“Correction For Posting, Is This Law 6 Years Old”

I know it's been a while since there has been some activity on this thread, but I need to make my thoughts known. As you may or may not know, I chose to be a Paramedic and that means that my ambulance looks like one huge Christmas Tree. Here are a few stories that show how stupid people are. Please excuse me if I sound like a general ass, but when it comes to this issue, I make no attempt to sugarcoat.

1- With the move over law, it has become routine practice to pull over into the left lane, regardless of traffic volume. My partner and I have witnessed far to many close calls.

2- Imagine yourself on a 4 laned road with centre turning lane. If I cross all four, stop, and start reversing into a driveway, you need to wait until my nose clears your lane before proceeding. Your time is not more important than mine. I also don't like explaining to my supervisor why my front-end is damaged because you thought you could speed by me.

3- When I am attempting to do a 3-point turn with my lights on, don't drive in the lane behind me. The 15 seconds you wait will save you hours of phone calls and paperwork because I didn't back into your car. Conversely, don't drive in front for the same reason.

Treat all emergency vehicles on the road like wild animals or children. Slow down because you never know when we'll start moving and in which direction we'll go. Because of numerous close calls, I now block 1 full lane, if not 1.5 when I am working roadside. You can wait. Your time is not worth my carreer, my health, my quality of life (or that of my family) or my life.

Advice: Don't pull into the intersection against the red to make way. We will find a way around you.

Great Post!

Excellent tips for the public to implement.

I watched a show a few years ago about paramedic drivers. They had camera crews in the ambulance as they tried to rush to emergency calls. It would be funny if weren't so sad to see just how oblivious people are to what is going on BEHIND them... as if mirrors are just for decoration or something. Even with lights, sirens and horn blaring, some folks STILL piddled along blocking the lane.

I always assumed that paramedics always stayed calm and NEVER swore... until I saw that show, LOL!!

This is MOVE / Get the HELL Out of the way

This is the MOVE LEFT

Viginia State Move Over

Those are some great PSAs hwybear. It's unfortunate that they aren't broadcasted province wide...

This was created by the John Pertropoulos Memorial Fund. He suffered a fatal head injury when he fell through a false ceiling wile investigating a break & enter.

This is the MOVE LEFT

Are they teaching the "right-side" approach at the OPC now? I noticed the officer did that in the video.

People who don't know how to respond to emergency vehicles should not have a driver's licence. It's not rocket science. Little story: A few weeks ago I was northbound on Victoria Park Avenue in Toronto, trying to turn left onto Lawrence. Saw an ambulance roaring up Vic Park behind me, lights and siren on, I'm in the left turning lane, so I stay out of the way, as he's going toward the right. (Vic Park has the green light.) Ambulance turns right on Lawrence. Fine, so far. Coming southbound on Vic Park is a fire truck: lights, siren, horn. Cars are in the right lane, people are moving out of the way and stopping, cars in the left turning, so the fire truck is in the left southbound lane, approaching a green light. So what does the bonehead in the southbound left lane do at the intersection? STOPS. In front of the fire truck. At a green light. Now the fire truck can't get past anyone, although the other drivers are trying to clear the way as best they can. A couple of pedestrians start shouting and cursing at this moron to get the (insert expletive here) out of the way of the fire truck. This whole clown show lasts nearly 30 seconds with the fire truck laying on the horn the whole time, several people (myself included) screaming at him to get out of the way, and finally the light in his head comes on (albeit very dimly) and he moves. The guy should lose his licence for five years.

Common sense isin't as common as it used to be. I'm proud to say that I have uncommon sense by today's standards.

Common sense isin't as common as it used to be.

I'm starting to become convinced that evolution is actually moving in reverse.

Radar Identified wrote:

This is the MOVE LEFT

Are they teaching the "right-side" approach at the OPC now? I noticed the officer did that in the video.

Not sure what they teach at OPC....it was many moons ago that I was there. I have a higher chance of being hit by a rubbernecker, so I use the passenger side 95% of the time at least some protection

I know no one has replied to this thread for awhile but i'm looking for some advice...

I was just charged with this offence on a 3-lane street in Toronto, not a highway. I was also not aware of this law.

