Careless Driving - Left Turn Hit A Pedestrian

A couple nights ago I was driving in the rain. I was at a 3 way intersection waiting to make a left turn. When i got the advanced green (may have just been a green light) I went and I didn't see any pedestrians. I proceeded to go but at the very end of my turn I saw someone walking towards my car. I abruptly stopped and triggered my abs brakes. When that happened it was too late, the pedestrian hit my windshield and landed on her feet then fell down. The police were called and statements were taken, the case is under investigation. There were witnesses but I don't have their statements however they spoke with the police. I was given a summon that stated I was going to be charged with careless driving with no set demerit point deductions. The pedestrian had no injuries ,no scratches, no bruises. What should i do? should i get a lawyer? Are there any recommendations? Who you would recommend in Vaughan, Ontario?

The SUMMONS date is NOT your trial. You simply need to show up and tell them whether you want to plead guilty (bad idea) or if you want to plead not guilty and have a trial. You don't need a lawyer for the summons date.

If it was me, I would tell them you want to plead not guilty and want to get disclosure, including all witness statements and victim statement. They will set a trial date for you and should get you disclosure.

Once you get disclosure then you may want to consider hiring a lawyer as careless has serious insurance consequences (same as DUI).

clementine wrote:A couple nights ago I was driving in the rain. I was at a 3 way intersection waiting to make a left turn. When i got the advanced green (may have just been a green light) I went and I didn't see any pedestrians. I proceeded to go but at the very end of my turn I saw someone walking towards my car. I abruptly stopped and triggered my abs brakes. When that happened it was too late, the pedestrian hit my windshield and landed on her feet then fell down. The police were called and statements were taken, the case is under investigation. There were witnesses but I don't have their statements however they spoke with the police. I was given a summon that stated I was going to be charged with careless driving with no set demerit point deductions. The pedestrian had no injuries ,no scratches, no bruises. What should i do? should i get a lawyer? Are there any recommendations? Who you would recommend in Vaughan, Ontario?

Careless Driving falls under section 130 of the Highway Traffic Act. General information can be found here, and the specific section of the HTA can be found here.

Careless Driving carries a 6 demerit point penalty. If your licence is a novice driver's licence (i.e. G1 or G2) by offence date, this will result in a suspension or cancellation of your licence if convicted as detailed here.

Generally a conviction for Careless Driving results in no longer qualifying for standard insurance carriage and having to seek out a high-risk insurer.

There are two means under which a Caress Driving charged is generally issued. The first is a standard (part 1) 'ticket.' This has a set fine and a total-payable of $490.00 and carries 6 demerit points. The second is a summons (part 3) which opens up a greater degree of fine and potential licence suspension from the court. A summons will list a 'first appearance' court date, but will generally go through 3 to 5 court appearances until resolving.

For any serious offence, such as a Careless Driving especially when issued via summons, it is important to seek out legal assistance. Despite the serious nature of the offence and penalties, the legal work and cost in these matters is relatively minimal. The majority of Careless Driving matters where the defendant is represented by a paralegal can be resolved without the need for the Defendant to appear before the court.

Hopefully this helps!

OTD Legal, you left out the Part I summons which is a quite common way to seek an increased penalty above the normal set fine, without having to have all of the extra paperwork of a Part III Summons.

I feel your pain, I had a similar issue, a few months back, but the ped was ok, didnt hit him, just came VERY close to him and put him off balance and he fell, stopped and checked him out, he was ok, long story short, no police where called and I drove him home, no details exchanged or anything, thing I notcied

* Pedestrians are wearing dark/black clothing

* Ped's are just crossing assuming drivers can/or are going to stop

* Peds put there heads down or use iphones

the worst is this stupid green light on left turn, but the pedestrian walking light stays on, that is SO dangerous,

how can you give a green light to a car and a WALKING light to a pedestrian and hoping the car will see the pedestrian, so dangerous,

in the UK, that never happens

again it is what it is and I FEEL the OP's pain

bobajob wrote:

* Pedestrians are wearing dark/black clothing

* Ped's are just crossing assuming drivers can/or are going to stop

* Peds put there heads down or use iphones

Yes, I realized that too. It's very hard for drivers to see pedestrians at night, even when drivers are paying full attention.

It may seem a little bit of an overkill - but when I'm walking at night, I usually wear a highly reflective safety vest to increase my own visibility and I have seen other people do that too on the streets.

no, no, not overkill, your VERY sensible,

it doesnt matter who is right or wrong, if your dead or seriously injured, very few things can remedy that,

as a driver doing everything right, imagine the guilt you would have,

I had the shakes all night, even a shot of brandy (when I got home) didn't calm me down, not for a few hours.

Yes, I realized that too. It's very hard for drivers to see pedestrians at night, even when drivers are paying full attention.

It may seem a little bit of an overkill - but when I'm walking at night, I usually wear a highly reflective safety vest to increase my own visibility and I have seen other people do that too on the streets.[/quote]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^