hi all, had an accident the other day on the 417, going highway speed then all of a sudden (as rush hour loves to do) the highway is a parking lot, so i step on the brakes and start to slow down, but as im about 2 car lengths behind the car infront of me, my pedal goes to the floor wish a nice spongy feel. anyways, i hit the car infront of me before i had time to get my ebrake and smacked her going about 20kph. when the cop comes to the scene an hour later he gives me a ticket for following too closely, even though i told him that my brakes let out on me. he said "your brakes were fine". i guess because he saw im a G2 driver and a young woman he just assumed i didn't know what i was talking about...

to make a long story short, the next day my mechanic checks and sees that my main brake line right before the back left wheel was split down the middle (rusty) and wrote me an estimate saying he would have to replace a section of the line. my question is this, can i use that to fight my charge of following too closely? or will they turn it around and say that i was driving an unsafe vehicle??? i bought the car in november and it passed the safety, and everyone's lines are rusty on a car more then 5 years old (i have a 99 grand am) so i dont know how they expect people to know exactly when their line could rupture on a hard braking application.

i hope someone can help me as i cant afford 4 points on my license (god knows what will happen to my insurance)

thank you!

Try having your mechanic write a note stating the equipment failure. Bring it with your estimate to court.

You have a reasonable explanation for the accident. Unless the Crown can come up with some other evidence that you were following to close, you should have a pleasant day in court

Read the "Steps" at TicketCombats site for court proceedures.
http://www.ticketcombat.com/step3/poa.php

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Rather than "unsafe vehicle" offence ($500 plus, no points) a possibility of an "Improper Brake" offence ($110, no points) could be brought forward by the prosecutor.

Guess this is why I check my ebrake once a week and every shift at work!

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Above is merely a suggestion/thought and in no way constitutes legal advice or views of my employer. www.OHTA.ca

Someone had similar case and he said, on the trial date, you show up in court, the cop show up in court and the lady you rearended doesnot showup, case is dismissed.
I think it's a very good chance that the lady won't show since you admitted your fault and she got her car fixed without deductible.
In normal traffic ticket fight case, i would request disclosure, but in this scenerio disclosure may tip off the cop to instruct the lady to be in court, therefore i say just show up at trial and check if either the lady or cop is not there, don't take any bargain from the crown, just sit back and wait till you are called, no lady as witness, they will dimiss the case. However plan ahead for any surprise, for example if they still want to proceed with trial you then call the lady as witness, no witness, no case.
In the case the lady and the cop both show up, find a good reason to adjourn the case, and again the chance for one of them not present at the next trial is very good.
just found another thread for u to check out (see Bookm post
http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic579.html

Anytime there is a collision we automatically subpoena the witness. Not a matter of disclosure. However, a you mentioned they might not show

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Above is merely a suggestion/thought and in no way constitutes legal advice or views of my employer. www.OHTA.ca

Would that offence go ontop of the following too closely? Or would they throw out the FTC and just give me that offence? Because I would take that over the 4 points any day.

Also, should I consider enlisting the help of POINTTS for this? The fee is around 500$ apparently. But they have a free consultation thing I can go to...

Thank you all for your quick replies, very appreciated!

also, does the subpoena say that the witness HAS to attend? or is it just an option?

They should withdraw the "following too closely" charge and replace it with improper brake or unsafe vehicle, not add the other charges. Pointts (or any other paralegal) may be expensive, but considering that you're a young driver with a G2, and have been charged with following too closely where a collision occurred, it would be well worth it. If you choose to fight it yourself, you'd still have a good chance of getting it reduced to an offence with no demerit points in any case, since you'd have a document from the mechanic showing that your brakes had failed. There's a possibility that they may just drop the charge entirely.

Four demerit points on a G2 licence is definitely something to be avoided. Getting zero points would definitely save you from an even bigger insurance hit. Insurance companies are no friend of young drivers, unfortunately, as I'm sure you know.

At $500 for "Follow too Closely" I'd shop around for rates, especially the one with these circumstances... You've a great chance of winning the ticket, but I suggest you go and see the prosecutor before the trial date, then you can see what s/he is willing to give you. Chances are that s/he will want to negotiate and give you the "Improper brakes", well before you go and spend 100's. Argue that you are already suffering an insurance hit because of the accident, and the imporper "Follow too closely" charge will send your rates higher yet.

BTW, bear, what would be the sub for "Improper brakes"? 64(9) is rather different about the fines...

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"The more laws, the less justice" - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The hardest thing to explain is the obvious"

www.OHTA.ca & www.OntarioHighwayTrafficAct.com

"Defective Brakes" 64(7) = $85
or
"Improper Braking System" 64(1) = $85

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Above is merely a suggestion/thought and in no way constitutes legal advice or views of my employer. www.OHTA.ca

"Defective Brakes" 64(7) = $85
or
"Improper Braking System" 64(1) = $85

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Above is merely a suggestion/thought and in no way constitutes legal advice or views of my employer. www.OHTA.ca

Thx bear, R.S.O. 1990 64(9) says fine from $400 to $20000, but for commercial vehicles under 16(1). It says nothing of non-commercial vehicles... My guess is that 64(7) is the most applicable here.

_________________
"The more laws, the less justice" - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The hardest thing to explain is the obvious"

www.OHTA.ca & www.OntarioHighwayTrafficAct.com

sounds like i'll go ahead and see if they are willing to bring it down to just the defective brakes and pay the fine since it's almost as much to take the day off work to go down and fight it anyways.

thanks again for your help guys!