Careless Advice

In late December I was driving along a street in Richmond Hill at around 10:00am. I was behind a Ford SUV. As we approached a traffic light it turned amber, the suv immediately hit it's brakes causing me to try for the same, unfortunately due to black ice I was not able to stop successfully in time. The suv had pretty much zero damage while my car wasn't so lucky.

After the accident, I immediately went to the suv where the driver and her son were emerging. I asked if they're ok and the driver replies with "I'm sorry I braked late". I said that's not important right now but are you ok. Everyone was fine but a little shaken up. A witness from another vehicle approached offering water. When I was questioned by an officer, I made mention of the driver saying this to me.

Months later and I finally receive my disclosure only to find the police never took any statement from anyone at the scene except myself. Not only that, but they never bothered to get a statement from the other driver at any point. There is a statement from her son who was the passenger in the car which was given at a later time and the language looks more than coached. A statement from the witness which was emailed at a later time.

Any advice on how I should proceed or whether the lack of a statement from the other driver will benefit me?

Thanks in advance.

The police are not required to take statements from everyone. If they have the grounds then the charge can be laid and it sounds like you provided that. The law says it is your responsibility to be able to stop. Whether Careless is the correct charge is one for the court to decide - I'm sure you could get that changed to Fail To Turn Out To Avoid A Collision.

The following thread started out talking about follow too closely, but then careless came up so you might want to read it:

http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com ... tml#p36951

Then you might want to read this:

http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic7039.html

And this:

http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic7032.html

I appreciate the prompt responses.

So when I go to trial, who is providing evidence against me since the officer wasn't there at the time of the accident and the other driver never gave a statement. Can a passenger (her son) statement carry that much weight? Especially with my opinion of the driver stopping suddenly?

Anybody giving evidence has to be there in person. So the son would have to be there. And they could in theory contact the other people involved and ask for further statements and ask them to testify. So I would choose the NOT GUILTY option for a TRIAL with the Officer present, and then once you get a trial date you need to request disclosure which will include the officers notes as well as statements and will-says of all witnesses. Once you get these then you will better know who has to be there to give the evidence.

They can also try to use your own statement against you as well. But the Charter guarantees you the right not to testify against yourself (unless you VOLUNTEER the information). Of course you were REQUIRED/COMPELLED to give the police officer a statement yourself because you know the law says you have to do so after an accident (otherwise you can be given additional tickets), and therefore the information and statement you gave was not voluntary and you can then argue that therefore they should not be able to present it as evidence.

This might seem like a silly question but does Provincial Courts and more specifically the Prosecutor use or acknowledge "Agreed Statement of Facts"?

I know they do in criminal court but cannot recall if they do in this particular court setting.

I suppose it is something that could be used if necessary but I personally have never seen or heard anybody use one in Provincial Offences court before.