A place to discuss any general Highway Traffic Act related items.

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Zatota
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by: Zatota on

The relevant case for this question is R. v. Schlesinger. That case confirmed that an officer must test the radar both before and after and enforcement stop and that an officer must have a notation of the time he or she tested the radar.


You can read the text of the decision here: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/doc/2 ... cj266.html

Cabby033
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by: Cabby033 on

Radar( Laser) only needs to be tested before shift and at end of shift not after each stop.

Zatota
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by: Zatota on

Cabby033 wrote: Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:53 pm

Radar( Laser) only needs to be tested before shift and at end of shift not after each stop.

The text of the decision says before and after enforcement. That's typically interpreted to mean the beginning and end of the officer's shift. I've also seen cases where an officer who has worked a long shift has testified as to having tested the unit occasionally along the way as well.

Cabby033
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by: Cabby033 on

That is correct Zatota i recently went to trial for a speeding offence, The officer showed he tested the Laser before his shift at 7 am and at the end of his shift at 5 pm, these times are in his disclosure.The J.P. accepted that as "relevant testing" of the device.

iFly55
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by: iFly55 on

You need to be careful with R. v. Schlesinger that decision means nothing at an Ontario Court of Justice. JPs will not even hear it because it's not binding to their courts.


It's dangerous to compare Radar and Lidar (Laser), use them synonymously. They're both treated differently at the trial court level.


Caselaw requires Radar to be tested before and after use. If you read Appeal Court Decisions regarding the testing before and after, you'll see that it's only for "radar". D'Astous v. Baie-Comeau (Ville) (1992), 74 C.C.C. (3d) 73


However, Lidar (Laser) only needs to be tested based on the manufacturer's recommendation. Sometimes, in the manufacturer's manual they only state that the device needs to be tested "BEFORE" use.


Some officers do their due diligence, and conduct additional tests at the conclusion of their shift.


Keep in mind that R. v. Roshani-Kalkhoran leaves it up to the Justice of Peace to accept oral evidence (without notes of testing) that it's their usual practice to test the device before/after their shift.


None of this is a slam dunk, there's appeal decisions supporting both sides.

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