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I was hoping to receive some advice on the unfortunate situation that I currently find myself in.
Last night, at 7pm, I was at an intersection waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear so that I could turn left. I thought that I was waiting at the intersection behind only one other vehicle (a van) also waiting to turn left. I found it odd at the time that the van did not pull very far into the intersection to make the left hand turn. It turned out that there was another car, in front of the van, and did not realize this until the car started to turn left upon the light turning amber, at which point it came into my view.
Now, this was a large intersection, Glendale/Burleigh Hill in St. Catharines. I was turning left from Glendale onto Burleigh Hill. (If looking this up on Google maps would help give a better picture)
Now, had I known there were two cars in front of me, I would have held back at the intersection, and not kept creeping up behind the van, expecting that I could make the turn in time.
Since it was a large intersection, I am 100% certain that my car was past the white line, and into the cross-walk before the light had turned amber. The two cars in front of me were far enough into the intersection to allow this. However, I do realize that it looked very bad that I was the third car completing a left turn after the light turned amber.
When stopped, I told the officer that the reason I completed the turn was that I was in the intersection as the light was changing. She told me that this was not true, and that I was behind the white line when the light changed. As I didnt feel like argueing about it, I said "OK", and she went and wrote me up a $180 ticket. I was very polite, and when giving me the ticket, it almost seemed like she was reccomending to me that I fight the charge, and try to "get it knocked down". (I asked if this meant I get Demerit points on top of the fine, at which point she explained)
The officer was in the far lane of the oncoming traffic (so I turned left right in front of her), but I find it very hard to beleive that she could have seen whether or not I was actually behind the white line like she claimed, since she was all the way across the intersection, it was dark, and there were two cars in front of me, and a curb median to my left that would obstruct her view of the white line.
Also, I dont know how she would have thought to take note of my location with respect to the line before I had even started to do anything "illegal". I think she noticed that fact I was the third car turning, not where my starting point was.
So, I was hoping to get some advice based on what I have discribed above, and I want to thank everyone in advance, I really appreciate it.
1) Do I have an arguement that I should be able to complete the turn since I was sitting in the cross-walk at the time the light turned amber, even though the light was red by the time I was able to fully complete the turn?
2) Do I have an arguement that the officer probably couldnt see my starting point from where she was idleing at the intersection due to her proximity and other obstructions?
3) Should I just pay the fine and not bother fighting it?
I am not at all concerned about the $180 fine, however, I am looking at getting a new car, and the timing couldnt be worse for insurance purposes. I have a clean record up to this point, and am wondering how much I could expect my premiums to increase if I do not fight the ticket, even if I kept my current car. (If anybody reading this has experience in the matter)
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