Hi all, So I was heading home to today and I was in the left lane of the off ramp, some lady cut across her lane of traffic and across the off ramp median and hit the back side of my car! After a few meters of bumping (I was dazed and confused) I stopped the car. I call 911 and was told to move the car to the shoulder. Cop comes, interviews both of us, and lets the lady go! The cop proceeds to give me a ticket for "unsafe lane change". I was like WTF - what do you mean unsafe lane change, I was in my lane the whole time! The cop didn't believe I was in the left lane - bummer, I think SOL on this one. It's one of those he said / she said scenarios ... Cop said: 1. Her front bumper was cracked, therefore I side wiped her?! 2. Damage is inconsistent with her hitting me?! 3. Lady did not move her car, and since I was in front of her car, I must have cut into her lane. What to do? Goto trial? Not even sure how to defend against this when there were no eyewitnesses?
Hi all,
So I was heading home to today and I was in the left lane of the off ramp, some lady cut across her lane of traffic and across the off ramp median and hit the back side of my car! After a few meters of bumping (I was dazed and confused) I stopped the car.
I call 911 and was told to move the car to the shoulder.
Cop comes, interviews both of us, and lets the lady go! The cop proceeds to give me a ticket for "unsafe lane change". I was like WTF - what do you mean unsafe lane change, I was in my lane the whole time!
The cop didn't believe I was in the left lane - bummer, I think SOL on this one. It's one of those he said / she said scenarios ...
Cop said:
1. Her front bumper was cracked, therefore I side wiped her?!
2. Damage is inconsistent with her hitting me?!
3. Lady did not move her car, and since I was in front of her car, I must have cut into her lane.
What to do? Goto trial? Not even sure how to defend against this when there were no eyewitnesses?
The other driver will be considered a witness. Should you request a trial, they'll inform the other driver of the trial date. Do paralegals help at all in these sort of cases? Will the paralegal put up a decent defense instead of plea bargaining? Also, since she lied in the first place, it's in her interest to continue to lie?
bend wrote:
coolspot wrote:
What to do? Goto trial? Not even sure how to defend against this when there were no eyewitnesses?
The other driver will be considered a witness. Should you request a trial, they'll inform the other driver of the trial date.
Do paralegals help at all in these sort of cases? Will the paralegal put up a decent defense instead of plea bargaining?
Also, since she lied in the first place, it's in her interest to continue to lie?
Paralegals do help in these sorts of cases. The paralegal can file for disclosure for you, etc. When you're choosing a paralegal, spend some time talking to them. See if they are genuinely interested in helping, or they blow off most of your concerns. You might hear a few things you don't like, but if they take the time to explain stuff to you, chances are you're in good hands. Take photos of the damage to your vehicle. That's part of your evidence. Go to the "Courts and Procedures" section of this website for rules on submitting photographs. When the other driver is put on the witness stand, at that point the paralegal (or you should you choose to represent yourself) should be able to introduce reasonable doubt. For example, ask where she was coming from and where she was going. If she was trying to swing over to the left, it would make sense that she hit you. If she does not show up, the case is toast. Heck, if you're really enterprising and you are very lucky, maybe one of the businesses along the street has surveillance cameras that shows where the collision occurred. (That would be about 1 in 100 odds.) Doesn't hurt to revisit the scene and have a look.
Paralegals do help in these sorts of cases. The paralegal can file for disclosure for you, etc. When you're choosing a paralegal, spend some time talking to them. See if they are genuinely interested in helping, or they blow off most of your concerns. You might hear a few things you don't like, but if they take the time to explain stuff to you, chances are you're in good hands.
Take photos of the damage to your vehicle. That's part of your evidence. Go to the "Courts and Procedures" section of this website for rules on submitting photographs.
When the other driver is put on the witness stand, at that point the paralegal (or you should you choose to represent yourself) should be able to introduce reasonable doubt. For example, ask where she was coming from and where she was going. If she was trying to swing over to the left, it would make sense that she hit you.
