OHTA.ca

Hello all, I know there are a lot of posts about this and i have read them all, but have not been able to find one like mine.

I was driving at around 8pm in rainy conditions, driving in the right lane of a two lane street in rainy conditions. I was keeping about a car length distance away from the car in front of me, going 30km/h when the car in front of me did a hard brake, to which I then applied a hard brake as well. Unfortunately one car length away is not enough space, and i ended up hitting the car in front of me. I had noticed i was skidding and attempted to move right as the car in front of close to the lane divide line and i had hoped i could get more space to the right before the curb, but no avail. I looked up what to do in the Durham region when their is an accident and saw this : http://www.drps.ca/upload_files/Propose ... 105614.pdf. Since i am from Toronto i knew their was a 24/7 collision center so i thought i would call a Tow Truck and take it directly there. The driver I hit took down all my information, I documented that there was a small dent on the back of her car and the front left of my car was wrecked (Headlight gone, power steering pump effected and windshield washer fluid, Hood). The other driver also said she really could not stay and had to go, so she would go to the collision center tomorrow and drove off. A tow truck pulled to the side that said he worked with Durham police a lot, that he would have to take it to his yard, and that i could meet him at the Collision center tomorrow. I called insurance, reported the accident, and waited to go to the collision center tomorrow. Collision center also put the damage down as $5500. I have a perfect driving record for 9 years, no tickets of any kind.

So i went to the collision center, wrote down what happened, and met with the officer. The officer asked me what happened, i gave a short story, and before i had even finished heard him printing out a ticket. He charged me with careless driving, stating that in Durham they make drivers accountable for their actions. He stated that "with some leg work there is light at the end of the tunnel". I went to one paralegal who told me that in this area Durham always gives careless driving for any at fault accident, and give them out like candy. I went to another paralegal who i signed with, but in the contract he put a comment guaranteeing that i would not be charged with careless driving.

My questions are:

What are the chances that in a situation like this the charges will be changed to a more minor offense?

Do paralegals usually give out guarantees?

Does accident forgiveness still exist if convicted?

How long does the process take?

Thanks, As i said i just cannot find a similar situation and this is causing me all kinds of stress.

1) Unless the accident resulted in a serious injury, the Crown will almost always offer a plea deal to a lesser offence. It's something you could try yourself to save on paralegal fees.

2) I don't know how many offer guarantees. Keep in mind they can't actually guarantee an outcome, just that you don't need to pay their fees if they fail to deliver.

3) That would be dependent on your insurance policy and provider. If you were actually convicted of careless, your rates likely would go up even if your provider overlooks the accident itself.

4) A few months assuming a plea deal is reached, closer to a year if it goes to trial.