Careless Driving

Fight your Careless Driving Ticket.WORTH FIGHTING.

Careless driving is $852 and six demerit points, and is one of the most serious tickets you can get without it being criminal. Free review before you pay.

Six points is a lot. A full Alberta licence suspends at fifteen in two years, so a single careless driving conviction puts you nearly halfway there. A GDL licence suspends at eight so one careless conviction and you have almost no room left.

And the insurance side is worse than the fine. Careless driving is a major conviction with every insurer we've seen.

Here's the thing worth knowing: careless driving is a charge that's often laid where the officer isn't sure what else to lay. It's broad by design. The broad wording can help our case, and it's why these are worth fighting.

THE CHARGE EXPLAINED

WHAT CARELESS DRIVING ACTUALLY MEANS

It's section 115(2)(b) of the Traffic Safety Act: driving without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other people using the road. In practice we see it laid for:

1. Collision Fault

Yours and the carrier's. A conviction that a private driver would shrug off can affect a carrier's safety rating.

2. Following Too Closely

Rear-end incidents or tailgating assertions.

3. Poor Weather Loss of Control

Losing control on ice or winter slush.

4. Vehicle Distraction

Being distracted by something inside the vehicle.

5. Unsafe Merge / Lane Change

Changing lanes in a manner deemed unsafe.

6. Failing to Yield

Failing to yield in a way the officer considered obvious and bad.

HELPFUL ANSWERS

CARELESS DRIVING QUESTIONS.

Quick answers to the questions we hear most about careless driving.

Send Us Your Ticket →

The specified penalty is $852, up from $567 as of March 13, 2026. A court can impose more than the specified amount depending on the circumstances.

Six. That’s the same as excessive speeding or failing to stop for a school bus, and it’s nearly half the total that suspends a full licence.

No. It’s a provincial offence under the Traffic Safety Act. It does not create a criminal record. Dangerous driving is the criminal equivalent and carries much more serious consequences.

It happens. Officers attending a collision often lay careless driving against one driver based on an initial read of the scene. That initial read is not always right, and it’s not evidence of the standard the Crown has to prove.

Not automatically on its own for a full licence, but six points is a large step toward the fifteen-point threshold. For a GDL driver at eight points, a single careless conviction leaves very little margin.

Then the question becomes whether a reasonable, prudent driver would have lost control in those same conditions. Weather-related loss of control is one of the more defensible careless driving situations, and it’s one we see often in this province.

For careless driving under the Traffic Safety Act, a court agent can represent you. If you’ve been charged with dangerous driving under the Criminal Code, you need a criminal lawyer. If you’re not sure which one you’re facing, send us the ticket and we’ll tell you.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

HOW THE TRAFFIC TICKET GURU HELPS.

1. Send us your ticket

A photo is enough. Free, and no obligation. You can submit it online through our website form.

2. We tell you where you stand

What the charge means, what it’ll do to your insurance, and whether it’s worth fighting. If it isn’t, we’ll say so.

3. We get the evidence — and test it

We rebuild what actually happened. Our trained collision analysts examine whether the evidence shows driving that truly fell below the standard — or just a collision the police over-charged.

4. We handle it

In most cases you never see the inside of a courtroom. We appear on your behalf and keep you informed at every step.

5. Backed by our guarantee*

If we can’t improve the outcome of your ticket, we’ll pay the fine up to the value of our fee, or credit you toward a future one.

OUR GUARANTEE

Guaranteed Work. Every Ticket.

We’re the first and only Traffic Ticket Defence Agency confident enough to guarantee our work on every ticket we fight. If we can’t improve the outcome of your ticket(s), then:

Pay the fine, up to the full value of our fee

Or give you a full credit toward a future ticket

GET GUARANTEED DEFENCE →

* - the following tickets are not included our guarantee: speeding 51 and over, drive while unauthorized/suspended, and uninsured charges.

FREE CASE REVIEW

SEND US YOUR TICKET. GET REAL ANSWERS.

Send us the details through the form — it goes straight to our former prosecutors who will tell you honestly what your ticket carries and how we can fight it.

FIGHT A CARELESS DRIVING CHARGE IN ALBERTA.