When you find yourself facing a careless driving charge in Ontario, making an informed decision about your legal representation is extremely critical. A careless driving offence under Section 130 of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act can result in significant fines, demerit points, and a potential conviction that will increase your insurance premiums and affect driving record for several years.
Under the act, careless driving is defined as driving “without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway.” Consequences can escalate if the charge involves bodily harm or death. A conviction can carry fines that range widely, from $400 to $2,000, along with possible jail time and a driver’s license suspension.
Choosing the right legal support is crucial for the best outcome of your case. In Ontario, while lawyers are qualified representatives, paralegals stand out as not only the most common choice for those accused of traffic offences, but also the better choice when factoring in experience and cost.
Lawyer Representation For Careless Driving:
- More expensive
- Less specialized
- Lower court presence
- May lack current practical experience
Paralegal Representation For Careless Driving:
- Cost-effective
- Specialized in traffic law
- Regular court presence
- Have ongoing case experience
Paralegals often have specialized experience in traffic law and are specifically familiar with court procedures and the key individuals in the Provincial Offences Court. Regular interaction with prosecutors and justices of the peace provides them certain insights that will prove beneficial in your case.
Video Transcription:
Do you need a lawyer for a careless driving charge? I’m going to enjoy answering this question. The answer I will give to you at the end of it. If you’re charged with careless driving, the most common representative in Ontario, bar none, is going to be a paralegal. They dominate this particular industry.
It’s important to know that. Because it is an industry that, for the most part, has been abandoned by lawyers. Lawyers, whenever they can, make far more money. They are a much more expensive type of representative, and they’re not particularly interested in what I call the Provincial Offences Court. In the Provincial Offences Court, there are many cases. They are dealing with higher volume, and there are long periods of time when the lawyer would be waiting around for their case to be called.
The problem with that particular approach for the average lawyer is they simply do not have the time to wait all day in that court because they’re really generally only there on one particular matter. Now, that lawyer may be equally as good as a paralegal that goes there every day, but they’re going to be a multiple of expense.
For that lawyer, because they don’t deal with that charge on a regular basis, they’re going to have to refresh their mind as to what the law is. They’re going to do all the research from the ground up. When you’re dealing with a paralegal, or a paralegal company that has been there every day, all day, for weeks, months, years, they already have that work done.
They’re on top of it. They’re current. More so than that, they know the people in that court. They know, specifically, who to be dealing with to potentially get the result that that client needs. The one off lawyer, or the person that goes in there on a very rare basis, does not have that knowledge base, does not have that experience.
That is not saying that the lawyer is incompetent. That’s very different. They’re very competent. They’re educated, licensed, capable. But they don’t do it on a regular basis. They have not had the opportunity to get proficient at dealing with this type of thing. So the answer is actually provided to you in those statements that for my money, you want to find the person who is the most experienced.
A regular person in there who’s done the research and is proven, a proven asset to be using that person in that particular situation. So for a careless driving charge, probably the most significant charge that people face in their lifetime, I know to a moral certainty the right choice is picking the correct paralegal to do that type of work for you.
I advocate, and have for many years, those paralegals, paralegals like OTD, are experts at what they do. And it’s an efficient way of spending your money. You don’t want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to get the result that you absolutely need. That can be achieved better, more efficiently, and predictably through a strong and successful paralegal service such as OTD Legal.
