| brownguy |
hey
Well I got into my first accident tonight, and was looking for some advice,
So I rear ended a motorcycle tonight which was not owned or registered to the person riding it. The damage to the bike just seemed to be a broken taillight but the driver seemed to have recieved some sorts of injury but the passenger was fine. The police and ambulance were both called.
When the police arrived the officer asked me to fill out a statement and asked to see my DL, insurance and registration. I gave it all to him and in return I recieved a ticket for careless driving, however the officer told me to fight it in court and plea to a lesser charge as following to close, as he was not present at the time the accident occured.
He also said he was unable to give me my part of the police report as the rider of the motorcycle had no insurance or registration on them and would call me later about it
Now I have a couple of Q's,
Do I wait untill monday to let my insurance company know? or will they automatically find out?
How do I go about getting my ticket reduced?
do either of the tickets above hold demerits?
Am I just as screwed as I would have been if the biker had Insurance and registration for the bike?
How much should I expect my Insurance to go up if I have only been insured for almost 2 years and still have a GDL license?
Also am I still eligible to go for my Non GDL license with an accident on my record?
Thanks |
|
|
| Vive le Quebec |
quote:
Well I got into my first accident tonight, and was looking for some advice...
Oh boy...
quote:
Do I wait untill monday to let my insurance company know? or will they automatically find out?
No, they will not automatically find out, unless the other party involved reports them to your insurance company. If you try to "settle" without contacting your insurance company in order to avoid having your premiums jump, then you should probably not tell them. However, if the dude on the back has "injuries" go through your insurance company...they'll deal with it.
quote:
How do I go about getting my ticket reduced?
Go to court on or before the date printed on your ticket...in fact, you can probably choose to fight this ticket with a little more luck than most other people, since the officer didn't witness the incident. Therefore he is not going to testify...they will require the persons involved in the accident to attend court...and a lot of the time they don't show up to court to provide "evidence". You can take your chances and plead not guilty...or, if you just want to get your ticket reduced, again, go in to court (address is on the ticket) on or before the date printed.
FYI:
TSA 115(2)( b) Drive carelessly is $402 and 6 demerits
ROR 18(1) Follow a vehicle too closely is $172 and 4 demerits
quote:
do either of the tickets above hold demerits?
Yes, see above...6 (careless) and 4 (follow too close).
quote:
Am I just as screwed as I would have been if the biker had Insurance and registration for the bike?
Yup, don't matter who is involved. Unless the bike was stolen...that would be a different story.
quote:
How much should I expect my Insurance to go up if I have only been insured for almost 2 years and still have a GDL license?
Not a fucking clue.
quote:
Also am I still eligible to go for my Non GDL license with an accident on my record?
Not familiar with GDL system, I'm kinda "dated" and received my license well before this bureaucratic bullshit.
quote:
Thanks
You're welcome. |
|
|
| dtjohnst |
quote:
Originally posted by brownguy
How much should I expect my Insurance to go up if I have only been insured for almost 2 years and still have a GDL license?
There's a calculator at http://www.autoinsurance.gov.ab.ca/premiums.html as well as an explanation. I'm pretty sure this only relates to PLPD. You'll notice a section that mentions "Serious Traffic Safety Offences" and "Traffic Safety Offences". What's serious?
The Automobile Insurance Premium Regulation has a schedule at the end that lists them. http://www.qp.gov.ab.ca/documents/R...isbn=0779736222
In this case, I'll save you looking it up.
ROR 18: Following too close- Violation of Traffic Safety Act.
TSA 115(2)(b): Careless Driving - Serious Violation of Traffic Safety Act.
So, according to the calculator, if you get convicted under TSA 115(2)(b), you'll pay about $2626. For ROR 18 about $2100.80. The calculator lists the rate for a 2 year driver with no convictions or at-fault claims at $1454.40. So compare that to see what you should be at.
The table for surcharges says 0% increase for normal offences, and 25% increase for serious offences, but your rates will likely go up anyways because you will now have an at-fault claim on your record.
quote:
Also am I still eligible to go for my Non GDL license with an accident on my record?
Thanks
http://www.saferoads.com is a website put out by Alberta Infrastructure and Trasportation, the people who are in charge of/responsible for/however you wanna word it the GDL program.
It says you must be suspention free in the last year of your 2 years of probationary driving. So as long as you don't get your licence suspended, you should be able to. Depending on what the judge wants to do, he could give you a suspension. But, it's your first offence so I doubt it. The exception might be in his opinion you may not be ready for non-GDL and he might feel you should have to go another year with all the restrictions. In that case you might get a "paper suspension". 24 hours, not because you don't deserve to drive, but simply to reset your last year on the GDL.