If she does not show up, the case is toast. Heck, if you're really enterprising and you are very lucky, maybe one of the businesses along the street has surveillance cameras that shows where the collision occurred. (That would be about 1 in 100 odds.) Doesn't hurt to revisit the scene and have a look.
* The above is NOT legal advice. By acting on anything I have said, you assume responsibility for any outcome and consequences. *
http://www.OntarioTicket.com OR http://www.OHTA.ca
Since this is a "he said, she said" scenario ... with no eye witnesses, and a cop who came 1 hour later, I assume defense here is to create reasonable doubt? In fact, I would think conviction would be quite hard since there is no video/photographic proof? I should had a dash cam - if I did, she would have been charged on the stop. Live and learn :(
Since this is a "he said, she said" scenario ... with no eye witnesses, and a cop who came 1 hour later, I assume defense here is to create reasonable doubt? In fact, I would think conviction would be quite hard since there is no video/photographic proof?
I should had a dash cam - if I did, she would have been charged on the stop. Live and learn
So I would have plead not guilty and requested a trial with the officer present. Once I got the notice of trial, I would have requested disclosure (officers notes and witness statements). At trial, the officer will testify to laying the charge and to your identity, but the other driver must also be there to testify of the actual accident. If the other driver does not show up then they will have to drop the charge. If the other driver does show up, then yes you want to drill them with a million questions on cross examination and try to bring doubt to their testimony. Also, in this case, since you honestly believe that you were 100% not guilty, then you should also take the witness stand and testify as to your side of the story as this will help bring reasonable doubt as well. When you are cross-examining the other driver, this NOT the time to give your testimony as you are not on the stand and are not under oath. This is your time to ask a million leading questions and try to make them hum and hah a lot so as to make it look like they made their story up (which they did). Read this thread: http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic7041.html
So I would have plead not guilty and requested a trial with the officer present. Once I got the notice of trial, I would have requested disclosure (officers notes and witness statements).
At trial, the officer will testify to laying the charge and to your identity, but the other driver must also be there to testify of the actual accident. If the other driver does not show up then they will have to drop the charge. If the other driver does show up, then yes you want to drill them with a million questions on cross examination and try to bring doubt to their testimony.
Also, in this case, since you honestly believe that you were 100% not guilty, then you should also take the witness stand and testify as to your side of the story as this will help bring reasonable doubt as well.
When you are cross-examining the other driver, this NOT the time to give your testimony as you are not on the stand and are not under oath. This is your time to ask a million leading questions and try to make them hum and hah a lot so as to make it look like they made their story up (which they did).
Thanks for the reply; I have been trying to get disclosure since I received my notice back in September. Two faxes and one in person request last week still nothing. I plan on pleading not guilty, see if the "victim" is there and whether or not at that time raise the disclosure issue. If the witness is there but the officer is not, will the Crown also have to drop the case?
jsherk wrote:
So I would have plead not guilty and requested a trial with the officer present. Once I got the notice of trial, I would have requested disclosure (officers notes and witness statements).
Thanks for the reply; I have been trying to get disclosure since I received my notice back in September. Two faxes and one in person request last week still nothing. I plan on pleading not guilty, see if the "victim" is there and whether or not at that time raise the disclosure issue. If the witness is there but the officer is not, will the Crown also have to drop the case?
The Prosecutor's office finally got my disclosure ready ... with less than 2 days to the trial. Supposedly there is >15 pages worth of material. Personally I don't think it's fair to have it prepared so late, as such I'll probably request an adjournment. Since it was the prosecutor who took so long to prepare the package, but I will be requesting an adjournment, will this affect an 11B challenge? Thanks.
jsherk wrote:
Yes the officer must be there as well.
The Prosecutor's office finally got my disclosure ready ... with less than 2 days to the trial. Supposedly there is >15 pages worth of material.
