“Ticket Issued In Other Jurisdiction Than The Offence”

Hi,

While driving southbound on Keele toward Steeles on the right lane, I decided to continue south on Keele instead of turning right on Steeles.

A cop hiding in a bus shelter (no cruiser) on Keele, south of Steeles, jumped out pulled me over and gave me a ticket for failing to obey lane sign. Can I get the ticket dismissed because the offence happened in Vaughan and the ticket was issued in Toronto, by a Toronto cop? Is there a jurisdiction issue here?

Thanks.

P.S. Toronto's north city limit is Steeles Ave. Beyond that is Vaughan.

South of steeles is in toronto.

Not sure if you posted right.

Cheers

Viper17

As I understand it, Ontario cops don't have any real jurisdiction. A TPS officer can go issue tickets in Ottawa if he wanted to. The ticket would be valid, but he might have to explain to the bosses how he ended up in Ottawa.

Squishy wrote:As I understand it, Ontario cops don't have any real jurisdiction. A TPS officer can go issue tickets in Ottawa if he wanted to. The ticket would be valid, but he might have to explain to the bosses how he ended up in Ottawa.

Exactly!!

repairman wrote:A cop hiding in a bus shelter (no cruiser) on Keele, south of Steeles, jumped out pulled me over and gave me a ticket for failing to obey lane sign.

What section did he specifically charge you under?

A police officer in Ontario can enforce laws province-wide, as Squishy and hwybear said. However, there are other ways of fighting this particular ticket. One option is plea-bargaining to a municipal by-law infraction. This saves you money, demerit points and an insurance increase.

Another way is to do the ground work and see if the Crown fulfills its obligation to disclose the evidence against you. They'll likely send you the officer's notes, but they sometimes don't include a copy of the by-law that put the sign in place. Believe it or not, simply not including the by-law is grounds to stop the proceedings against you. If you have all of the evidence against you, you can make a decision as to what to do, meaning plea-bargain, file a motion to stay the proceedings, or fight the ticket in court.