My wife was given a ticket for not stopping a red light, but, actually it was still amber when she crossed the intersection from the off ramp w/b 401 at Leslie St. Toronto. She was going/turning s/b to Leslie St. and it was very clear to her that it was still amber and she was under the situation where if she tried to stop on the stop line, she will end up stopping in the middle of the intersection. There was also a delivery truck ahead of her, just few seconds away who crossed the amber light too. We have asked a disclosure already and the Police's version was that she observed the signal turn amber & then red. When the light turned red my wife's car was apprx. 2 car lenght east of the intersection. Please give us some input how are we going to depend our stand that it was still amber and in my wife's judgement it was safe to proceed as there was also another vehicle ahead. We would greatly appreciate any help that everyone can express on this issue... THANKS!!!!

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Red/amber light

by: dfernandz on

17 Replies

liveontheedge
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Re: Red/amber light

The issue in front of the Judge was "run the red" not "accel on yellow", yeah the guy got off. How could you prove an offence "accel on yellow" unless you have 2 readings on Laser and capture the yellow at the same time.

hwybear wrote:

yes, interesting to see. Guess even more reason to have red light cameras at every light. And another reason not to "jump" on a green, as someone is probably coming thru a red.

Only part is that the guy admitted to "accelerating" on a yellow.....which is contrary to slow down and proceed with caution.

The issue in front of the Judge was "run the red" not "accel on yellow", yeah the guy got off.

How could you prove an offence "accel on yellow" unless you have 2 readings on Laser and capture the yellow at the same time.

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racer
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Re: Red/amber light

Yeah, but if you slow down and proceed with caution, then A. You end up being too slow and get the red light ticket. B. Someone jumps on green and plows into your car. lose-lose law.

hwybear wrote:

yes, interesting to see. Guess even more reason to have red light cameras at every light. And another reason not to "jump" on a green, as someone is probably coming thru a red.

Only part is that the guy admitted to "accelerating" on a yellow.....which is contrary to slow down and proceed with caution.

Yeah, but if you slow down and proceed with caution, then

A. You end up being too slow and get the red light ticket.

B. Someone jumps on green and plows into your car.

lose-lose law.

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Ontario Traffic Ticket | Ontario Highway Traffic Act
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Squishy
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Re: Red/amber light

Well, the law doesn't actually say "slow down". You are supposed to stop if you can do so safely, otherwise just "proceed with caution". I would think that maintaining your speed, coasting through, or slowing down would all qualify as "proceed with caution" under the proper circumstances (e.g., maintaining speed through a busy downtown intersection with pedestrians all around may not be proceeding with caution). However, I find it hard to argue that speeding up on an amber is proceeding with caution.

Well, the law doesn't actually say "slow down". You are supposed to stop if you can do so safely, otherwise just "proceed with caution". I would think that maintaining your speed, coasting through, or slowing down would all qualify as "proceed with caution" under the proper circumstances (e.g., maintaining speed through a busy downtown intersection with pedestrians all around may not be proceeding with caution). However, I find it hard to argue that speeding up on an amber is proceeding with caution.

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