I got pulled over on friday on the 401 and was given a careless driving ticket. It was the result of another driver calling in a complaint of my following too closely on the highway. Is this for real?? Do i have a good case to fight this charge? Apparently after the police gave me my ticked the driver was going to give the police a statement. If I challenge this ticket and plead not guilty, will the other driver have to attend court as well? Please note, there was no accident. This person just did not like my driving. I have been driving for years, have only ever had maybe 2 speeding ticket in my life, no accidents and I had my 2 small children in the car with me. I have ALWAYS been mindful of the rules of the road. I only use the left lane to pass then go back in the right lane until it is time to pass again.

It would be a very good ticket to fight. The fact that you were following too close probably wouldn't be sufficient on its own for careless. If you were to fight the ticket the witness/complainant would need to be present at trial to give evidence unless the officer actually witnessed your driving as well.

Request disclosure, which would consist of the officers notes and a copy of the witness statements. See how strong the evidence actually is. The Crown will likely offer you a plea to lesser charge such as follow too close. If the evidence is strong, take the offer. If the evidence is weak, fight the charge.

Insurance implications for a careless convictions are pretty serious. It may be worth seeking legal representation to fight the charge, just to be safe.

Thank you for your reply. The officer did say that when she turned around to come after me she noticed that i put my brakes on and that i was less than one car length away from the car ahead of me. However as is the case anytime someone sees a cop..... we all put our brakes on. I might add that i was in the right hand lane moving with the flow of traffic.

Can I mail in my "option 3" to dispute the charge or will i have to go to napanee to file my dispute then attend again for my hearing? This really irritates me, if i was a young kid i could maybe understand. But i am not sure how i made it to 50 years old and this is the first indication of any aggressive driving.

debrannt wrote:

Can I mail in my "option 3" to dispute the charge or will i have to go to napanee to file my dispute then attend again for my hearing?

Nobody will be able to say for certain (different court areas have different procedures for asking for a trial)....read the directions carefully on the back of the offence notice and act accordingly.

debrannt wrote:

Thank you for your reply. The officer did say that when she turned around to come after me she noticed that i put my brakes on and that i was less than one car length away from the car ahead of me. However as is the case anytime someone sees a cop..... we all put our brakes on. I might add that i was in the right hand lane moving with the flow of traffic.

Can I mail in my "option 3" to dispute the charge or will i have to go to napanee to file my dispute then attend again for my hearing? This really irritates me, if i was a young kid i could maybe understand. But i am not sure how i made it to 50 years old and this is the first indication of any aggressive driving.

Wow 1 car length at hwy speed with kids in car.

If the car (in front) hit it's brakes hard you would have hit it.

To be safe you should have a car length for every 16.2 kph.

You will most likely beat this but use as a lesson and drive safe.

Cheers

Viper1

@Viper. Thank you for the heads up. I do not think that i was less than a car length away as i was not considering passing. I am pretty sure that I do come within one car length when preparing to pass. It will be a lesson learned however i do not think that i should have been given a careless driving charge.