Automotive

Careless driving charge

  • Last Updated:
  • Aug 16th, 2016 3:25 am
Newbie
Dec 6, 2015
55 posts
27 upvotes
Etobicoke, ON
gizmo8 wrote:
lemonsqueezy wrote: Careless driving? For what infraction, changing lanes? You had to have done something because that's an extremely serious charge

Careless driving is pretty much a standard charge,it covers many road regulations.So what was the charge?.Unsafe lane change?.Rarely I hear a police not on duty go the extra effort for a minor traffic offence like this unless the OP did something crazy in front of the off duty police.
Isnt careless driving considered a major offence by insurance companies? Unlike for example a speeding 15 over which is considered a minor?
Deal Addict
Nov 2, 2014
1137 posts
450 upvotes
Scarborough, ON
lemonsqueezy wrote:
gizmo8 wrote:
lemonsqueezy wrote: Careless driving? For what infraction, changing lanes? You had to have done something because that's an extremely serious charge
Careless driving is pretty much a standard charge,it covers many road regulations.So what was the charge?.Unsafe lane change?.Rarely I hear a police not on duty go the extra effort for a minor traffic offence like this unless the OP did something crazy in front of the off duty police.
Isnt careless driving considered a major offence by insurance companies? Unlike for example a speeding 15 over which is considered a minor?
Yes.

Welcome to high risk insurance for the next 3 years if convicted.

However, unless OP is leaving something out of the story (I got a feeling he/she is, story is not adding up) they should easily be able to beat it in court.
Member
May 2, 2013
297 posts
71 upvotes
Toronto
RobertSmalls008 wrote:
lemonsqueezy wrote:
gizmo8 wrote:

Careless driving is pretty much a standard charge,it covers many road regulations.So what was the charge?.Unsafe lane change?.Rarely I hear a police not on duty go the extra effort for a minor traffic offence like this unless the OP did something crazy in front of the off duty police.
Isnt careless driving considered a major offence by insurance companies? Unlike for example a speeding 15 over which is considered a minor?
f
Yes.

Welcome to high risk insurance for the next 3 years if convicted.

However, unless OP is leaving something out of the story (I got a feeling he/she is, story is not adding up) they should easily be able to beat it in court.
The problem is that I'll have to waste so much time on this crap. Going to the court etc... I already have pressure from work. I am spending weekends on work too. And going unemployed in the end of September.
Deal Expert
Mar 25, 2005
22706 posts
3697 upvotes
ptlr036615 wrote:
RobertSmalls008 wrote:
lemonsqueezy wrote:
Isnt careless driving considered a major offence by insurance companies? Unlike for example a speeding 15 over which is considered a minor?
f
Yes.

Welcome to high risk insurance for the next 3 years if convicted.

However, unless OP is leaving something out of the story (I got a feeling he/she is, story is not adding up) they should easily be able to beat it in court.
The problem is that I'll have to waste so much time on this crap. Going to the court etc... I already have pressure from work. I am spending weekends on work too. And going unemployed in the end of September.
That has zero relevance to the charge. As others have said, something does not add up. Either you are omitting details or the cop is crazy.
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User avatar
Jul 30, 2007
33237 posts
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Toronto
so if OP goes to fight the ticket in court, which cop should show up to testify ? I am puzzled if the ticket is even valid to be issued in the first place.
Penalty Box
Jul 28, 2010
577 posts
127 upvotes
Most likely: cop in unmarked car, who doesn't usually give out traffic tickets. OP did something extremely stupid, so he called his co worker to give him a ticket.
Deal Addict
Apr 30, 2002
1738 posts
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North
ptlr036615 wrote:Driving in Brampton on gore. I was driving in right lane. A Buick started following me. I moved in left lane, started following me in left lane. Every single time it was really close to my car because the sensors went off and made beep sound. Next thing I know is the guy in Buick, goes to bus stand line and ask me to pull over.

Car: unmarked car, no lights nothing, no 911 tag
Cop: no uniform or anything

Cop asked me for my license, registeration and insurance. I gave it to him.

I don't think he had a ticket slip or anything. So he called his fellow cop and gave me ticket.

Total damage: $490
blexann wrote: I think you left out some details

Driving too slow .
Deal Addict
Aug 10, 2013
2869 posts
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Cop doesnt need to be on duty to issue a ticket....get your facts right.
Smash that like button!
Deal Fanatic
Jan 2, 2005
5236 posts
813 upvotes
Op does 3 lane changes and pulls over for a Buick who waves them over then gets a ticket for careless driving by an off-duty/plainclothes officer? Yeah right, that happens every day. BS op!
Deal Addict
Jan 13, 2007
4831 posts
361 upvotes
ptlr036615 wrote: Driving in Brampton on gore. I was driving in right lane. A Buick started following me. I moved in left lane, started following me in left lane. Every single time it was really close to my car because the sensors went off and made beep sound. Next thing I know is the guy in Buick, goes to bus stand line and ask me to pull over.

Car: unmarked car, no lights nothing, no 911 tag
Cop: no uniform or anything

Cop asked me for my license, registeration and insurance. I gave it to him.

