I was in a car accident and provided information for compulsory accident and insurance reports. Can this information be used against me if I am criminally charged following the accident?

When you are involved in a car accident, you are compelled by traffic legislation to provide an accident report to police and to provide information to your insurance company about the accident. Depending on the circumstances, criminal charges are sometimes laid following an accident. In the recent case of R v. Porter, 2015 ABCA 279, the Alberta Court of Appeal clarified that the statutorily compelled information contained in your accident and insurance reports cannot be used against you. This means that any information you provide in your reports cannot be used as evidence for the Crown as part of criminal proceedings against you as this would violate your Section 7 Charter right and the principle against self-incrimination. This ruling means that the Crown cannot use any information you provided in your reports to obtain a search warrant or a production order.

If you’ve been involved in a car accident resulting in criminal charges and believe your rights were violated, contact our office today.