Hi,

I was charged for careless driving when passing a school bus with stop sign on.

I totally forgot that i need to stop for the school bus when im on the other side of the road. And there was also no children passing the road. I drove pass in like 20-30km/h. The policed pulled me over and told me i should stop for the school bus. And then he gave me a ticket for careless driving.

I know that both careless driving and fail to stop for school bus are both 6DP traffic tickets, so should i say the police gave me the wrong charge? Or i should just plea to guilty?

Please help, thank you!

You're assuming it's the wrong charge.

If you plan on arguing it's the wrong charge, then be prepared to argue it. Just because there's another charge that applies doesn't make you not guilty of careless driving.

Careless driving is a vague charge that can apply to practically anything and it's not exactly something Joe Schmo should be prepared to casually walk in and defend with zero preparation.

While both charges carry the same amount of almost meaningless demerit points, passing a school bus is considered a major offense and careless is considered a serious in terms of insurance. A serious charge (if you don't get booted from your regular insurance provider) carries a 100% surcharge. Major might be something like 15%.

My suggestion would be that you find someone experienced to deal with this for you, or at the very least, see if they are able to offer you the passing school bus charge so you don't have to worry about possibly taking the bus for the next couple years.

bend wrote: Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:51 am

You're assuming it's the wrong charge.

If you plan on arguing it's the wrong charge, then be prepared to argue it. Just because there's another charge that applies doesn't make you not guilty of careless driving.

Careless driving is a vague charge that can apply to practically anything and it's not exactly something Joe Schmo should be prepared to casually walk in and defend with zero preparation.

While both charges carry the same amount of almost meaningless demerit points, passing a school bus is considered a major offense and careless is considered a serious in terms of insurance. A serious charge (if you don't get booted from your regular insurance provider) carries a 100% surcharge. Major might be something like 15%.

My suggestion would be that you find someone experienced to deal with this for you, or at the very least, see if they are able to offer you the passing school bus charge so you don't have to worry about possibly taking the bus for the next couple years.

Thank you for your advice! So what kind of preparation I should take before I go to the trial? I cannot just argue that it is a wrong charge? I believe that they do have the video record.

I'm not sure if you're grasping how serious a careless driving charge is.

In terms of insurance, it's the worst of the worst. It's the equivalent of driving drunk, street racing, driving with no insurance, etc.

There's a good chance you wont be able to get regular insurance if you're convicted. You will be deemed a high risk driver and will need to find a provider that has a high risk program if your current one doesn't.

If you're going to argue the merits of a careless driving charge, hire someone who knows how to make that argument.

Realistically, you should be hoping they offer you a charge reduction. If that's the case, you should probably take it and run.