Hello, Brief description of what happened: My wife was traveling towards an intersection when the light turned amber, she decided to go through. A bus started to make a left turn in (from opposite direction) across her path. She could not stop and collided with the bus. The cop arrived at the scene, talked to the bus driver (and his supervisor) then told my wife she ran the red light and that the bus had the right of way. The bus was making a left turn on red! How can he have the right of way? Should I fight the ticket in court? No witnesses to back up my wife. The cop said that the 2 people who were on the bus said "the bus had the right of way". I don't think they said they saw her go through red.
Hello,
Brief description of what happened:
My wife was traveling towards an intersection when the light turned amber, she decided to go through. A bus started to make a left turn in (from opposite direction) across her path. She could not stop and collided with the bus.
The cop arrived at the scene, talked to the bus driver (and his supervisor) then told my wife she ran the red light and that the bus had the right of way.
The bus was making a left turn on red! How can he have the right of way?
Should I fight the ticket in court?
No witnesses to back up my wife. The cop said that the 2 people who were on the bus said "the bus had the right of way". I don't think they said they saw her go through red.
The bus driver has an obligation to ensure it is safe to make the turn, before they turn, even if someone is going to drive through a red or amber light. The bus driver should have awaited, made sure that the vehicle coming the other way was going to stop, and THEN when it was safe to turn, complete his turn. The bus driver could have been charged with Turn not in Safety. Especially since there are no witnesses to say that your wife went through a red light. The police favor the municipal bus drivers, because being put at fault for a traffic accident can mean that the driver gets fired. If your wife was going through the amber light the bus driver should have yielded to her and she should not have been charged. if you pay the ticket your admitting that the accident was your wife's fault, the ticket has 3 demerit points on it, and the accident will go against your insurance for 3 years. I think you have a good chance of winning this and having the accident taken off your insurance policy.
The bus driver has an obligation to ensure it is safe to make the turn, before they turn, even if someone is going to drive through a red or amber light. The bus driver should have awaited, made sure that the vehicle coming the other way was going to stop, and THEN when it was safe to turn, complete his turn.
The bus driver could have been charged with Turn not in Safety. Especially since there are no witnesses to say that your wife went through a red light.
The police favor the municipal bus drivers, because being put at fault for a traffic accident can mean that the driver gets fired.
If your wife was going through the amber light the bus driver should have yielded to her and she should not have been charged.
if you pay the ticket your admitting that the accident was your wife's fault, the ticket has 3 demerit points on it, and the accident will go against your insurance for 3 years.
I think you have a good chance of winning this and having the accident taken off your insurance policy.
Chris Conway
Retired Toronto Traffic Officer, Hit & Run Squad Detective,
Breathalyzer Tech, Radar/Highway Patrol
Licenced Paralegal
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