Summons to Appear

The summons to appear means that the officer wants the driver to appear in court before a judge because;

• A serious driving offence has occurred e.g. a fatal car accident.
• The officer believes the driver has a previous history of bad driving, and wants a high penalty.
• The driving actions are so bad that they want the driver to appear in court before the Justice.
• The police officer may be asking the court to consider a period in jail for the offence.
• Or simply the officer only had that type of form with them at the time of issuing.

When the office issues a summons to appear the driver or their legal counsel or agent must appear or the judge may issue a “Bench Summons” for the drivers arrest.

When a police officer issues a charge via a summons to appear, the prosecution is allowed to ask for a higher penalty.

With a summons to appear the penalty can increase to include:

• 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 his or her driver’s licence or permit may be suspended for a period of not more than two years.

Where the incident includes death or bodily harm:

• a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $50,000 or
• to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both, and
• in addition his or her driver’s licence or permit may be suspended for a period of not more than five years.

The driver must appear on the court date or have someone appear on their behalf.

If the driver does not appear for the court date, the Justice can issue a “bench summons”.  A bench summons is a formal command to police to find the driver, arrest them and to bring them before the court.

Careless driving traffic tickets that are issued by way of a summons can have a fine of up to 50,000.00 dollars, a drivers licence suspension and jail up to 6 months.

Summons for careless driving are serious traffic tickets and obtaining legal advice is recommended. Receive free immediate advice by calling OTT Legal >

When the police officer issues a ticket for careless driving, it is the officer’s opinion or belief that the driver was driving without due care and attention or driving carelessly.

To be found guilty of careless driving, it’s the Justice of the Peace that decides, not the police officer.

When your case is investigated by our legal team we look at:

• why you may not be guilty of driving carelessly
• was careless driving is the proper charge in the circumstances
• the legal defence to the charge
• having the ticket dismissed completely

By having an experienced legal team defending you we’ll explain to the court:

• what actually happened,
• why the charge should be dropped and
• defend you in court.

It’s your right to challenge the opinion of the police officer and a judge decide what actually happened.

OTT Legal has helped thousands of Ontario drivers and we can help you, call us today.