A Bracebridge man narrowly avoided jail after admitting he was impaired when he crashed head-on into another car while driving the wrong way on Hwy 11.
In Bracebridge court on Tuesday, Tom Chacalos, 50, pleaded guilty to being impaired when he was involved in the crash on Nov. 28, 2020.
At roughly 11:15 p.m on that day police responded to a head-on collision on Hwy 11 north near Beaver Ridge Road, after Chacalos entered the highway and began travelling south in the northbound lanes.
Court heard that the victim saw Chacalos coming but didn’t realize he was on the wrong side of the highway until the last minute. The victim attempted to swerve out of the way at the last minute but they ended up hitting each other head on. The vehicles were severely damaged and the victim was sent to hospital with multiple injuries.
Chacalos ultimately blew readings of 226 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, nearly triple the legal limit.
The crown attorney said the victim still suffers from the mental and physical effects of the crash. He asked that Chacalos be given four months in jail.
While Justice Jonathan Bliss called the crash a “nightmare situation,” he agreed with the defense attorney that house arrest would be appropriate. Chacalos received six months house arrest, an 15-month driving ban and a term of probation.
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