发点牢骚

一个朋友在高速上追了前面车的尾。当时是在一个 construction Flagman 前面，第一辆车是个truck, 第二辆车是个van, 第三辆车是我的朋友。truck 挡住了视线，看到van的刹车灯时，踩刹车已经太晚了。后面没有其它车。
警察开了个careless driving 的单子去法庭。看网上说careless driving的指控，99.9％的情况下被指控者都能赢。但还是不放心，因这项指控很重，成立了会罚6点，吊销驾照。
所以，请问，应该聘律师么？

发点牢骚

Careless driving

Careless driving is one of the most serious charges under the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario.

The Highway Traffic Act of Ontario defines careless driving as driving on a highway without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway.

Driving on a "highway"

The Highway Traffic Act of Ontario defines "highway" as follows:

"highway" includes a common and public highway, street, avenue, parkway, driveway, square, place, bridge, viaduct or trestle, any part of which is intended for or used by the general public for the passage of vehicles and includes the area between the lateral property lines thereof; ("voie publique")

Thus, for example, it appears that one cannot be found guilty of careless driving if the driving occurs on a sidewalk, in a shopping mall parking lot, or on a private roadway or driveway.

Breach of duty to the public

To qualify as careless, the Ontario Court of Appeal held in a 1953 case, the driving must be considered a breach of duty to the public and deserving of punishment.



"This principle may be somewhat difficult to apply," the court said, "but I think it might be illustrated by the common example of a motorist attempting to park at the curb in a space between two other parked vehicles. Frequently one or other of the parked vehicles is bumped in the process. Damage seldom arises, because cars are equipped with bumpers, but if damage were caused it might well give rise to a civil action for damages, but it could hardly be said to be such a lack of care or attention as would be considered to be deserving of punishment as a crime or quasi-crime." "[T]he test, where an accident has occurred, is not whether, if the accused had used greater care or skill, the accident would not have happened. It is whether it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused, in the light of existing circumstances of which he was aware or of which a driver exercising ordinary care should have been aware, failed to use the care and attention or to give to other persons using the highway the consideration that a driver of ordinary care would have used or given in the circumstances."

More than a momentary lapse

Several principles have emerged over the years from court rulings on careless driving:

<LI type=disc>The standard against which the defendant's driving must be measured is not one of perfection. The driving of the defendant must be measured against a reasonable standard or skill, what an ordinary person would do.

<LI type=disc>A momentary lapse or a simple error in judgment is insufficient to justify a conviction for careless driving.

<LI type=disc>Where an accident has occurred, the fact that serious injury or death has resulted is not, except in unusual cases, relevant to an assessment of whether there has been a departure from the standard of care which would justify a finding of careless driving.


• Mere inadvertent negligence will not necessarily support a conviction for careless driving. More than a bare act of negligence must be proven.
  
  

Penalties

A conviction for careless driving is punishable by a minimum fine of $200. The maximum fine is $1,000. If you're convicted, the court also can suspend your licence for up to two years and even put you in jail for up to six months. Under a Provincial Offences Act regulation, a victim fine surcharge of between 20 and 25 per cent is added to the fine.

Demerit Points

A conviction carries six demerit points. Demerit points stay on your record with the Ministry of Transportation for two years from the date of conviction. A fully licensed driver with between 9 and 14 demerits points may be required to attend an interview before a ministry official to provide information or other evidence to show cause why his or her driver's licence should not be suspended.

The Ministry may, after giving notice, suspend your driver's licence if you fail to attend the required interview; do not comply with the Ministry's requirements as a result of the interview; or do not show cause at the interview why your licence should not be suspended.

If you accumulate 15 demerit points, the Ministry will suspend your licence. You will not get it back until 30 days from the date you surrender it or two years from the date of the suspension, whichever comes first. After further demerit-point suspensions you may not get your licence back until six months elapse from the date you surrender it or two years from the date of the suspension, whichever occurs first.

For more information, see the demerit point </B>regulations.

Insurance risk points

A conviction for careless driving also has serious consequences for your motor vehicle insurance.

Insurance companies rank driving offences as minor, major or serious and assign insurance risk points to each category. Serious convictions are the worst and carry four risk points. If the driver has been licensed for less than four years, the insurance risk points attaching to a conviction are doubled.

Risk points are to be distinguished from demerit points. Demerit points are imposed by the Ministry of Transportation for conviction of offences under the Highway Traffic Act.

A conviction for careless driving is treated as a "serious" conviction for insurance purposes.