Ontario cop plays plea-bargaining game in advance with Careless Driving charge

[Ontario Canada]

While driving, an acquaintance got into a collision, rear-ending the
vehicle in front, at a right-hand turn.

The cop charged this person with "Careless Driving" (HTA, section 130),
and not "Following Too Closely" (HTA section 158(1)).

The Careless charge has a penalty of 6 demerits, while the Following
charge costs 4 demerits.

Apparently the officer has this kind of discretion, to lay the charge
with the greater penalty? But doesn't it require a greater burden of
proof?

The cop advised this person to go to the prosecutor, tell him/her the
Careless charge was for "Following Too Closely". That sounds incredibly
like advising plea-bargaining by the cop. It seems to me that the cop
used the higher charge, with it's higher penalties ($200 to $1,000 fine,
etc) to pretty much assure a plea-bargain on the lower charge, and
therefore to assure a conviction.

A naive question to be sure, but is this common practice in Ontario? How
hard is it to prove Careless in this instance? I know that's an
objective question, but surely careless driving, a 6-demerit offence,
should be used for something more than a fender-bender? The only damage
to the other vehicle was, literally, the rubber mat on top of the bumper
(mini-van) showing a small crack. The paint didn't even chip.

We will contest this, because it seems to be way too severe for what
happened. But we're not sure how to approach it. I have fought a
speeding ticket before, and had a good idea what to ask for insofar as
disclosure by the prosecutor, but I am not clear at all what to ask for
here besides witness statements and a copy of the ticket (both sides).

How do we go to court saying (sorry for the layman's terms), that the
charge is too severe for what happened, without the judge/justice
automatically finding guilt on a lesser charge?

Is there any other info worth persuing, other than listed below?

Disclosure request:

1) Copies of all reports from all witnesses (for obvious reasons)
2) Copy of both sides of the issued ticket (for obvious reasons)
3) Investigating Officer's notes, diagrams, etc. (for obvious reasons)
4) List of Investigating Officer's Highway Traffic Act charges laid in past 6 months (to see if there is a bias, a "catch-all" laziness in charging, or some other predertmined pattern?)
5) All memos and/or directives from or (from crown attonerys? Attorney General?) to the police force in question, pertaining to guidance in officer's discretion in/with Highw Traffic Act charges
6) Officer's record....ie, how long has he been working traffic detail? How much experience does he have?


Other information to get:

1) Other driver's driving record (perhaps she has a habit of slapping on her brakes just as she is about to enter an intersection, after she has cleared the stop sign)
2) Any city report on that particular intersection, ie., poor design. I personally have witnessed literally at least one accident every 2 weeks.
3) What are the elements to proving a Careless Driving charge. I mean, what exactly does "without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons" mean, in legal terms?

Other info to consider:

There is some debate that the driver is compelled to give a statement, according to the HTA, but that may violate his charter right (Section 7?) to not incriminate himself.

So then the question is, if his statement cannot be used against him (being optimistic), what happens when the officer testifies, and/or the other driver testifies? What is the realistic impact of not having his statement in court? Does it really matter, if both the officer and other driver show up?

What is considered Prima Facie (forgive my spelling if it is not correct) for this scenario?

[[email protected]]

What happened in your case? My daughter has the same unreasonable charge!

[MagicRat]

Cops have been doing just this for many years.
Back in 1982, I spun a half-donut in a gravel parking lot in a little town in Ontario (not even on the road) and I got a careless driving ticket.

IMO this was far too severe charge for what I did.

As I was 17 then, my dad said to pay the fine, lose my licence for 6 months (due to the points) and not to drive like an idiot.

Since I have only has two other tickets in the last 24 years, it put the healthy fear of the OPP into my driving style.

However, the charge is much more serious now, due to the insurance penalty you would face.
Get a lawyer, one that specializes in traffic court. The judge WILL find you guilty of the charge unless you have a skilled and experienced defence.

If you are willing to plead to a charge of following too closely, likely the lawyer will plead it down to that with just a phone call to the crown attorney. You will not have to go to court, and the lawyer should cost you about $250-300 or so.

The lawyer might feel he could do better in court, but it would cost you more money. IMO (unless you would lose your licence if you pleaded guilty to a lesser offence, ) take the plea bargain, with a lawyer to advise you.

[Igovert500]

yep, cops always do this. It's how the system works. You can try and hope you have a decent judge, but generally most end up settling for the lesser charge. County makes money, you get less points.

[fredjacksonsan]

...and, unless there were other very compelling circumstances involved, the person who rear ends someone else is going to be at fault. When there's an accident, the police MUST ticket the at fault driver. At least that's the way it is here (Virginia)