I don't think he had a ticket slip or anything. So he called his fellow cop and gave me ticket.

Total damage: $490
So, how do you know he was a cop? How did you ask you to pull over in the first place if he didn't have anything that could make you listen to him?
His fellow cop was also no uniform, no car, no nothing?
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Mar 17, 2006
6913 posts
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Burlington
ptlr036615 wrote: Driving in Brampton on gore. I was driving in right lane. A Buick started following me. I moved in left lane, started following me in left lane. Every single time it was really close to my car because the sensors went off and made beep sound. Next thing I know is the guy in Buick, goes to bus stand line and ask me to pull over.

Car: unmarked car, no lights nothing, no 911 tag
Cop: no uniform or anything

Cop asked me for my license, registeration and insurance. I gave it to him.

I don't think he had a ticket slip or anything. So he called his fellow cop and gave me ticket.

Total damage: $490
Too many gaps in this story.

1. Why on earth would you pull over? Anyone asks you to pull over, you just do as they say? Keep driving until you get to a police station. Anything they want, they'll do it there. There was news in rural areas in the US, that fake police cars pulled over cars driven by women, and everybody can guess what happened after that. You don't have to pull over right away when it is not safe to do so.

2. I don't think this is all to the story, There's no way a car would just follow you. What happened before and during, only you know. $490 isn't a cheap ticket, so serious offence was there. They don't just pull you over for no reason.
Deal Addict
Jun 13, 2009
1026 posts
277 upvotes
It could've been something you did 5 minutes earlier like cutting the buick off. Was the cop in his uniform when he was driving the buick? Could've been off duty?

Not sure what else it could be - does your car have a giant douchebag spoiler on it?
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Sep 14, 2006
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I'm going to take a stab at this and say OP was probably on his/her phone and the car ended up swerving in and out of the lane so it looked like "careless driving" while committing other offenses.

Another possibility is that the officer can't prove speeding without a radar gun so "careless driving" may be the way to go because OP probably pissed the officer off.

Or it is a combination of both.

OP is leaving out critical information like what he/she did before being pulled over.
TEAM CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!
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Sep 14, 2006
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I can see a slight possibility that an on duty cop doing something like this for people committing infractions but an off duty cop that isn't being paid for the time isn't going to be doing this for no reason.
TEAM CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!
Deal Addict
Dec 24, 2009
1223 posts
1102 upvotes
I can see this happening as I had something similar happen to me before..undercover Altima was tailgating me so I sped up to distance the gap and probably went over the limit. Turns out it was a cop thankfully he realized his actions caused the reckless driving and only gave a ticket for outdated plates which is why he was so close
Banned
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Mar 7, 2007
5347 posts
3026 upvotes
I believe the OP 100%.

I know of a similar case, so alike that I think it may even be the same cop. The other story goes very similar: an off duty police detective decides to pull over a friend (riding a motorcycle) for real or imaginary infractions. At the end of the story, nobody actually knows the reason why. Detective is power crazy, totally tripping, probably has nothing else to do with his life, etc.. Detective does not even write the ticket himself (a regular Toronto police car had to be called), detective had no ticket book. My friend got careless driving ticket

Going to court the ticket got dismissed relatively easily. This is what my friend did and I would recommend the same:

* He hired paralegal
* Paralegal requested trial date and disclosure (asking what facts were in scope of the ticket, what facts will the prosecutor rely on court)
* Crown / prosecutor office never provided the disclosure package
* Paralegal sends a motion asking that BOTH officers appear in court to testify (cop who write the ticket saw absolutely nothing, and the original cop)
* Paralegal sends 3 other requests for disclosure
* On trial date, justice of the peace dismissed the ticket because of the disclosure issue. Only one cop showed up (the one who wrote the ticket and didn't see anything).
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Sep 9, 2012
6963 posts
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Oakville, ON
I'd like to charge OP with Careless Posting. Missed the clear and obvious Sticky at the top of the page that's specifically for threads like this! Poor situational awareness online probably consistent with poor situational awareness while driving, which explains why the story seems to be lacking detail.

Sorry OP, either pay up or fight it. The sticky has a ton of information on how to go about fighting the ticket and some in this thread have posted some info. It's going to be a hassle, but could save you a lot of money - not just the cost of the ticket, but also by not having your insurance premiums go up in the future if your insurance company finds out about the conviction. Good luck.
Member
Aug 10, 2015
345 posts
270 upvotes
Toronto
All I can think of is two things...

1st) If it was a undercover cop he would not initiate the traffic stop unless you did something REALLY stupid because wouldn't it defeat the purpose of "undercover"? If it was what you actually wrote about just the lane changes then the UC cop would call in a marked cruiser to preform the traffic stop.

2nd) Like someone else posted here you might have been speeding or whatnot and a civilian called the cops and was following you as he was reporting you. If so, you gave your DL, Insurance and Registration to a random person.


P.S if a cop is undercover he has to show his badge once he engages you because literally anyone can say they are a UC cop.

Just my thoughts.
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May 22, 2016
2459 posts
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Ontario
Just take it to court. A judge will rip the cop and his partner in crime a new one.

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