I was in a rush to get to work today and decided to take a side street instead of going southbound on Victoria Park Avenue however there was a sign saying that no right turn allowed from Monday to Friday between the hours of 7am to 9am. I decided to take the risk with the hopes that a cop would not be there however a cop of standing in the corner of the side street perpendicular to the street I turned right at. As a result, I was pulled over and given $110 ticket. I have a clean driving record and never had any traffic offences except parking tickets. Is it worth for me to go to court to fight it and either plead guilty or not guilty or should I just pay the ticket since there aren't much grounds of defense for me? Please advise.

Thanks,

Boris

Was that at Sloane?

Just curious...

Anyway, were you ticketed under section 182(2) of the HTA for "Disobey Sign"? Or was it a different offence?

With a clean driving record, you might have a chance of getting a reduced charge in a plea-bargain deal. The Prosecutor may offer you a municipal by-law infraction, depending on what kind of mood he/she is in. The advantage to that is it won't appear on your driving record. The officer may not show up, or it may take too long for it to go to trial (with the court in Scarborough that's usually the case 40% of the time). First thing is to download a Notice of Intent to Appear from the City of Toronto website (look for the courts section) and pick option 3 on the ticket. On the Notice, check that you want to challenge the officer's evidence. Then you wait for a trial date. That's just to get started... after you get a trial date you can file for disclosure of the evidence against you, etc.

These no-turning by-laws are stupid. They don't make the roads any safer. Besides, enforcing a no-turning sign? Sheesh, the intersection of Vic Park and Lawrence has about twenty HTA offences going on every minute...