I got a Carless Driving ticket anyone know the Canadian Traffic Court System ?

[72MARIO]

I was driving my 87 Burban (under dad's name) Down a 2 lane road one going east one going west. I was following a car that was going a decent speed about 70 Km. in a 60 Zone. Then a guy pulled out in front of him he slammed his brakes on and I figured I would just pass them both, insted of slamming my brakes on. Just a gentle pass litterly no gas added to the speed we were going. I signal to pass get of omost all the way then bang the Idiot in front of me decides that he wants to go Home with out signaling. I fully apply the brakes as I am trying to avoid hitting him by steering to the right. I SLAMMED into his rear quarter and trunk. bent the frame on the burban and destroyed the entire front clip. His car was a right off.

Any advice.

I am thinking that pleadging guilty to as lesser charge would be best.
I think the guy will not even show up to the court date if I ask him he did not want me to get a ticket I wonder why mabye he feels bad that he did'nt signal.

If i get the ticket I was assigned then I will loose my liscence for 30 days mininum.

Today Sucked..........

[chevy2racr]

I dunno any advise but 30 days aint too bad, I've been there, 40MPH in 20MPH zone. but life goes on...

[72MARIO]

I don't know how I will ever be able to afford insure my truck.
Today is kinda a bummer. frig.

[72gmcshorty]

Go to court and explain what happened. You were trying to swerve out of the way of the accident. Maybe they'll say you were not at fault. Never say you were going over speed limit. Tell them that you made the decision to swerve because the weight of your vehicle would have caused more damage to the guy in front of you.

[1969 GMC]

that sounds like a failure to maintain assured clear distance to me, or at least here in the states. i have gotten this ticket, it isn't really a major thing. in the states, it was less than $100 fine and 2 points on the license. whenever you hit someone in front of you, you are at fault, basically. it doesn't matter if he signaled or not, or if you attempted emergency evasive maneuvers off the side of the road. that shouldn't be a careless driving, or reckless op, or whatever its called in Canada. But again, I don't know jack sh!t about Canadian traffic laws.

[hjalbert]

Well, heres the way I see it, We all get pulled out in front of at one time or another. It happens. You have a choice to make. slow down, hit the person, or shift lanes (or pass). In your condition, you were not even the individual pulled out in front of. If you were following the vehicle pulled out in front of at the proper distance, you shouldnt have had to slam on your brakes. that and the fact that you were only going about 38 miles per hour? ( i think that is right) how long would you have possibly had to wait for the vehicle to speed up? but more to the point, if you didnt add any gas at all, but merely cruised by at your present speed (as you said), then by the time that you came to pass him, he very may well have been going your speed anyway. If you claim that you swerved to avoid an accident, then you were following too closely or going too fast (in this situation) the fact that the individual in front of you wasn't in an accident proves this. If you say "but my truck is heavy" you will likely be told, "well you obviously know this, and should have driven appropriately to begin with." i guess the lesson form your incident, Is that patience is a virtue good luck, but dont expect to get away with something, just because of the problems it will cause. (also, i have made the same mistakes as you, as i am sure we all have, alot of people will try to justify to themselves, why it is not their fault, alto of times, this is a bad thing to do, it becomes a tendenncy to try and place blame on others and not accepting responcibility for your own actions. I hope my suggestions, of what not to say, will help!)

[Nova_Cobra64]

Well, the first thing I would do is get into contact with the guy you were following to see if he will at least vouch that there was definately risk of an accident, which will prove that you swerved for the safety of the people in front of you.

I don't know what the laws are, but I don't think that the person in the back should be held responsible when somebody tries to pull in to traffic without enough time.

Did the guy that you hit get anything for it? He sounds like the dangerous driver to me......pulling in to traffic without a safe amount of time.......failing to signal his intentions......

[casey]

The only thing that will save you is witnesses witnesses witnesses, you can have enough witnesses, did I say that enough times, if its your word against his (his been the car you hit) your word will mean jack s#it, My son rear ended an old lady that crossed 3 lane in front of him, and they had my son completely at fault, till a witness came along, and then he got off scott free, you need that witness man. Find him

[72MARIO]

Yep it's the morning now and I feel like crap emotionally. I have talked to a few people about my case and it seemes that i will end up getting the Carless Driving of If I am lucky it will be droped to Following to Close


I totally took a dumb move no question about that. i was in a hurry to get home and didnt think about the guy or anyone cutting out in front of me.



Expencive Lesson Leaned.

[cdowns]

well at least your man enough to admit tjhat you made a mistake. in the future you'll learn to antisipate things like this happening. drive defensivly look far down the road to see whats coming up on you. one other thing to keep in mind THANK GOD FOR INSURANCE without it in those few seconds you could have whiped out everything your father worked his whole life for

[oldsub86]

I am not sure I have the facts right. Is it like this?

1. You were following a vehicle.
2. Another vehicle pulled out from a side road in front of the vehicle you were following.
3. You pulled into the left lane to pass both of them.
4. The vehicle immediately in front of you turned left in front of you to turn off the highway.
5. You turned to the right, back into the travel lane to avoid the vehicle that turned in front of you but did not manage to miss the vehicle and hit it on the back passenger corner.

IF the above is reasonably accurate, then I would argue that the vehicle in front of you should not have turned left into the lane you were in without checking to see if the way was clear. It is even worse for that vehicle if it did not signal the left turn.

There are some issues to consider I guess. Is it permitted to pass there? ie - is it a double solid dividing line on the highway?

If you can't beat it, you might get away with "imprudent driving" instead of "careless driving". Imprudent would likely carry a smaller penalty in terms of demerit points and maybe in fine as well.

Bottom line is that I would not plead guilty. Go talk to a lawyer and see if they agree with me. A lawyer won't be cheap but it will likely be worth it.

Let us know what happens.

[Nova_Cobra64]

Oh crap, now that I reread the original post, I guess I read wrong the first time.

Now I think it will be tough to get anybody to side with you because:
1)The guy that pulled out most likely didn't see what happened behind him. He also made a mistake by entering traffic when it wasn't safe to do so.
2)The guy you hit was originally speeding. He also failed to signal, so my guess is he would play dumb to avoid getting himself into trouble.

[bpmcgee]

Originally posted by oldsub86


There are some issues to consider I guess. Is it permitted to pass there? ie - is it a double solid dividing line on the highway?

In the US it's illegal to pass in an intersection. I would suppose, since this guy was turning left, he was doing so in an intersection.

72,

When I was just out of college, I got into an accident. Totally the other guys fault, but I ended up getting the ticket. I went to court to defend myself, but ended up pleading guilty to a reduced charge figuring it wouldn't matter. WRONG. My insurance was screwed up for years.

If you think you weren't doing anything wrong, I wouldn't plead guilty to anything!

Brian

[sider68]

Was it York Regional or OPP that issued ticket?You might be able to contact Xcoppers or Points.They might get it reduced to 3 points for following too closely.It will probaly cost about $500 but will save somewhat on insurance.

[sider68]

Just found out you can plead to a lessor charge yourself and save the money.P M me and I,ll see if I can help.

[71GMC_3/4T]

I'd vote for hiring a lawyer. I had lots of tickets when I was young. The lawyer can usually accomplish one of two things. Lesser fine, or lesser penalty for a higher fine. I had my share of $200 defective vehicle tickets! They don't go on your license, and your insurance company can't up your rates for non-moving violations! Yeah, the lawyer costs money up front, but if it keeps your insurance from going up or being dropped, it's well worth it.
Can't cost you much to go in and talk to one.