Hi

I recently received a ticket with the offence:

"Fail to Obey Lane Sign"

However, it was stating it was contrary to: "H.T.A" Sect./Art. 154(1)(c)

But when I was driving, I was on the local streets and not on a highway. (Steeles Ave).

1) Are there demerit points associated with this ticket? (because I don't see it labelled)

2) Should I seek professional help regarding this type of case? (Paralegal, C.O.P.S etc)

The term highway applies to all roadways. There are two demerit 2 points. Because of the dermerit points it means this is a provincial issue. Because it's a provincial matter, the French Language Services Act is triggered. This requires all communications to be in both languages even if you don't speak both languages.

Because the cop never spoke to you in both languages, French and English, and because the text he added to the ticket are not in both Frenh and English, the ticket is not complete and regular on its face. Therefore, the ticket cannot be enforced.

Therefore, do not respond to the ticket. If you don't respond the court cannot fix theerrors and must quash the proceeding and ticket against you. If they do not and they convict you, you can appeal it and will win.

If you send in the notice that you intend to defend yourself at a trial, the court can then fix the errors on the ticket and convict you.

Use your own judgment, but my advice is to not respond to the ticket at all.

Demerit points for the offence won't be on the ticket. If you do not respond to the ticket, you will be deemed not to dispute it, and a conviction will automatically be entered against you. If you choose to fight it, use advice from the following website:

If you're seeking a paralegal, shop around for help. Some will go all the way to get the ticket quashed, others will just get it reduced. If the paralegal will go the distance with it, it makes your workload lower, but also costs more.

So wait a minute....

I just got this ticket too. Is the advice to ignore it, seeing as the cop didn't speak french and there isn't any french written on the ticket by the cop? I've never heard of this... is this legit?

Radar Identified wrote:Demerit points for the offence won't be on the ticket. If you do not respond to the ticket, you will be deemed not to dispute it, and a conviction will automatically be entered against you.

I've never heard of this... is this legit?

Here's a link to the French Language Services Act website.

And here is the actual law itself. Long read, but you can decide for yourself if it applies or not.

Don't ignore a ticket. The consequences could be disastrous for you. Fight it, plead guilty or plead guilty with an explanation, but do something.