Is Careless Driving a Criminal Offense in Alberta?

A careless driving charge is the most serious moving violation in the Alberta Traffic Safety Act. If you are convicted of careless driving you will get 6 demerits, a $567.00 fine, and an insurance premium increase identical to an Impaired Driving Conviction. Is careless driving a crime… no, but the insurance industry treats this charge the same as criminal code violations towards the escalation of your insurance rates.

Court Summons for Careless Driving Alberta

You can be given a mandatory court appearance summons that has no fine on it. This version of a Careless Driving violation is issued when the officer feels the circumstances of your incident should receive a more severe penalty than just the specified careless driving fine payment.

Typically the facts leading to a court summons for careless driving are very serious. The police want the Prosecutors to seek a heavier sanction than just an out of court fine. This careless driving maximum penalty can include the prosecutor seeking a license suspension of up to 3 months. A careless driving license suspension can cause an insurance premium increase of 50-100% for a period of three years. Do the math on that… ouch!

Dangerous Driving Criminal Code Violation

Unlike even a court summons for careless driving, a dangerous driving charge is a criminal offence with serious consequences like a criminal record.

The Difference Between Dangerous Driving and Careless Driving

A dangerous driving charge is much more serious than even a court summons for careless driving because it is the result of negligent behaviour and disregard for public safety. Since the circumstances are much more the serious, the penalties are considerably harsher.

If you are accused of dangerous driving, you can potentially face jail time up to five years… and if your actions were a contributing factor to injury or death, you’ll face a five-year driver’s licence suspension and the prison term can escalate to a 14 years.

Fighting a Careless Driving Ticket, Careless Driving Summons or Dangerous Driving Charge

We have more than 36 years experience helping Alberta drivers get out from under heavy weight charges like those listed above. You need to make an informed decision about dealing with these serious charges and in our Free consultation we’ll take the time to make everything very clear and explain how we can greatly minimize the impact on your driving record and your wallet. If you’re dealing with this situation, contact us right away.