Failing to stop for a school bus in Ontario is a significant charge that can have various implications, including insurance, demerit points, fines, and personal pride. This charge raises concerns for many individuals, and it’s essential to understand its two primary types.
Two Types of Charges
Owner Charge: An owner charge is related to vicarious liability, where your driver’s license is not at risk. It involves a fine, and while it’s still a concern, it carries fewer implications than the other type.
Officer-observed Charge: The more significant charge occurs when an officer has witnessed the behavior, determined reasonable and probable grounds for laying the charge, and issued you a ticket. This type of charge can pose more significant consequences.
Seeking Consultation
To determine which type of charge you are facing and how to address it, consulting with a knowledgeable professional is crucial.
At OTD Legal, we offer free consultations to assess your situation and provide guidance on the best course of action.
Spending a few moments with us can help clarify the steps needed to address the charge and whether it is a matter of significant concern.
If you’re seeking legal assistance or need clarification on your situation, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation. We’re here to provide expert guidance and support.
I am going to talk to you about a charge that you could be facing. That charge is failing to stop for a school bus in Ontario. A significant charge, one that concerns many people for insurance reasons, for demerit point reasons, for fine reasons. Or for pride reasons. There are many reasons why that would alert a client and scare a client.
There are really two types of that charge. So, there’s not just simply one global charge of failing to stop for a school bus. There is what we would call an owner charge. An owner charge, is a charge where I’m gonna, I’ll get into this in another video, but it’s called vicarious liability. That’s the type of charge where your license is not in jeopardy. It is simply a fine and we need to worry about that much less.
The other type is what I will call an officer has observed this type of behavior, formed the reasonable and probable grounds that a charge should be laid, and then indeed they have laid the charge by serving you that ticket. Those are the more significant of the two types of charges.
You would need to consult with someone. Someone who’s in the know someone like a member of OTD Legal who could give you a consultation, a free consultation at that, to determine which type of charge that you are facing. And then we would concern ourselves with what exactly we would need to do in order to assist you. I would encourage you if you don’t know to spend the time with us, it takes moments to determine whether we need to help you or not and whether or not we need to be terribly concerned about this type of charge.
Author, Owner of OTD Ticket Defenders Legal Services and Licensed Paralegal
Licensed Paralegal & Founder of OTD Ticket Defenders
Ron Harper holds a BA in Psychology, a Certificate in Public Administration, and an Honours degree in Political Science, along with a Master’s in Judicial Administration. With over 40 years of experience in traffic law, including years of experience as a Prosecutor, Ron Harper leads one of Ontario's top traffic ticket defence firms.
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