Ontario Highway Traffic Act - HTA Traffic Ticket Forum - OHTA.ca • Fail to remain?
OntarioHighwayTrafficAct.com is an Ontario, Canada traffic ticket fighting and Highway Traffic Act discussion forum board. www.OHTA.ca is an open forum and Free to Join. Fight your traffic ticket. Help with fighting traffic tickets.
Hello, my son went into the ditch (single car accident) and hit a hydro pole. It was a dark country road with no lights and he didn't even realize he'd hit the pole -his airbags blew and he thought he'd hit the snowbank (we get big banks out here). He had a friend pick him up and then called his brother from the friend's house. He was back at the scene within 45 minutes to try to pull his car out. A plow had alerted the city and there was a city official there. They spoke and after showing my son where he'd hit the pole, he let mu son know he had a crew coming out to make repairs. My sons tried to pull his car out, but couldn't so after getting the opinion of the city worker that it should be OK until the morning -they left. The police later showed up and charged him with Fail to Remain 200 (1) (a). How long was he supposed to remain on scene if he'd done all.he could and felt all was being taken care of? He failed to tell the police that he had returned but we can prove it in court. So the question is - if we show he did return can they still charge him?
Fail to remain at the scene of an accident is a serious offence which carries 7 demerit points, and a fine between $400 and $2000, or a jail term of up to 6 months. Considering the seriousness of the offence, it would probably be a good idea to contact a paralegal or lawyer.
(a) remain at or immediately return to the scene of the accident;"
Did you son receive an offence notice (ticket) or a summons?
Does your son have a learner's permit (G1 or G2)? If so, a conviction for this offence would result in a license suspension.
"Every person who, as a result of an accident or otherwise, operates or drives a vehicle or leads, rides or drives an animal upon a highway and thereby damages any shrub, tree, pole, light, sign, sod or other property on the highway or a fence bordering the highway shall forthwith report the damage to a police officer."
This section carries a $85.00 set fine and I do not believe it has any demerit points associated with it.
That was my thought. Even then, he thought the damage was under the provincial amount -we still don't know the amount. But regardless I'm going to try to get them to reduce it to that & he'll accept it with a smile.
The above information from Whenaxis on FAIL TO REMAIN contrary to HTA section 200(1)(a) is incorrect.
(2) Every person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not less than $400 and not more than $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both, and in addition the person's licence or permit may be suspended for a period of not more than two years. 2009, c. 5, s. 54."
In addition to the range of fine that may be issued by the court, an additional 25% victim fine surcharge is applied.
In addition, a conviction would result in a 7 demerit point penalty. The summons will list a mandatory first appearance court date. For a serious charge of this nature, your son would be well served to seek out a licenced and experienced paralegal.
Correction: Looks like I misread Whenaxis' posting. His referral to set fine and no demerit points was in relation to a potential lesser offence and not regarding the original offence.