OHTA.ca

Its been around 32 days I had a horrific accident on the highway in Ontario. Luckily I survived in one piece. Just after the accident Officer told me he is gonna charge me and he will talk to me in the hospital but its been over a month no one contacted me. The story that I told the officer on the scene of accident - I was trying to change the lane and someone honked at me, I remained in my lane but my car started skidding first to left than to right and went under transport truck. I did not know at that point there is any problem with my tire. Moreover, I was more worried my head cause the roof my car hit my head rather than telling what exactly happend at that point. Its been a little over a month now but I have not heard anything back from the OPP. I have not got any ticket. My insurance company says Tire was broken.

No Body got hurt in the accident including me, Transport truck did not even noticed I am under it on the speed of 100 km/hr and it was not damaged. It was just my Subaru got ridden off.

Is there any chance they still gonna charge me.?

Thanks

Glad you are okay. You could be charged for up to 6 months from the offence date so if they are going to charge you they have another 5 months to do so. If the insurance is considering this a not at fault accident due to tire failure you may not be charged at all. Perhaps your insurance company has a copy of the accident report?

ynotp wrote:Glad you are okay. You could be charged for up to 6 months from the offence date so if they are going to charge you they have another 5 months to do so. If the insurance is considering this a not at fault accident due to tire failure you may not be charged at all. Perhaps your insurance company has a copy of the accident report?

Thanks for the reply, On my payment settlement form with my insurance company the reason for accident was written "OI had a tire break down, Lost control and went under the transport truck', There was one more line mentioned in the form, the accident did not occure due to wilful act or negligence, does that mean I am not at fault? I got this settlement form after two weeks of accident, so did they have my police report?

If I got charged what charge will it be? I have also not given any ticket.

You will really have to wait another 5 months and see if the officer decides to charge you with something or not.

However, the officer will need a witness as to whatever he charges you for. So if the truck driver or another witness can testify to you "driving carelessly" or "speeding" or whatever, then that is what he would charge you with. He could also use your own statement against you, but it seems like he does not have much there to go on for a charge. Perhaps if the accident report showed that there was nothing wrong with any of your tires, then he might have something.

Hopefully 5 months will go by and you won't hear anything!

jsherk wrote:You will really have to wait another 5 months and see if the officer decides to charge you with something or not.

However, the officer will need a witness as to whatever he charges you for. So if the truck driver or another witness can testify to you "driving carelessly" or "speeding" or whatever, then that is what he would charge you with. He could also use your own statement against you, but it seems like he does not have much there to go on for a charge. Perhaps if the accident report showed that there was nothing wrong with any of your tires, then he might have something.

Hopefully 5 months will go by and you won't hear anything!

Does it not matter what my insurance has to say - On the payment settlement form with my insurance company the reason for accident was written "OI had a tire break down, Lost control and went under the transport truck', There was one more line mentioned in the form, the accident did not occure due to wilful act or negligence, does that mean I am not at fault? I got this settlement form after two weeks of accident, so did they have my police report?

I do not know the answer to that part of your question, which is why I did not answer. Just call your insurance company and ask them.

jsherk wrote:I do not know the answer to that part of your question, which is why I did not answer. Just call your insurance company and ask them.

Some One also told me OPP shall give Offence notice or ticket within 30 days from the date of accident. But they can charge later. Is it true?

Yes, they have 6 months to charge you. The 30 days only applies to the method they use to charge (something like indictable or not).

jsherk wrote:Yes, they have 6 months to charge you. The 30 days only applies to the method they use to charge (something like indictable or not).

I just called my insurance company and they told me the accident is at my fault. It does not matter even if my tire broke down because I lost control. Police have not sent them anything, no tickets nothing. I am assuming I am going to charged now and just guessing I am gonna charged for careless driving. Because at that time I did not know my tire broke down and I lost control. This is not what I told the officer. I just told him I was trying to change the lane someone honked I stayed in my lane but suddenly car got out of control start skidding but weather was clear and I was driving Subaru All wheel drive. So I am doomed.

You may want to talk to an expert about the insurance issue and see if there is anything that can be done. I honestly do not know anything about how insurance companies determine fault and if there is any kind of appeal process or not.

