my wife has a ticket, it was not issued by the scene police. my wife had a minor hitting in front of our driveway when she tried to turn left to heading into our driveway,and the other vehicle had a scratch from front wheel to the tail on driverside.

after that, we went to collision centre to report it, the centre officer(? policeperson) said it was my wife fault cause she was doing left turn, then issued a traffic ticket

"turn not in safety". i really confused, how can an officer issue a ticket if he isn't in the scene and no witness. need help, before going court in June.

The officer laid the charge based on the description of events, the other driver who you made contact with will be the witness.

That driver will be subpoenaed and be present at your trial date. The officer who wrote the ticket will not be present. The other driver's testimony will be used to convict you.

You should request disclosure, and go from there.

iFly55 wrote:

The officer laid the charge based on the description of events, the other driver who you made contact with will be the witness.

That driver will be subpoenaed and be present at your trial date. The officer who wrote the ticket will not be present. The other driver's testimony will be used to convict you.

You should request disclosure, and go from there.

how can the office set the other driver be a witness if he was involved in this accident, he will definitely do against us for protecting himself. also, i confused, cause the officer gave this ticket, so i already talked to the other driver and directly paid the fee for fixing the car privately. so what can i do. what you mean " you should request disclosure, and go from there". thx.

The other driver is still a witness, he will not be an independent witness because he is involved in the accident. You or your legal counsel will have an opportunity to cross-examine the driver at trial and ask him questions about his testimony, and what happened.

His testimony and your testimony will be given equal weight and a decision will be made. This is pretty standard across the province, where collision centre police lay charges based on the events. Most of the time, they lay Careless Driving Charges.

Disclosure is the prosecutor's evidence against you, this may be in the form of a written statement, pictures or any evidence the prosecutor has in their possession that will be used to prosecute you. You will have an opportunity to review it before your trial date.

Sample Disclosure Form: http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic2959.html

Your wife turned left into your driveway, where was the other driver coming from? How did the collision occur?

jjz wrote:

how can the office set the other driver be a witness if he was involved in this accident, he will definitely do against us for protecting himself.

The officer does not need to have witnessed the collision in order to issue a ticket. Based on the description of the collision that you and your wife provided, the officer decided to charge your wife with "left turn not in safety." That's how. You described what happened, the officer decided a Highway Traffic Act infraction had occurred, and laid the charge. They can also find out who the other driver was pretty easily and order them to go to court as a witness, assuming they didn't already have that information.

jjz wrote:

also, i confused, cause the officer gave this ticket, so i already talked to the other driver and directly paid the fee for fixing the car privately.

That has absolutely nothing to do with being charged under the Highway Traffic Act. Paying to fix the car privately does not make a traffic violation go away.

Fighting the ticket involves selecting either the option of an early resolution meeting with the Prosecutor, where you try to negotiate a lesser charge in exchange for pleading guilty; or, fighting it outright (trial option). You can still plead guilty to a lesser offence on the trial date, if you choose. If you choose the trial option, you have a right to get the Prosecutor's evidence against your wife. In this case, it is a copy of the collision report, the officer's notes, and any other evidence they intend to use against your wife at trial. After you file your request for a trial, you can make a request for disclosure to get that evidence. You can then look it over and see how strong the Prosecutor's case is, and make a decision as to whether to fight it, or plead guilty to a lesser offence.

Radar Identified wrote:

jjz wrote:

how can the office set the other driver be a witness if he was involved in this accident, he will definitely do against us for protecting himself.

The officer does not need to have witnessed the collision in order to issue a ticket. Based on the description of the collision that you and your wife provided, the officer decided to charge your wife with "left turn not in safety." That's how. You described what happened, the officer decided a Highway Traffic Act infraction had occurred, and laid the charge. They can also find out who the other driver was pretty easily and order them to go to court as a witness, assuming they didn't already have that information.

jjz wrote:

also, i confused, cause the officer gave this ticket, so i already talked to the other driver and directly paid the fee for fixing the car privately.

That has absolutely nothing to do with being charged under the Highway Traffic Act. Paying to fix the car privately does not make a traffic violation go away.

Fighting the ticket involves selecting either the option of an early resolution meeting with the Prosecutor, where you try to negotiate a lesser charge in exchange for pleading guilty; or, fighting it outright (trial option). You can still plead guilty to a lesser offence on the trial date, if you choose. If you choose the trial option, you have a right to get the Prosecutor's evidence against your wife. In this case, it is a copy of the collision report, the officer's notes, and any other evidence they intend to use against your wife at trial. After you file your request for a trial, you can make a request for disclosure to get that evidence. You can then look it over and see how strong the Prosecutor's case is, and make a decision as to whether to fight it, or plead guilty to a lesser offence.

thx. i don't real care about "lesser charge" cause it is only $110, even we go for guilty to get 50% off. i realy care about it because we don't want fail to challege it and the infomation goes to our insurance company. so how can i get the disclosure. can i go the counter to get it or write a written to the court. and the trial will be held on jun 12, is it enough time to get it. thx.

Here's a sample disclosure form: http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic2959.html

You can remove the part about speed measuring device and submit it as is. Or include the additional details from RadarIdentified's post. TicketCombat also has a copy of a disclosure form: http://www.ticketcombat.com/step4/disclosure.php you can also modify it for your case.

You will have to submit this to the office of the prosecutor, make sure you bring two copies. Get your copy stamped as received.

You must give the prosecutor's office 6-8 weeks in order to process the disclosure request. You're still within the guidelines and I encourage you to request it as soon as possible.