Ottawa Traffic Enforcement (Schools)

Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury lawyers Ottawa, is republishing this press release from the Ottawa Police as it contains valuable information about the obligations of drivers around school buses and also advises citizens that if they see a driver failing to respect the flashing lights of a school bus that charges can be laid against such a driver on the strength of the citizen's report (i.e. the police do not have to see the offence). There will be a lot more anxious parents on Tuesday morning as all of the children will be back to school after the Labour Day weekend. Ottawa –The City of Ottawa’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) is targeting drivers who follow too close and school zone safety this month as part of its ongoing commitment to keeping Ottawa’s roads safe. Following too close: Between 2007 and 2011, following too close was the cause of 24,487 traffic collisions, 6,872 injuries and eight fatalities. School Zone Safety: Between 2007 and 2011, there were 41 collisions in schools zones throughout the city resulting in nine injuries. The penalties for a driver passing a stopped school bus with its upper red lights flashing include fines ranging from $400 to $2,000 and six demerit points for a first offence. A second offence yields the driver a fine between $1,000 and $4,000, six demerit points and a possible jail sentence of up to six months. Penalties may not be limited to the driver. The vehicle owner may also be charged for school bus traffic control violations, with fines ranging from $400 to $2,000. Police officers are not required to witness the vehicle passing a stopped school bus with its upper red lights flashing in order to lay charges against the vehicle owner. Citizens who witness such occurrences can contact the police and provide the make, model, colour of vehicle; license number; location, date and time of the incident; and, if possible, a description of the driver. Safer Roads Ottawa would like to remind drivers that reducing your travelling speed greatly reduces your chances of being involved in a collision and increases your ability to react to situations on the road. These initiatives support the larger Safer Roads Ottawa Program, a leading partnership between Ottawa Fire Services, Ottawa Paramedic Service, Ottawa Police Service, Ottawa Public Health and the Public Works Department committed to preventing or eliminating road deaths and serious injuries for all people in the City of Ottawa, through culture change, community engagement, and development of a sustainable safe transportation environment.

How do I present my case?

As experienced counsel, the lawyers at Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury lawyers Ottawa, are able to analyze and look at a particular set of facts and fairly quickly determine the strengths and weaknesses of a particular case. After such a long time of doing this work, the analysis is internalized, even automatic, and this initial impression of a case becomes the starting point for collecting evidence and building the details through self reports, medical reports, expert reports, witness accounts, and various records including financial documentation, receipts, tax returns and the like.The process for how a case is successfully built is sometimes glossed over in conversations with clients. Many clients simply want a win and a successful resolution of their claim and frankly are not interested in the mechanics of how the win is achieved. Hence, it was with pleasure that this writer recently met with a new client who indeed asked about all of the nuts and bolts of putting together a winning case. Meeting with this client got the writer to thinking about how important it is for clients to ask this question of their prospective lawyers. Any lawyer that you may be meeting for the first time should be able to confidently explain to you the legal process, in broad terms, within a few minutes. That lawyer should be able to respond to any question you have with confidence. Beyond outlining the legal process, the lawyer should also be able to explain how he or she plans to present your case so that you have the very best chance of succeeding. The manner of presentation, and deciding what will be presented, starts well before the trial.Determining how the case will be presented starts on the very first day of hiring the lawyer. From the notice letter to the person who caused the injury, to soliciting and obtaining reports, medical records, police reports, hiring an investigator, obtaining witness statements, expert reports and analysis, engaging case managers, and communicating with insurers and adjusters, all of these things factor immediately into the presentation of the case. How your case is presented, from the very first moment, will reflect the strength of your case, your determination to win, your preparation and willingness to commit financial resources to win. Weakness in any aspect of presentation will be picked up upon by insurances adjusters, insurance defence lawyers, mediators and Judges. And where weakness is detected there will be a push for you to compromise the value of your claim and quite frankly for you to take less than you would otherwise be entitled to.At QTMG LLP we are aware of the critical importance of presentation--from the very outset of any case. We believe that it is because of this awareness and our ability to explain it, draw a road map, and demonstrate the necessity of detailed preparation to our clients that we are so successful in our cases. It was a good experience again to have a client actually ask about the nuts and bolts of proving a case as the process of explaining it gave the client great comfort and it reinforced for this writer how a client who understands the purpose of the work is better able to contribute to the success of the case.