Is a reduction to "Follow Too Close" from Careless Driving, a good deal (in the average case)?
Yes it is.
40%
[ 2 ]
No it isn't.
60%
[ 3 ]
Total Votes : 5
Author
Message
DynamicLegal
Joined: 01 Dec 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Ottawa & Toronto
Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:42 pm Post subject: Reduction from Careless Driving: Good Deal or Bad Deal?
Quite frequently, I've seen Careless Driving charges in rear end collisions reduced to "Follow Too Close". But is this really a good deal? Sure you avoid the major conviction with 6 points, but you still get a conviction for 4 points. And in many cases, the only witness who could describe the driver's conduct is the other driver who may or may not have observed sufficient details through the rear view mirror.
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:32 am Post subject: Careless Driving - Get a professional opinion
Follow to closely may be a good resolution, but you'll never know if you did the right thing unless you get a qualified person to investigate the charge for you.
If you just walk in and accept the prosecutors offer of a reduced charge you will never know if someone who knew the court system could have won the case for you.
Beside the obvious, cases are won on 11b arguements, filing date errors, and a host of technical errors. If you dont know the legal arguements you shouldnt be defending yourself.
As well you always want to push a careless driving ticket to a trial date just to see if the prosecution office can bring all the witnesses to court.
If the police officer, or the other driver doesnt come to court there is a good chance the ticket will get dropped completely.
As well you never want to defend yourself in a careless driving ticket where there is an accident involved. The reason being that just by you showing up, you provide the "identity evidence" for the court.
In any court case the prosecution has to prove the Who, What, When, and Where. If you defend yourself, to prove the "who" the prosecution just has to ask the witness who was it that was involved in the accident with them, whereupon the other driver just points at you.
If your represented by a court agent the prosecution may have a problem proving the "who" and you may win your case.
Ever heard the phrase "the man who defends himself has a fool as a lawyer"? Have you ever seen a lawyer on TV charged with an offence? The lawyer doesnt defend himself, he gets another lawyer to speak for him....
If possible you always want to WIN the case completely, not just get a reduced charge of 4 demerit points. When the MTO calls you in to suspend your licence at 9 points, 4 points puts you halfway there.
Your insurance company doesnt care about points, they care about any "convictions" on your driving record. So again you never want to plead to anything if you can. Again with the rates insurance companies are charging you have to fight every ticket, your always want the ticket to go away completely.
Only if the Police, the Prosection Office, and the Court Administration have everything perfect do you want to consider a plea.
Although the prosecutor may offer a 4 point ticket, many qualified paralegals or former officers have enough of a relationship with the prosecutors office that they can get you a 3 point ticket.
If its an accident case you want to get a paralegal firm with former police officers who have accident investigation training/certification.
Again the goal with any traffic ticket is to WIN the case. If anyone wants to speak to me, a former accident investigator with the Toronto Police, and the OPP feel free to email me at ChrisConway@OntarioTrafficTickets.com
Joined: 01 Dec 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Ottawa & Toronto
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject:
admin wrote:
lol good point there!
But what are the chances of that actually happening?
I can tell you from my recent experience that 17 of the last 20 Careless cases I've done resulted in a complete dismissal. One resulted in a full conviction (and had excellent grounds of appeal) of the remaining 2, one was reduced to a bylaw (no points and no HTA conviction) and one was reduced to a 3 point charge. I would also point out in the one reduced to 3 points, there were 3 independent witnesses and an adverse admission, voluntarily made by the accused person against himself so it would not have been prudent to proceed to trial.
There are all sorts of ways to fight these charges.
If you're serious about winning call a real expert at 1-888-98-WE-WIN _________________ Don't Pay Another Traffic Ticket
http://www.DynamicLegal.ca
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