Dangerous Driving

Dangerous driving, or 'dangerous operation of a conveyance,' means operating a conveyance in a manner that is dangerous to the public. A conveyance includes a car, boat, aircraft, or railway equipment. Section 320.13 of the Criminal Code creates three separate charges: dangerous operation, dangerous operation causing bodily harm, and dangerous operation causing death. The key question at trial is how the person was driving. To be convicted, the driving must be more than careless — it must be a marked departure from how a reasonable, careful driver would drive in the same situation.

To win a conviction, the Crown must prove you were driving in a public place and your actions were a marked departure from the standard of care expected from a reasonable person in the same circumstances. In other words, your driving fell below the level of a careful and competent driver. Lack of care in the way you drove to the point that you were reckless or unsafe must be established. Your behaviour does not have to actually endanger the public for a conviction to be registered. 

Witnesses may play a part in the prosecution so you may be able to argue that your version of the events was more accurate. Your lawyer may be able to prove that your actions were careless as opposed to dangerous or that your rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were breached during a police investigation.

Dangerous driving and dangerous driving causing bodily harm are considered a hybrid offenceAn offence the Crown can proceed with summarily or by indictment., which allows the Crown prosecutorA lawyer who conducts a criminal prosecution on behalf of the public. to proceed with the charge as a summary offence or by summary convictionUsed for lesser offences. You will face harsher penalties if the Crown prosecutes the charge as an indictable offenceA more serious type of Canadian criminal offence..It is important to note that while dangerous driving can be treated as a hybrid offence, dangerous driving causing death is an indictable offence only under the Code and carries severe penalties.

The punishment you face upon conviction will, of course, depend on the charge but there are some common penalties. You will have a criminal record, there are fines and jail terms, probation and increased insurance premiums. 

According to sentencing guidelines in the Code, if you have been found guilty of dangerous driving by summary conviction you face a maximum jail term of two years less a day. If you have been convicted of an indictable offence you face a maximum prison term of 10 years.

In the case of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, if you are convicted of a summary offence you face the following punishment:

• for a first offence, a fine of $1,000;
• for a second offence, imprisonment for a term of 30 days; and
• for each subsequent offence, imprisonment for a term of 120 days;
• imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day.

If the Crown proceeds by indictment, you face imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years or a maximum of two year less a day for a summary offence. The minimum punishment includes:

• a fine of $1,000 for a first offence;
• imprisonment for a term of 30 days for a second offence; and
• imprisonment for a term of 120 days for each subsequent offence.or each subsequent offence, imprisonment for a term of 120 days;

If you are convicted of dangerous driving causing death, you could be sent to prison for life. Minimum sentences include: 

• a fine of $1,000 for a first offence;
• imprisonment for a term of 30 days for a second offence; and
• imprisonment for a term of 120 days for each subsequent offence.

Court will also take the following aggravating circumstances in sentencing:

• whether the commission of the offence resulted in bodily harm to, or the death of, more than one person;
• the offender was operating a motor vehicle in a race with at least one other motor vehicle or in a contest of speed, on a street, road or highway or in another public place;
• whether a person under the age of 16 years was a passenger in the conveyance operated by the offender;
• whether the offender was being remunerated for operating the conveyance;
• whether the offender’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of committing the offence was equal to or exceeded 120 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood;
• whether the offender was operating a large motor vehicle; and whether the offender was not permitted, under a federal or provincial Act, to operate the conveyance.