Dress nicely when you go to court, be very polite, call anyone in the court room sir or ma'am anytime you speak to them and show remorse. "Yes sir" "I understand my violation was serious ma'am." "I feel I have learned a valuable lesson sir". Whenever you talk to the judge, say "Judge/Justice" in place of sir or ma'am. EVERY time. Just like army guys in movies. But don't do it twice in one sentence. Show respect for all parties involved, especially towards the law and the legal institution. In other words, don't talk down about laws or courts or fines. And avoid phrases like "Your lordship is most generous". They're overly British in nature and are frowned upon here. If the lawyers call the judge something other than judge (such as justice or your honour), follow their suit. I'm not sure who sits here in AB or what the usual term is in AB procedure. Could be anything for "My Lord/Lady" to "Mister Justice/Madam Justice" and in rare cases "Your Honour". You want to avoid looking like you watched 800 episodes of "judge judy" to prepare.
Your best defense in a case where you did do something wrong like this is to plead nice. Make everyone like you, make them think "what a nice, respectful young man. I'm sure he'll be more cautious in future."
And for the record, you might get trapped. Lawyers, and therefore judges, can be slippery. "Your honour, I feel that my driving wasn't, in fact careless. I was driving with great care. I just ended up too close behind the motorcycle." "And don't you think that being too close is careless?" "errrrrrrrrr. I suppose so."
What I mean is, study up. Review both laws, know their definitions, and be very careful with how you word things. This is why many people bring lawyers to court. POINTS can help with this too.
The fact that the cop told you to fight it is a good sign. It means he likely won't dispute you if you go to court, and it means you weren't an ass to him when he was there, so it's likely you won't be in court either.
Best of luck to you. Things like these are good learning experiences for young drivers. They should find some way to get you into accidents in drivers training with 2 safety cars or something so you can see how easy it is to smash into things and then walk you through what steps need to be taken. Even the best drivers can get in accidents.
EDIT:
I just looked it up on the Alberta Courts website. If it's a provincial court judge hearing your case, you adress them as "your honour" (it's becoming more and more popular it seems). If it's a traffic commisioner, address them as "your worship." |
|
|
| 92_WhItE_H23 |
quote:
Originally posted by dtjohnst
There's a calculator at http://www.autoinsurance.gov.ab.ca/premiums.html as well as an explanation. I'm pretty sure this only relates to PLPD. You'll notice a section that mentions "Serious Traffic Safety Offences" and "Traffic Safety Offences". What's serious?
The Automobile Insurance Premium Regulation has a schedule at the end that lists them. http://www.qp.gov.ab.ca/documents/R...isbn=0779736222
In this case, I'll save you looking it up.
ROR 18: Following too close- Violation of Traffic Safety Act.
TSA 115(2)(b): Careless Driving - Serious Violation of Traffic Safety Act.
So, according to the calculator, if you get convicted under TSA 115(2)(b), you'll pay about $2626. For ROR 18 about $2100.80. The calculator lists the rate for a 2 year driver with no convictions or at-fault claims at $1454.40. So compare that to see what you should be at.
The table for surcharges says 0% increase for normal offences, and 25% increase for serious offences, but your rates will likely go up anyways because you will now have an at-fault claim on your record.
http://www.saferoads.com is a website put out by Alberta Infrastructure and Trasportation, the people who are in charge of/responsible for/however you wanna word it the GDL program.
It says you must be suspention free in the last year of your 2 years of probationary driving. So as long as you don't get your licence suspended, you should be able to. Depending on what the judge wants to do, he could give you a suspension. But, it's your first offence so I doubt it. The exception might be in his opinion you may not be ready for non-GDL and he might feel you should have to go another year with all the restrictions. In that case you might get a "paper suspension". 24 hours, not because you don't deserve to drive, but simply to reset your last year on the GDL.
Dress nicely when you go to court, be very polite, call anyone in the court room sir or ma'am anytime you speak to them and show remorse. "Yes sir" "I understand my violation was serious ma'am." "I feel I have learned a valuable lesson sir". Whenever you talk to the judge, say "Judge/Justice" in place of sir or ma'am. EVERY time. Just like army guys in movies. But don't do it twice in one sentence. Show respect for all parties involved, especially towards the law and the legal institution. In other words, don't talk down about laws or courts or fines. And avoid phrases like "Your lordship is most generous". They're overly British in nature and are frowned upon here. If the lawyers call the judge something other than judge (such as justice or your honour), follow their suit. I'm not sure who sits here in AB or what the usual term is in AB procedure. Could be anything for "My Lord/Lady" to "Mister Justice/Madam Justice" and in rare cases "Your Honour". You want to avoid looking like you watched 800 episodes of "judge judy" to prepare.
