OHTA.ca

I am heading to court to fight my charge of failing of yield from private drive section 139(1). Actually I am going tomorrow morning and have not found enough to help me out and can not afford representation.

Accident: Exiting parking lot and crossed 2 lanes of traffic and was nosing into third lane so I could finish my left hand turn. I was at a standstill and looked left then right and was proceeding to enter the final and third lane (turning lane) when I was suddenly hit on my left side. When I had looked there was no one coming in the turning lane as everyone was stopped in the other 2 lanes waiting for the light to turn green and for me to get out of the lanes. Note I was highly visible to all traffic as I was in a mini van and already across 2 lanes therefore I feel I had possession of the road and was no longer entering at this time and it is the driver of the Honda that hit me that should have yielded me the right of way.

Am I correct? Do I have a chance with this one? I am representing myself and I am not sure what to say here but this affects my insurance and unless the judge drops the charge against me and charges the other driver it really makes no difference to the insurance company as they have their own set of "at fault" rules for accidents and they are not the same as the HTA.

Any advice or things that I can say in court in my own defense would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks

The onus is on you to yield to through traffic, not the other way around. I understand what you're saying, but you don't gain possession of the road simply because you got there first. You may be able to argue due diligence (i.e. took all reasonable steps to check for traffic and merge safely) but I think it would be difficult.

In terms of insurance, the Justice of the Peace cannot charge the other driver. They can only find you guilty or not guilty.