GRAVENHURST — A teacher who purposely abandoned her daughter on a Muskoka highway after the girl fell out of the back of their vehicle was able to dodge a neglect-related conviction this week.

The 54-year-old woman appeared in Bracebridge court on May 2 to plead guilty to a single count of careless driving stemming from a bizarre incident in July of last year.

She had also been facing a charge of failing to provide the necessities of life, but the Crown withdrew the charge following her plea.

According to assistant Crown attorney Lyndsay Jeanes, the incident began when the woman took her daughter and some of her daughter’s friends to a cottage in Sprucedale to celebrate the young girl’s upcoming 16th birthday.

While in Sprucedale, the woman’s 15-year-old daughter stole her vehicle during the night of July 21 ending up in an accident in the early-morning hours of July 22, court heard.

The girl was charged in the theft after a passerby came across the accident and called police, said Jeanes.

The woman was able to obtain a replacement vehicle, as hers was out of commission due to the extent of the damage, and decided to drive home to the Fort Erie area that day by way of Toronto where she would drop off her daughter’s friends, court heard.

According to Jeanes, because the vehicle only had five seats and there were six people in the group, the woman’s daughter sat in the cargo area at the rear of the vehicle.

As they passed through Gravenhurst on Highway 11, a fight ensued and the 15-year-old demanded she be let out of the vehicle, then she smashed out the rear window and tumbled out the back onto the road, cutting her hand in the process, court heard.

Her mother chose to leave her now injured daughter behind and carry on driving, Jeanes said.