Careless Driving ( Rear Ended Someone)

Hello there, first off, great site.. lots of usefull info on here..

On wednesday the 11th my vehicle was involved in an accident..

it was stopped at a red light, behind a lexus SUV, and a heavy truck in front of the lexus. The light turned green and everyone proceeded to go, as traffic accelerated, the heavy truck in front of the SUV decided to turn right, he was most of the way around the corner, when the lexus SUV decided to slam on the brakes ( likely fearing the rear end arc swing).. sending my car barreling into hers.. Approx speed 10 kph. a witness was nice enough to give her contact number to the lady in the lexus

It was talked about, and it was not going to go through insurance, so no report was made, That night I spoke with the lady in regards to the accident to see if she had gotten a quote, and I also called the body shop to make sure they called me when she did, and nothing had happened, so I called her and she said she was feeling sore and didnt want to speak with me for a few days while she figured out what to do)

The next day ( i later find out) she went to the hospital about her injuries, and she filed a report with the police. ( thursday)

Saturday I get a call from a police officer at my parents house looking for me, I talk with him and explain the situation, at this point, its okay because we agreed to not involve insurance companies and she admitted to wanting to settle without insurance.. I speak with the cop who is supposed to contact me later that day to arrange a drivers license and insurance check, but he does not call..

The next day being sunday, I called him, I met with him at 1 pm in the afternoon, and at this point found out I was being charged with Careless driving... .. he was not going to charge me, and the only reason he had to is because the witness co-oberated the story of the lady in the lexus. the day before ( when he was originally supposed to meet me)

a few things I question. - Firstly, almost 2 days to get their stories straight, so obviously they are going to line up..

Secondly.. the witness was in the car behind me, she could not have seen the lady in fronts brake lights or driving patterns.

thirdly.. the officer charged me with "careless" because he had to charge me with something that can be lowered" he said he spoke with his sergeant who advised him that he could not let me off un charged only because of this witness..

now I look at the dates..

Coles notes.. Accident happened Wednesday august 11th at 1045..

Accident report Accident date : 10/08/13 time 1600 ( this would be friday the 13th at 4:00)

Ticket date : " believes and certifies that on the day of 2010 08 14 1:20 pm) did commit the offense Careless driving"

under that theres a spot that says

"and I further certify that I served an offense personally upon the person charged on the offense date.. and beside that, a box that is checked that says "or other service date" and that has todays date

I did not commit a careless driving offense on august 15th. to an accident that occurred on august 13th...

DO I HAVE ANYTHING HERE?

I know I can have this lowered to following too close, but he kept advising me to go to court.. the officer really did not want to charge me and had even talked to the lady about me paying her.. she was worried I didnt have the money and he assured her I did., and told me at the very least to get it lowered to following too close, but advised i go and fight it..

Interesting that several days later, "I'm sore and I'm going to the hospital." With a 10 km/h hour collision...

My suggestion is to get some professional advice with this charge. I'm not really sure that Careless Driving is an appropriate charge for the situation, as it is very serious. You may want to consider contacting your insurance company as well. She went to the police, she's complaining about injuries, you could be potentially facing a lawsuit. She approached the situation in a rather insidious manner, so I'd be careful.

It sounds like your situation is somewhat similar to the R. v. Morgan and R. v. Woldenga cases. Both resulted in findings of not guilty (Woldenga was found not guilty on appeal). Basically, the situation you described is more like following too close, but I wouldn't even bargain for that. I'd try to get "fail to turn left to avoid a collision," or something like that.... if you wanted to plea-bargain. But I'd strongly suggest some sort of professional help.