OHTA.ca

My wife and I were just in an accident this morning. We were driving about 70 km/ hr. north on hwy 21 and it was snowy and slippery in spots. the pick up we were driving hit a patch of ice and the rear end started to slide out, thus pointing our nose to the ditch. There was a car coming towards us but it was back a little ways. We went across in front of her and hit the ditch. After she passed us she lost control and clipped the cube van that was behind us and went into the ditch some 200 yards down the road. The cube van managed to get his truck stopped after he slid around. My wife was charged with Fail to drive in Marked Lane 154-1-a . Does this carry demerit points and is our insurance going to be liable for all damages to other vehicles? Should we fight the ticket?

Thanks for your responses.

You might be in luck since the charge of "Fail to drive in a marked lane" was amended 1.5 years ago. As of Aug. 10/15, the title for the charge was changed to "Unsafe move - lane or shoulder" pursuant to s. 154(1)(a) with the set fine being $85. Follow this link for corroboration.

So, if you were charged today with "Fail to drive in a marked lane" via a ticket (not a summons!) (and with a set fine listed on the ticket), then that is a fatal error, since no set fine applies to that offence. In that case, you don't want to give the prosecution a chance to amend (i.e. change the offence title to the new title).

However, if you were charged under Part 3 of the POA (i.e. via a summons not a ticket), then it IS possible for them to argue that the offence itself was never removed (which is in fact quiet, true).

So, bottom line: check if you were charged under Part 1 (i.e. with a ticket). If so, then no set fine actually exists (since that charge isn't listed in the Set Fine schedules). Accordingly, it is a fatal error and you should not respond to the ticket----that is, force a fatal error. If they DO convict you, then simply appeal the matter and argue the above points (i.e. the ticket was not proper on its face since no set fine exists!). The case should then be dismissed.

However, if you were given a summons to attend court, then you've been charged under Part 3 of the POA and that offence DOES still exist.

Thanks for your reply. She was charged at the scene by ticket. On the ticket it reads Did commit the offence of Fail to Drive in marked lane. it does have a set fine of $85 and a total of $110. So we should chose option 3 and chose to appear for trial.

If it says NOTICE OF OFFENCE at the top of the ticket (which is sounds like it does if it has option 3), then per highwaystars advice, DO NOTHING and do NOT respond at all and keep the ticket safe so you can force a fatal error. If you show up to court, they are allowed to fix the error, so you do not want to show up for court.

There are two possibilities:

(1) A Justice of the Peace will review the ticket and see the error and quash/drop the ticket, so nothing more to worry about, or

(2) A Justice of the Peace will review the ticket and not see the error and will convict your wife for the charge. When you get your Notice of Conviction, you will then pay the fine and file for an appeal (make sure its an APPEAL and not a re-opening). At the appeal hearing, you show up with your ticket and mention the points that highwaystar mentioned above.

As for insurance, being charged and convicted is completely seperate from the insurance company saying you are at fault. For example, you can be charged and convicted of a driving offence, but found to be not at fault for insurance purposes, or vice-versa you can not be charged with anything but still found to be totally at fault for insurance purposes.

Just be aware that they still may re serve you with the correct wording if they catch the error.

If that happens and you get re-served with correct charge, then I think it is still a fightable offence as it was weather related and outside of your wife's control. The fact that the other vehicle went by you and then spun out on the ice as well helps your case.