On the 12th of December at 10:30PM, I was driving in Brant County when I collide with the back of a corn bin that was to be loaded.

I came onto the trailer after coming out of a slight dip in the road, at this time the tractor had its field lights on which are very bright and I was looking down and to the right, as we are taught in driver's training.

At the last moment my lights came onto the back of the trailer and I swerved but managed to catch the left corner of it with the right side of my truck.

The lights of this trailer were not on or I would have seen it well before I got to it, but the police officer threatened to charge me with criminal charges and he was going to check a box inside of the cab that would tell him the lights were on and I was going to be in big trouble. I was scared and I told him they were on.

I was talking to a friend of mine that owns his own transporting company who says there is no such box and also that parking on the road, knowing he was working, the farmer was responsible for putting up cones on the road.

Is this true? I was threatened with careless driving but my father talked to the police officer, who was much nicer to me after this, and I was charged with failing to pass. I want to fight this ticket, do I have a chance?

Might be worthwhile talking to a paralegal about this one. From what you said, the corn bin was on the road and was not illuminated in any way, correct? Since a collision was involved and the officer did not witness it, unless the officer is a collision reconstruction expert, they'll probably need the farmer to go to court in order to get a conviction. If anything, it never hurts to go through the process to fight the charge, and get disclosure to see the evidence against you. If it looks like it's fairly strong evidence, you can always try to plea-bargain to something less.

wonder if it is a violation (no pylons) under something like the Ministry of Labour? Something like all these lawn care businesses....put one pylon on road on the back left and one at the front, and maybe one in the lane as you approach.......would you not want all pylons BEHIND you to direct traffic around you

JustinTyler wrote:The lights of this trailer were not on or I would have seen it well before I got to it, but the police officer threatened to charge me with criminal charges and he was going to check a box inside of the cab that would tell him the lights were on and I was going to be in big trouble. I was scared and I told him they were on.

Why would you tell him the lights were on?

Most vehicles do have several of these black boxes. The most commonly known one is the Engine Control Module, which controls engine operating parameters like fuel trim, spark, etc. That one does keep a log, as far as I know, because I frequently see it mentioned in accident reconstructions. The module in question here would likely be the Body Control Module, which may or may not even control the main headlights/taillights on that vehicle. I'm not sure if it keeps a log, either.

The closest thing I could find to what Bear mentioned was O. REG. 213/91 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, s. 67, which deals with traffic control devices at a work site. I'm not sure if it would apply to a farmer loading a trailer.

It's too long to paste here, so I'll post a link to O. REG 213/91: