Careless driving charges can now be laid in parking lots

In December 2024 Ontario amended the Highway Traffic Act, specifically the offense of careless driving

You can now be charged in places like the Northgate Shopping Centre parking lot in North Bay.Jeff Turl/BayToday

Did you know that having an accident in a parking lot in Ontario may now lead to charges of careless driving?

In December 2024 Ontario amended the Highway Traffic Act, specifically the offense of careless driving. Previously, it was limited to vehicles on a highway or roadway but now includes parking lots.

The hope is that all drivers will do their best to avoid placing other motorists and pedestrians in harm's way.

The rules of the road now apply in a parking lot, whether it's above ground or below so police advise you to stay on the right side of the lane, obey posted signs, and use your turn signals.

Here is the definition of careless driving. Every person is guilty of the offence of driving carelessly who drives a vehicle or street car on a highway or in a specified place without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway or specified place.

"specified place" means:

(a) any parking lot, structure or garage, whether public or private, paved or unpaved, flat or multilevel, above or below grade, including any driveway or road that connects the parking lot to a highway,

(b) any parking lot into which drivers are expressly or impliedly invited or permitted to enter, with or without payment, and no matter whether payment was made or whether the driver entered with or without permission; and

Careless driving penalties in Ontario include fines, demerit points, and license suspension. Examples of the type of penalty drivers can face are;