Your best defense in a case where you did do something wrong like this is to plead nice. Make everyone like you, make them think "what a nice, respectful young man. I'm sure he'll be more cautious in future."
And for the record, you might get trapped. Lawyers, and therefore judges, can be slippery. "Your honour, I feel that my driving wasn't, in fact careless. I was driving with great care. I just ended up too close behind the motorcycle." "And don't you think that being too close is careless?" "errrrrrrrrr. I suppose so."
What I mean is, study up. Review both laws, know their definitions, and be very careful with how you word things. This is why many people bring lawyers to court. POINTS can help with this too.
The fact that the cop told you to fight it is a good sign. It means he likely won't dispute you if you go to court, and it means you weren't an ass to him when he was there, so it's likely you won't be in court either.
Best of luck to you. Things like these are good learning experiences for young drivers. They should find some way to get you into accidents in drivers training with 2 safety cars or something so you can see how easy it is to smash into things and then walk you through what steps need to be taken. Even the best drivers can get in accidents.
EDIT:
I just looked it up on the Alberta Courts website. If it's a provincial court judge hearing your case, you adress them as "your honour" (it's becoming more and more popular it seems). If it's a traffic commisioner, address them as "your worship."
sir and mam always worked for me.. i wouldnt go as far as to call someone your worship.. |
|
|
| Vive le Quebec |
| your worship? not even the fucking queen would get that from me. what are you, equivalent to God? |
|
|
| dtjohnst |
quote:
Originally posted by Vive le Quebec
your worship? not even the fucking queen would get that from me. what are you, equivalent to God?
"worship" and "worshipful" are old anglo-saxon contractions of worthy and ship/shipful. "Worthy" meaning "deserving of" and "ship" meaning "reward". Which is where we got the modern definition of "venerable" or "full of worth." It only sounds religious, but has nothing to do with the act of worshipping.
Alberta Provincial Traffic Court: http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/go.aspx?tabid=440
quote:
Trials in Traffic Court are generally heard by a sitting justice of the peace (usually referred to as a Traffic Commissioner). However, Provincial Court judges hear trials at some locations in the province. A Provincial Court judge should be addressed in court as Your Honour, and a Traffic Commissioner, as Your Worship.
|
|
|
| quadraphonic |
This seems strange to me. If the driver had no insurance or registration then he was on the road illegally in which case all fault should fall to him. It frustrating that you have a ticket and are subject to insurance increases.
I can appreciate that the law was enforced appropriately. You followed too close and hit him, it would be nice if extenuating circumstances prevailed though. Regardless, the truth of the matter is that if the motorcycle driver hadn't been on the road illegally, he also wouldn't have been in an accident. I sure hope the penalties he faces are far more serious than your own.
Best of luck with the court date! |
|
|
| dtjohnst |
quote:
Originally posted by quadraphonic
This seems strange to me. If the driver had no insurance or registration then he was on the road illegally in which case all fault should fall to him. It frustrating that you have a ticket and are subject to insurance increases.
I can appreciate that the law was enforced appropriately. You followed too close and hit him, it would be nice if extenuating circumstances prevailed though. Regardless, the truth of the matter is that if the motorcycle driver hadn't been on the road illegally, he also wouldn't have been in an accident. I sure hope the penalties he faces are far more serious than your own.
Best of luck with the court date!
I think what he's saying is the other driver didn't have it on them. Not that the vehicle was uninsured and unregistered. |
|
|
| quadraphonic |
quote:
Originally posted by dtjohnst
I think what he's saying is the other driver didn't have it on them. Not that the vehicle was uninsured and unregistered.
OK, apologies for the misunderstanding! |
|
|
| Vive le Quebec |
quote:
Originally posted by quadraphonic
OK, apologies for the misunderstanding!
apology accepted! |
|
|
| brownguy |
Hey,
thanks for all of the info,
The guy I hit was not the owner of the bike, nor was he registered or insured to it, the bike belonged to his friend who I'm assuming has insurance
however I just talked to my insurance company today and they said I am still just as screwed |
|
|
|
