“Improper Left Turn”

Hi everyone,

So I got my first ticket on Friday when turning left (from Jane street to Steeles). I went to the very right lane instead of going into the left or middle lane. The officer was parked on the grass and instructed me to stop.

After handing him all my info, what I noticed was odd is that he instructed me to park 10 ft up, turn on emergency lights and to walk to his car in four minutes. I thought it was protocol to hand the ticket to me directly while in my car. By him instructing me to get out of my car and walk to his on a busy road in the morning puts me at risk of possibly getting hit by a car.

Also, I have a dash cam and have the video and audio recorded. The video shows that no cars were turning right (very clear). While the cop told me to fight it in court (overtime $$$), I am very interested in doing so now, just to bring the dash cam evidence to prove I was not performing an "unsafe/dangerous turn" and to show his unprofessionalism.

Should I get a lawyer? Any opinions would help.

Regardless of whether theres other traffic on the road or not, youre still required by law to turn into the nearest lane. Your dash cam evidence wont help you in Court because it will merely confirm that you made an illegal turn. Any issues you have regarding the officers behaviour are best dealt with through the police agency he works for. An apparent lack of professionalism on his part isnt relevant to your defence in Court.

c1034096 wrote:Also, I have a dash cam and have the video and audio recorded. The video shows that no cars were turning right (very clear). While the cop told me to fight it in court (overtime $$$), I am very interested in doing so now, just to bring the dash cam evidence to prove I was not performing an "unsafe/dangerous turn" and to show his unprofessionalism.

Should I get a lawyer? Any opinions would help.

You can't run a stop sign if no one is there, you can't make a U-Turn where it's prohibited if no one is there, you can't go through a red if no one is there, and you can't drive across 3 lanes on a left turn because no one is there. "No one was there..." is not a defense. Your dash cam video doesn't help you. In fact, providing video evidence of yourself committing the charge is silly. Whatever you think it's going to do for you, think the complete opposite.

As already stated, the officers attitude is not a defense to your ticket. You are charged with a turning violation and the officers attitude doesn't explain why you made a left without using the closest lane. Traffic violations aren't like a phone bill where you get a discount because you feel the operator was rude to you. If you wish to make a complaint about the officer, there are ways to do so. It's not going to have an impact on your ticket. If I had to guess, it sounds like you were interested in having a trial on the side of the road and the officer wasn't having it.

You are free to request a trial, but going down the path you are currently taking is going to land you nowhere. Either find another strategy or you're going to find this whole thing a big waste of time.

Were you driving a long vehicle? Even 18-wheel transport trucks don't require more than two lanes to execute turns at intersections; why did you need three lanes? Were you trying to get into a driveway/gas station on the far right side? fear of mounting the island curb? crashing into the traffic signal?

S.141 - Turning at intersections

Left turn, at intersection

(6) Where a driver or operator of a vehicle intends to turn to the left into an intersecting highway, he or she shall, where the highway on which he or she is driving has marked lanes for traffic, approach the intersection within the left-hand lane provided for the use of traffic moving in the direction in which his or her vehicle is proceeding or, where it has no such marked lanes, by keeping immediately to the right of the centre line of the highway and he or she shall make the left turn by entering the intersection to the right of the centre line or its extension and by leaving the intersection in the left-hand lane provided for the use of traffic moving in the direction in which his or her vehicle is proceeding where the lane is marked or, where no such lane is marked, by passing immediately to the right of the centre line of the intersecting highway. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 141 (6).

Left turn, where multiple lanes

(7) Despite subsection (6), where more than one lane of a highway has been designated as a left-turn lane, the driver or operator of a vehicle intending to turn to the left into an intersecting highway shall approach the intersection in one of the lanes and leave the intersection in the lane of the intersecting highway that corresponds to the lane from which the turn was commenced. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 141 (7).