I had just pulled out of a driveway down the street when I saw that

the officer had someone pulled over in the right lane. I moved into the middle lane when it was safe and slowed down as I approached the cruiser. The speed limit was 60 km/h and I was doing a maximum of 50 km/h (probably less.)

It was 5 oclock pm on a tuesday which is a very busy time of day in Toronto. I did not feel it was safe to change into the left lane as there were cars there. There were also other cars that passed by the cruiser in the middle lane both before and after i had passed.

For some reason the officer decided to pull me over and inform me that I did not move over into the left lane. He insisted that there was no one in the left lane and it was safe to move over, although I felt it was not (it was rush-hour, there were many cars on the road.) I wondered how he was so sure there were no cars two lanes over from where he was, as he was just getting into his vehicle at the time i passed by.

As I mentioned, I slowed down and proceeded with as much caution as I felt I could have, but still got slapped with this $490 dollar fine.

Anyone have any advice or suggestions for me, as I plan to fight this ticket because I feel I couldn't have passed by him any safer.

Anyone ever receive this same fine on a street rather than a highway?

Thanks in advance!

We've run into this one on this board before. Your not being aware of the law is, unfortunately for you, irrelevant. It's there, and it is used, and you're not the first Ontario motorist to be charged for not moving more than one lane to the left, regardless of the wording (and the intention) of the law. That you could not move over two lanes and maintain safety in this instance might help in court, but the officer will probably just say there was no traffic out there and it will be your word against his: you lose. Good luck, but this is a tough one.

bondra12 wrote:IAnyone ever receive this same fine on a street rather than a highway?

"highway" includes a common and public highway, street, avenue, parkway, driveway, square, place, bridge, viaduct or trestle, any part of which is intended for or used by the general public for the passage of vehicles and includes the area between the lateral property lines thereof

Include the French Language Services Act defence in your arguent when you fight the ticket in court.

bondra12 - you state it is a three lane street. Is the middle lane a turning lane? or three lanes going in one direction and three lanes going in the opposite direction?

You state the cop had someone pulled over in the right lane, you moved to the middle lane and didn't go into the left lane, so am I right, there are three lanes going in one direction?

If this is indeed correct, then you broke no law.

You were first in the same lane as the cop who was stopped and you moved over one lane. That is all the law requires you to do. You were not required to move into the far left lane, or in other words, two lanes over from the lane the cop was in.

Vehicles that were already in the lane adjacent to the lane the emergency vehicle was in are required to move over to the left lane, but vehicles in the same lane as the emergency vehicle are only required to move over one lane which puts them in a lane adjacent to the lane the emergency vehicle is in.

Read s. 159(2) carefully. I've taken out the needless words to make it clearer. The complete s. 159(2) is posted below it.

159(2) states:

Same

(2) Upon approaching an emergency vehicle ... that is stopped on a highway with two or more lanes of traffic on the same side ... as the side on which the emergency vehicle is stopped, the driver of a vehicle travelling in the same lane that the emergency vehicle is stopped in ... shall move into another lane if the movement can be made in safety.

Complete 159(2) text below.

Same

(2) Upon approaching an emergency vehicle with its lamp producing intermittent flashes of red light that is stopped on a highway with two or more lanes of traffic on the same side of the highway as the side on which the emergency vehicle is stopped, the driver of a vehicle travelling in the same lane that the emergency vehicle is stopped in or in a lane that is adjacent to the emergency vehicle, in addition to slowing down and proceeding with caution as required by subsection (1), shall move into another lane if the movement can be made in safety.

You snipped out the important part:

(2) Upon approaching an emergency vehicle with its lamp producing intermittent flashes of red light that is stopped on a highway with two or more lanes of traffic on the same side of the highway as the side on which the emergency vehicle is stopped, the driver of a vehicle travelling in the same lane that the emergency vehicle is stopped in or in a lane that is adjacent to the emergency vehicle, in addition to slowing down and proceeding with caution as required by subsection (1), shall move into another lane if the movement can be made in safety.

By moving one lane over, the vehicle would be travelling in an adjacent lane and is required to move over once more provided it can be done safely.