A York Regional Police officer is facing a careless driving charge after he rammed a York Region cruiser on the 407 highway almost two weeks ago.
Const. Eugene Kushnir, 34, has been charged under Section 130 of the provincial Highway Traffic Act.
OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford told ctvtoronto.ca Thursday that Kushnir faces a "part one" offence notice, which is a maximum fine of $500 and six demerit points if convicted.
Woodford noted Kushnir hasn't been convicted of anything yet.
The accident occurred when a York officer had stopped another motorist on suspicion of speeding in the eastbound lanes just west of Yonge Street on Nov. 22.
At 3:24 p.m., an unmarked car arrived and rear-ended the white, marked cruiser, pushing it forward. The cruiser struck both the officer, who was outside the vehicle, and the Brown Honda that had been stopped.
Both officers suffered minor injuries. The two men in the Honda were uninjured.
Chief Armand La Barge of York Regional Police told ctvtoronto.ca that officers in Kushnir's position continue on with their regular duties because they aren't charged with a criminal offence.
A careless driving conviction could hold consequences for an officer if that person's licence were to be suspended, he said.
"It's rare to see a licence suspension unless a person has an egregious driving record, and that's not the case in this particular situation," he said.
La Barge estimated about three or four such charges were laid against York Region officers in 2007 -- compared to the 21 million kilometres his officers collectively drove that year.
Many of those kilometres are logged in terrible conditions or at high speeds, he said.
"Collisions aren't something we don't encounter along the way, but it's rare to see officers charged with traffic offences, and it's rare to see officers charged with serious traffic offences like careless driving," he said.