Personally I don't think it's fair to have it prepared so late, as such I'll probably request an adjournment.
Since it was the prosecutor who took so long to prepare the package, but I will be requesting an adjournment, will this affect an 11B challenge?
Just make sure you say something like this to the JP : "Since the prosecutor only got the disclosure ready 2 days ago, I would like an adjournment as I need time to review it and prepare my defense. And I would like this time to count against the prosecution as I have been requesting it since [SOME DATE] and they should have had more than enough time to get it ready and to me sooner than 2 days ago." Unless you are talking about an 11b at this upcoming trial, then you can still try it and if does not work, try it again at the next one! If you can get the JP to agree to count this adjournment against the prosecution then you might have better chance at next trial for 11b.
Just make sure you say something like this to the JP :
"Since the prosecutor only got the disclosure ready 2 days ago, I would like an adjournment as I need time to review it and prepare my defense. And I would like this time to count against the prosecution as I have been requesting it since [SOME DATE] and they should have had more than enough time to get it ready and to me sooner than 2 days ago."
Unless you are talking about an 11b at this upcoming trial, then you can still try it and if does not work, try it again at the next one! If you can get the JP to agree to count this adjournment against the prosecution then you might have better chance at next trial for 11b.
Thanks for the advice, I was able to obtain an adjournment due to the fact that the prosecution ignored my fax requests. However, I'm not sure who the adjournment is counted again, although the JP did say she was disappointed the prosecution did not return my requests in a timely fashion. The witness continues to lie and the police officer was treating her like a VIP and with kid gloves - adding insult to the injury. The prosecution and I agreed to resume proceedings in June, since the Witness will be out of the country in May. June will be 12 months since the date of the accident ... but only 10 months since I received my trial notice. I guess a 11B challenge is a bit difficult? Lastly, I read through my disclosure package, the supporting statements are pretty weak. This is entirely a he-said, she-said scenario with the officer throwing his opinion into the matter tipping the scales in her favor.
jsherk wrote:
Just make sure you say something like this to the JP :
"Since the prosecutor only got the disclosure ready 2 days ago, I would like an adjournment as I need time to review it and prepare my defense. And I would like this time to count against the prosecution as I have been requesting it since [SOME DATE] and they should have had more than enough time to get it ready and to me sooner than 2 days ago."
Unless you are talking about an 11b at this upcoming trial, then you can still try it and if does not work, try it again at the next one! If you can get the JP to agree to count this adjournment against the prosecution then you might have better chance at next trial for 11b.
Thanks for the advice, I was able to obtain an adjournment due to the fact that the prosecution ignored my fax requests. However, I'm not sure who the adjournment is counted again, although the JP did say she was disappointed the prosecution did not return my requests in a timely fashion.
The witness continues to lie and the police officer was treating her like a VIP and with kid gloves - adding insult to the injury.
The prosecution and I agreed to resume proceedings in June, since the Witness will be out of the country in May. June will be 12 months since the date of the accident ... but only 10 months since I received my trial notice. I guess a 11B challenge is a bit difficult?
Lastly, I read through my disclosure package, the supporting statements are pretty weak. This is entirely a he-said, she-said scenario with the officer throwing his opinion into the matter tipping the scales in her favor.
In order for an 11b to be succesful you would need to be at least 11 months since you requested trial (I beleive it is from when you requested the trial, not from when you recieved the notice of trial, but not 100% sure on this point). You would also need transcripts of all your court appearances so the JP can review who the time should be against. And if you AGREED to the June date without an objection on the record then it will probably be counted as neutral time. You need to say you object and say you want a trial date as soon as possible and it has to show up on the record in order for it to be counted against the prosecution and not you.
In order for an 11b to be succesful you would need to be at least 11 months since you requested trial (I beleive it is from when you requested the trial, not from when you recieved the notice of trial, but not 100% sure on this point).
