“Bayview/proctor No Right Turn Entrapment Scheme”

I recently got a ticket for turning right on Proctor when the southbound traffic on Bayview was backed up almost to John St. I have lived in the area for 3 years and never noticed the no right turn sign, which is posted about 70 meters before the actual intersection. There is another sign posted after the intersection, which is useless after you're already in the right hand turn lane.

It seems to me that York Region Police may be setting up a blatant entrapment scheme. I noticed that the backups were caused by a short north/south light at the Bayview/Steeles intersection. This caused all southbound traffic on Bayview during rush hour to back-up past Proctor, forcing many people to turn right on Proctor to avoid the jam. The trap was there every day for week, ensnaring unsuspecting drivers.

Curiously, the traffic backup disappeared the following Monday. I noticed that the north/south light at Bayview/Steeles now lasted long enough to clear the traffic jam. It has been that way for a week now. At the same time, the cops waiting on Proctor mysteriously disappeared and I haven't seen them since!

If anyone has other evidence that York Region Police deliberately tampered with the traffic light timing to entrap unsuspecting drivers, please post it here. If there is enough evidence, then we should be able to get all of these tickets thrown out. Class action anyone?

The traffic lights at Bayview and Steeles are controlled by the city of Toronto, not the York Regional Police.

There are York Regional documents (www.york.ca) that indicate that the timing of the lights along Steeles can be adjusted to reduce infiltration. This must mean that York region has some say in the timing of those lights.

That's grasping at straws IMO. York may very well have asked the city of Toronto "can you change the timing to get rid of the congestion on Bayview" and Toronto agreed, but that is not proof of "tampering." If the sign was clearly posted and it met the standards, arguing that you disobeyed it to escape traffic congestion because of a poorly-timed light is probably not going to work in court. Entrapment would be something like an officer going out and waving you to turn onto Proctor, and then his buddy ticketing you for disobeying the "no turn" sign.

If you're looking at fighting this, the best thing to do is start by requesting disclosure and seeing if you have any defence that you can find in there. You can also check to see if the sign meets the provincial standards. (See O. Reg 339/09)