expected outcome and would demonstrate "carelessness". Careless is a serious conviction to have on your record, I would speak with an agent soon for some assistance.

Yeah I'd get a paralegal or a traffic lawyer involved. This has some pretty significant implications for not only your driving record, but also your insurance. There is a possibility that you could get the charge plea-bargained down to "leave roadway - not in safety," but I still would get professional help on this one.

I'd second speaking with a paralegal. There's case law surrounding momentary distractions and I'm not sure your son accidentally causing a distraction would mean you were driving without due care and attention.

Thanks for all the input guys. I might just talk to a paralegal and review my options.

Cheers!