“Going With Flow Of Traffic”

I got a speeding ticket doing 75 in a 50 zone. There where vehicles all around my vehicle doing about the same speed. The road was 2 lanes in one direction and 2 lanes in the other direction. There was a vehicle beside mine, another behind that vehicle and a vehicle behind me, all moving above the posted speed limit.

The cop chose me out of the bunch and issued me a ticket . When i took my drivers test we were instructed to go with the flow of traffic.

Can i use this as my defense in court ?

It is not a valid defense to say you were going with the flow of traffic, whoever taught you how to drive was wrong. If you want to start exploring possible defenses to this ticket then you need to file for a trial and request and review disclosure when you get your court date. Make your own notes about weather, lighting time of day, everything you and the officer said to one another and if you have witnesses.

I doubt your driving instructor told you to break the law. At least I hope not !

nope;

if a bunch of lemmings jump of a cliff will you...

Actually; there was a good Martketplace article on CBC; saying that speed limits are unrealistically slow; and was actaully more unsafe;

some provinces have increased hiway from 100-120

and actually 50 clicks is SLOW; I'm used to 50MPH on what we would call a dual carriageway

feel your pain; but it was just not your lucky day

demoman wrote:I got a speeding ticket doing 75 in a 50 zone. There where vehicles all around my vehicle doing about the same speed. The road was 2 lanes in one direction and 2 lanes in the other direction. There was a vehicle beside mine, another behind that vehicle and a vehicle behind me, all moving above the posted speed limit.

The cop chose me out of the bunch and issued me a ticket . When i took my drivers test we were instructed to go with the flow of traffic.

Can i use this as my defense in court ?

demoman wrote:Can i use this as my defense in court ?

Short answer is NO. Long answer is below....

There is no such thing as "going with the flow of traffic" when it comes to tickets. You're either speeding or you're not. If you notice drivers moving faster than you, move to the right lane and let them pass on the left instead of trying to keep up. If you manage to get singled out, that's just the luck of the draw. They aren't required to stop every person who has ever sped in order to convict one.

An Ontario licensed driving instructor isn't likely to teach a student to "go with the flow of traffic" if it means speeding. For starters, you'd fail your test. They absolutely rely on word of mouth references. They can't have students failing and trashing them to the rest of their 16 year old friends. Also, it's too easy to have the province come down on you and revoke their status as an Ontario approved instructor.

What your instructor likely taught you was to keep up with traffic. That means if you make a right turn into moving traffic, you shouldn't take all day to increase your speed and impede the drivers around you. That doesn't mean speed, just that everyone behind you shouldn't have to hit the brake lights when you merge and accelerate at a crawl.