“Failure To Slow For An Emergency Vehicle”

Hi All, I want some helpful tips in fighting this ticket. Here is what happened. Southbound approaching an intersection..my daughter in the left hand lane (4 lane street - Bathurst southbound Richmond Hill), she is riding behind a slower vehicle in the left hand lane. As she approaches the intersection, she goes into the right hand lane after two cars pass her as she approaches the intersection. As she is entering the lane, she sees just in front of her, there is a motorcycle cop in the right turn lane of the intersection with a car pulled over. He watches the 3 cars pass, my daughter just happens to turn into a gas station on the other side of the intersection. He comes over and starts yelling at her about he could have been killed etc. I am looking for grounds to fight it on.

Failure to slow down....reasonable to ask him to prove how he knows she did not slow down? In fact, she did to let the two other cars pass her. She has her boyfriend as a witness.

Secondly, and this is probably the harder part to fight...she pulled into the right hand lane when the HTA says, if she can safely move to a lane away from the vehicle, she is obligated to do that. Any suggestions on fighting that? It was not like one of the cars that usually hangs halfway into the lane, this was a motorcycle fully in the right hand turn lane.

I have never had to fight a ticket before so would like any advice that anyone thinks may work. This really is a bit of a BS charge...he was just majorly pissed is all.

Thanks for any help.

Not sure I really follow your explanation of what happened, but failing to slow down and failing to switch lanes are two different sections. Yes, she should have pulled into a different lane, but that's not what she's been charged with. The officer will have to articulate that why they believe your daughter didn't slow to a safe speed when passing them.

Not sure I'd call it a BS charge. It's pretty serious and sounds like the officer genuinely thought your daughter committed the offence.

The first thing you need to do is get your daughters consent to fight the ticket. Without it, you can't proceed any further.

In answer to the two comments, i do have my daughters consent...in fact she asked for my help because it was such a BS charge. Perhaps i didnt explain it properly.....but if you look at the definition of the charge....we have to "slow down and proceed with caution" and we have to switch lanes out of the lane closest to the officer if it is safe to do so. The officer was in no danger at all and the cars "all 3 of them" were not speeding, or driving recklessly. There were simply cars in both the fast lane an d the shoulder lane and my daughter decided to switch into the slower lane because the car in front of her was going below the speed limit. She had hardly gotten into the shoulder lane when she came upon the officer. The other cars in the right lane blocked her view but as she came into the right lane at the speed of traffic, she saw him. The other cars in front of her kept going, and she got nailed because she was the one that decided to pull into the gas station. She had no idea that he was after her becaues in her mind, and her boyfriends mind, they had more than safely passed the officer. Anyone have any ideas for tactics they would employ to try and fight this?

Celler6 wrote:. There were simply cars in both the fast lane an d the shoulder lane and my daughter decided to switch into the slower lane because the car in front of her was going below the speed limit. She had hardly gotten into the shoulder lane when she came upon the officer.

wow...the other cars in "fast lane" slowed down as they had seen the officer, your daughter decides they are going too slow for her liking, moves into the slow lane and passes directly beside the officer

Its not a BS charge as there has been many officers that have lost their lives as a result of this.

paul1913 wrote:Its not a BS charge as there has been many officers that have lost their lives as a result of this.

Usually when people state that the "failure to slow down or move over" is a BS charge, or a "cash grab," I use this analogy:

Police/firefighters/EMS etc are working on the highway, so they are "at work." Would you like someone driving 80 km/h (or faster) five feet from your desk?

I am not a big one for going to forums but in this case, thought i would try it out to see if anyone could offer any help. Wow...no wonder on line forums get a bad name. In a forum which is designed to discuss all aspects of the Highway traffic act, everyone wants to convict my daughter based simply on my account of things - good thing the justice system is a bit more patient before it convicts. Liberties get taken with interpretations and twisted to fit the convenient argument that allows perfect strangers to blast her. Absolutely amazing....all i asked for was some help from some of you who might have experience in fighting this kind of thing yet all the *edited by forum* want to do is put forth their thoughts on the guilt or innocence of my daughter, or attack me for calling it a BS charge via the insinuation that i dont respect the lives of the police. Nothing is further from the truth...one can dispute the guilt or innocence of my daughter and the behaviour of the officer and still understand the importance of such a serious charge. It can still be a BS charge based on the officer not doing his job properly, while the respect for the nature of the charge can still exist. Again, I ask, without any sermons or attacks, is there at least one person out there who might be able to offer advice on how to fight this thing? *Edited by forum*

your only course of action at this point is to request disclosure (officer's notes), and try to understand the charge from the officer's POV

only then can you mount a defence

maybe in the future when you see emergency vehicles, either move over one lane... if not while driving by, just slow down... get your daily dose of rubbernecking prescribed by the HTA... and proceed forward slowly

Sorry but by the evidence you provided, it appears your daughter did commit an offence. I'm not a legal expert so you should probably seek professional advice.

You said she switched to the right lane to pass because the other drivers slowed down below the speed limit - probably because they saw the officer and knew to slow way down. Her immediate reaction when seeing the peace officer ahead should have been to hit the brakes and switch back to the passing lane behind the other cars.

And you were the one that called it a BS charge. With all due respect, you can't expect much sympathy with a comment like that. Many of the forums I participate in, give back exactly what you put in. If you drive along many of the Highways in Ontario, you will see signs with the dedications to the memories of officers that were killed in the line of duty. Many were traffic related. Put yourself in the officer's shoes for a second and maybe you'll realize that the officer is putting his or her life on the line for the safety of you and your daughter.

Celler6 wrote:I am not a big one for going to forums but in this case, thought i would try it out to see if anyone could offer any help. Wow...no wonder on line forums get a bad name. In a forum which is designed to discuss all aspects of the Highway traffic act, everyone wants to convict my daughter based simply on my account of things - good thing the justice system is a bit more patient before it convicts. Liberties get taken with interpretations and twisted to fit the convenient argument that allows perfect strangers to blast her. Absolutely amazing....all i asked for was some help from some of you who might have experience in fighting this kind of thing yet all the *edited by forum* want to do is put forth their thoughts on the guilt or innocence of my daughter, or attack me for calling it a BS charge via the insinuation that i dont respect the lives of the police. Nothing is further from the truth...one can dispute the guilt or innocence of my daughter and the behaviour of the officer and still understand the importance of such a serious charge. It can still be a BS charge based on the officer not doing his job properly, while the respect for the nature of the charge can still exist. Again, I ask, without any sermons or attacks, is there at least one person out there who might be able to offer advice on how to fight this thing? *Edited by forum*

This site is not a site that helps bad drivers get off there ticket.

It is to help innocent people.

You described an action of your daughters that makes me angy allmost every day.

Not a chance that I would help you with that ticket.

Cheers

Stripe