New Brunswick Dangerous Driving Lawyers

A dangerous driving charge in New Brunswick usually follows a crash, a pursuit or another motorist’s report of a stretch of bad driving. The charge is criminal, laid under section 320.13 of the Criminal Code, and it is tried in the Provincial Court of New Brunswick or, on election, the Court of King’s Bench. A New Brunswick dangerous driving lawyer defends the driving itself, because the driving is what the Crown has to prove.

Section 320.13 Sets Three Levels of the Offence

Dangerous operation is hybrid: a maximum of two years less a day on summary conviction and ten years on indictment. Dangerous operation causing bodily harm carries a maximum of fourteen years, and causing death a maximum of life imprisonment. On an indictable charge the accused elects the court: Provincial Court, King’s Bench judge alone, or King’s Bench judge and jury. The election is tactical and made with counsel after disclosure, not at the first appearance.

The Marked Departure Standard Decides Most Cases

The test is objective. The Crown must prove driving that was a marked departure from what a reasonable driver would have done in the same circumstances. Seconds of inattention do not meet it, even when the result was serious. The evidence that answers the question comes from dash cameras, the vehicle’s own event data recorder, witness statements and the collision reconstruction, and each of those is obtained and tested before any advice on a plea.

The Charge Does Not Suspend the Licence by Itself

There is no administrative roadside suspension for dangerous driving in New Brunswick, unlike an impaired or refusal charge. Driving usually continues until the case ends. A conviction changes that: the court can impose a driving prohibition, the conviction carries demerit points, and the insurer reprices the risk. Those consequences are part of every resolution discussion.

Careless Driving Under the Motor Vehicle Act Is Often the Resolution

New Brunswick’s Motor Vehicle Act contains a careless driving offence. It is provincial, it ends with a fine and points, and it leaves no criminal record. Where the file shows carelessness rather than a marked departure, the defence puts that case to the Crown with the reconstruction and the data behind it. On facts near the line, that resolution protects everything a criminal conviction would take.

The Defences a New Brunswick Dangerous Driving Lawyer Runs

A mechanical failure the driver could not have known about answers the charge. So does a medical event at the wheel, established with records. So does an emergency that explains the manoeuvre, and so does identity where the driver was never stopped. Underneath all of them sits the standard itself: proof of bad driving is not proof of a marked departure, and the gap between the two acquits people.

Trials Run in the Provincial Court of New Brunswick

Most files are heard in the Provincial Court in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton or on circuit, with King’s Bench available on election. The courts’ locations and sittings are published by the Courts of New Brunswick. The New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission covers criminal charges for those who qualify. The Moncton office and the Saint John office take these files. The two-province page is at dangerous driving defence, the neighbouring practice at New Brunswick impaired driving, and the contact page connects a caller to the nearest office.

Does a Conviction Mean Jail?

Not automatically. The basic offence without harm often resolves in a fine or probation, and jail becomes a live issue where bodily harm or death is alleged or the record is long. No lawyer can promise a sentence; the ranges above are what the Code sets.

The Police Want My Statement About the Crash.

Speak to counsel first. You have the right to silence, and an account given at the scene or the hospital becomes evidence about the manner of driving, which is the whole case. A collision can be reported without an interview about how you drove.

Will This Show on a Record Check for Work?

A conviction under the Criminal Code will. A careless driving conviction under the Motor Vehicle Act is a provincial offence and does not create a criminal record, which is a large part of why that resolution is pursued.