You would also need transcripts of all your court appearances so the JP can review who the time should be against. And if you AGREED to the June date without an objection on the record then it will probably be counted as neutral time. You need to say you object and say you want a trial date as soon as possible and it has to show up on the record in order for it to be counted against the prosecution and not you.
The trial date was pushed off to June ... I picked up the disclosure package and found a few areas to discredit the liar of a witness. More to come in 6 months time.
jimm wrote:
any follow up?
The trial date was pushed off to June ... I picked up the disclosure package and found a few areas to discredit the liar of a witness.
I was stopped for allegedly doing 122 in a 90. I requested disclosure and like most received the minimum. The notes are just a photo copy with no explanations or typing. Only received parts of the manual that pertain to testing. Appears the officer was using a "Laser Atlanta Speed Laser", but no model or serial number is referenced in the notes. Testing is noted in two times written at the…
Hey guys, wanted to know if anyone has had a similar situation, and if you have any advice:
I was travelling E/B on Dundas St and had a green light to turn S/B on Spadina Ave. There's a no right on red sign, I observed it. I initiated my maneuver, slowly pulling my car into position to make the turn. This intersection is super busy, and there was a group of pedestrians who were painfully slowly…
This is the first traffic ticket that i have ever had, and i was wondering if someone could shoot me some of their advice as to how i could go about the case?
It was a red light, i approached the intersection and stopped, noticed two pedestrians on the right of me, and one officer on left and right of my vehicle, on the cross walks. They were pay duty for construction happening. I was waiting for…
I thank you in advance for the opportunity to share my concern here with you and also ask for help . I have a portfolio for 21 years, 16 years in class A / Z and with my Abastract / CVOR record both clean. I was stopped by an OPP on HWY 6 towards Tobermory, On just because I was above the allowed highway limit. According to the policeman, he told me that I reached 130km / h in an…
I can't find the category for this post so I'm posting it here.
Two questions...
1. Are golf carts considered a 'vehicle' under the Highway traffic act? I know carts can't drive across roads or on roads but if you try to bring one from the USA into Canada they are considered a 'vehicle'.
2. If you are on private property are you allowed to carry 'opened' alcohol in your golf cart? I know golf…
I was going southbound on 427 and exited at Queensway (Toronto). I needed to make a right turn and it is no right turn on red. So I stop on red light. There were 3 cars in front of me. I get the green arrow pointing right. So the cars turn right and when I was turning the green arrows just turned off. There was no amber. It just turned off. So I get pulled over…
Back on august 28th around 7 40 in the morning I got pulled over by a cop in a car that was not legally registered for the road yet, Stupid as it was i was literally just taking it for a drive on my street because it was sitting for so long My street is a residential street so i didn't think i cop would be turning on it anytime soon. But of course i got unlucky. He got me gave me 3 tickets. By…
I got ticket for failing to stop at stop sign in Toronto. i heard that the police officer must see the stop line, if there is one, from where he was sitting. That is exactly my case, Is it a strong case? If so do i need a picture to show that there is a stop line and a picture to show that he could not see the stop line from where he was sitting?
I got pulled over for disobey the "No Heavy truck" sign, on the ticket it say Highway traffic act Section 182(2), but I think I didn't disobey the "No Heavy Truck" sign, because my truck was loaded with delivery items(which at the time it was under 5 tonnes), I didn't request for disclosure, the cop that pulled me over didn't even check my truck to see if it is over 5 tonnes.
I picked up a brand new (old stock) Fuzzbuster a while ago at auction (wopping $5!!) and I want to mount it on the dash of my old GTO as a cool accessory when I show it at car shows. But I'm not sure if it's legal or not.
Here's my thoughts:
- It is early 70's technology (x-band) so it won't detect modern police radar. That's assuming no police force uses the old x-band frequency.
