Inquiry: My friend (driver) and I (front passenger) were on our way to a restaurant when we were kind of lost. We realised that we had to make a right turn (into a parking lot) all of a sudden and so she did the usual shoulder and mirror checks, just a lot quicker than she normally does given that she had less time (the turn had to be made quick or we would have missed it). All of a sudden I see a cyclist swerve and come to a stop. My friend hasn’t noticed yet so she continues to go. I let her know and she begins to slow down to a stop.
All we hear is a “F**** you a**h***” and the biker and a friend of his begin pedalling towards the car. My friend freaks out, because they are kind of approaching us quite violently and she speeds off. No collision occurred; the biker was a good 5 feet away, and the only reason she sped off was that she was afraid she would get into a fight… she panicked… They obviously have the license plate number. I’m wondering if they could press any charges. I told her it would be difficult because the bikers are on the sidewalk. That is illegal. Yes, she should’ve noticed them during the shoulder check but even then it’s really difficult to notice a biker especially if you’re expecting them to be obeying the law and being on the road. I’m wondering what kind of charges they could press against her. Could they ding her with careless driving? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Response: It would be surprising to see a charge of Careless Driving issued without any collision having occurred. If there were to be any charge issued, a Police Officer would likely contact your friend within the next month or two to issue an offence notice. At this point the only thing to do is to wait. If a charge is not received within the next six months, then there is unlikely to be any issue. If your friend is issued a charge, then I would recommend contacting our office via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299 for a no-cost initial review of the case to assess where the issues in the matter are and what will likely happen at Court.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager (London)