But I don't think the insurance decision saying it is your fault has any bearing on whether the police charge you or not. So again, you will just have to sit back and wait 5 more months to see what happens.

harry7171 wrote:I just called my insurance company and they told me the accident is at my fault. It does not matter even if my tire broke down because I lost control. Police have not sent them anything, no tickets nothing. I am assuming I am going to charged now and just guessing I am gonna charged for careless driving. Because at that time I did not know my tire broke down and I lost control. This is not what I told the officer. I just told him I was trying to change the lane someone honked I stayed in my lane but suddenly car got out of control start skidding but weather was clear and I was driving Subaru All wheel drive. So I am doomed.

To the best of my knowledge someone is always assigned fault in accidents that result in an insurance claim. If it's a single vehicle accident, the driver of the lone vehicle would therefor automatically be at fault regardless of circumstances. Keep in mind though just because the insurance company deemed you at fault doesn't mean you're going to be charged. The police investigation is a separate process and fault is assigned regardless if charges are laid or not.

Stanton wrote:

harry7171 wrote:I just called my insurance company and they told me the accident is at my fault. It does not matter even if my tire broke down because I lost control. Police have not sent them anything, no tickets nothing. I am assuming I am going to charged now and just guessing I am gonna charged for careless driving. Because at that time I did not know my tire broke down and I lost control. This is not what I told the officer. I just told him I was trying to change the lane someone honked I stayed in my lane but suddenly car got out of control start skidding but weather was clear and I was driving Subaru All wheel drive. So I am doomed.

To the best of my knowledge someone is always assigned fault in accidents that result in an insurance claim. If it's a single vehicle accident, the driver of the lone vehicle would therefor automatically be at fault regardless of circumstances. Keep in mind though just because the insurance company deemed you at fault doesn't mean you're going to be charged. The police investigation is a separate process and fault is assigned regardless if charges are laid or not.

If my tire broke down can it be proved as a 50/50 fault. So it does not take full toll on me.

harry7171 wrote:If my tire broke down can it be proved as a 50/50 fault. So it does not take full toll on me.

Fault percentages have to be assigned to the drivers involved in the accident by the insurance companies. The Fault Determination Rules have to be used and are set up so that things remain consistent and quick across the board, no matter who your insurance provider is. As far as I know, they do not take into consideration special circumstances (weather conditions, road conditions, etc). They are ignored and fault determination is applied.

When you ignore the circumstances and follow the Fault Determination Rules, you are 100% at fault. When you suggest 50/50 fault, you are implying that the other driver is equally at fault for your accident (they aren't).

As Stanton pointed out, your insurance claim and any future charges are not the same and should be treated differently. Just because you are found at fault doesn't mean you're guilty of whatever the charge may be. Same goes for the reverse. Just because you are not convicted of a charge relating to an accident, doesn't mean you're not at fault.

Stanton wrote:

harry7171 wrote:I just called my insurance company and they told me the accident is at my fault. It does not matter even if my tire broke down because I lost control. Police have not sent them anything, no tickets nothing. I am assuming I am going to charged now and just guessing I am gonna charged for careless driving. Because at that time I did not know my tire broke down and I lost control. This is not what I told the officer. I just told him I was trying to change the lane someone honked I stayed in my lane but suddenly car got out of control start skidding but weather was clear and I was driving Subaru All wheel drive. So I am doomed.

To the best of my knowledge someone is always assigned fault in accidents that result in an insurance claim. If it's a single vehicle accident, the driver of the lone vehicle would therefor automatically be at fault regardless of circumstances. Keep in mind though just because the insurance company deemed you at fault doesn't mean you're going to be charged. The police investigation is a separate process and fault is assigned regardless if charges are laid or not.

^^^^ what he said, word for word

harry7171 wrote:If my tire broke down can it be proved as a 50/50 fault. So it does not take full toll on me.

As the others above are saying, the answer is no. Your tire blowout is not the fault of the other driver. For something to be 50/50, the other driver had to have contributed to the collision through their actions, which was not the case here. The Fault Determination Rules, unfortunately, don't have much variety in them and don't make allowances such as 25/0 etc.