This morning I came downstairs to see my car with a ticket on it for $150 for parking in a fire route. The underground parking is under construction and we cannot park there so the tenates have to park either in visitors or adjacent streets. I have been parking in the same spot for a week and nothing was said to me until I found the ticket Sunday morning. I looked at every other car parked where…
Just bought my 1st GPS. Pretty decent little outfit. Have used it on a couple of short trips and got me to the destintation properly.
I have taken it to work recently and it is not as accurate as I first had hoped. The calculation of my vehicle speed is off by 2km/hr (GPS reads high). When stationary in many locations, it does not place me exactly where I am parked. On 2 different times it…
HI! So my husband was driving home at 2 am and blew out his back passenger tire which caused him to hit a parked car, he did quite a bit of damage to the car , there was no one around , and he did not have any paper to leave a note, also because it was a very old 1980 car and my husband assumed the damage was less than 1000,00 dollars and he left and did not report it until the next day. A week…
Issued in a news release by Toronto Police Traffic Services Sergeant Tim Burrows, these were the top 10 peeves of drivers in an on-line survey by the Toronto Police:
10. Slow drivers
9. Slower-moving drivers who pull into your lane when you're going faster
I received a speeding ticket this past weekend, and although the officer was nice and gave my 6yo a coupon for a free slushy, I want to fight the ticket.
The officer wrote the offence as "95km/h in a posted E0 km/h zone" the "E" being what looks like a written backwards 3. Now I know and you can probably guess he intended to write an 8 but that is not what is there it is an incomplete 8 and…
Quick run down of my situation: My liscence was suspended in early September for a DUI. Got caught driving last weekend on the 401. Officer claimed I was pulled over because she figured I was speeding and I looked suspicious because I was looking around in the car too much. She searched the entire car looking for weed - none was found. I was charged with driving while under suspension.
I wasn't quiet sure where this should go, so I am going to try here.
I am 25 years old, and I have had my G2 license since March 2010. I haven't upgraded to my full G only out of not really having the time nor cash to do it as of yet. In early February of this year I was pulled over by an OPP at a RIDE program and blew a 0.031 BAC. I was unaware at the time that I was supposed to have a BAC…
I was involved in an accident last month. I was proceeding along a street with cars parked adjacent to the curb. Approaching an intersection I saw a large truck and trailer parked against the curb (no brake lights, or turn signals) so I presumed he was parked there. I approached the intersection, following the same path as all the other traffic, just to the right of the centre line. When I…
I have received 2 pieces of paper on the door of my home within the last week. Looks like I am being summons to witness for an accident where the other driver was at fault last year. (He hit me and was charged at the scene).
I'm just wondering if anyone knows how many attempts they will make to serve me, or if they will keep trying until they do ?
I was charged 2 days ago with RED LIGHT - FAIL TO STOP and set fined $150 and I guess 3 points. I was driving turning left on the intersection with a traffic light, and when I jst about to turn left the light turned to orange and I didn't have enough time to stop. Once I turned I saw the light turned to red and 2seconds later I saw a police beacon flashing through my rear-view mirror. It…
Highway 21 is often closed in the winter. I and a lot of other people need to cross Highway 21 to get to work. Several people have told me that if a highway is closed, it's not only illegal to drive along the highway, but to cross it on any intersecting road, because while you cross it you're technically driving on a closed road.
Hi all, I was ticketed for this offense while on a bicycle where I "turned left" at a red light without first coming to a complete stop at the red light. It was a T-intersection where I was facing the straight through lanes (4 lanes, two in each direction) and a side street came in from the right only (2 lanes, one in each direction), and no vehicles or pedestrians were entering from the right at…
In early March I was driving in the Yonge & Churchil area. An officer said I failed to stop at a stop sign and ticketed me 110+3 demerits. While getting my license etc. I have multiple photocopy of my car ownership in my car, and that I thought I handed him the copy with the validation sticker on the back as required but gave him one of the blank copies by accident. He came back with…
