“Fail To Stop At Red Light Making A Right Turn 144 (18)”

Hey everyone, I just need your opinion on this ticket..Here's how i got it..

So, I was coming home from the inlaws and driving along eglinton (east) and I made a right turn at bermondsey (sb) at 2:30am feb 2010. No cars behind me. I saw a police car came out from the other side of the road facing southbound on bermondsey. At this point i checked my speed as the posted limit is 50, I was fine. Then the flashers came on. The officer asked me if my brake lights were working, so I asked him to see and look as I stepped on the brakes, they were fine. The officer told my that I just did a "hollywood" stop, so I asked what a hollywood stop is as I really did not know and never heard of the term. He got pissed at me for not knowing what it was and asked me sarcastically as to how I got my licence in the first place. I apologized as I really didn't know. So, he explain to me that I didn't completely stop at the red light. I told him that how am I going to be able to make that right turn if didn't even put on my brakes from 60kms per hour along eglinton? I checked my left to see I there was any cars going sb on bermondsey, as the "green" arrow just turned amber then red berfore I proceed, so basically I did a rolling stop, but no one was there! Officer got pissed and said that I was coying him and pretending not to know about hollywood stop. Then he gave me the ticket of $325 for RED LIGHT. And as he was handing me the ticket he said "here, that was for coying me, $325 for you". Im like what the? Anyways, I just took it and now I have a court date this march. I mean, just the fact that he was parked on the other side of the road where the willison car dealers are, how could he ask me if my brake light are working or not? I just hope I have a chance with this ticket, any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

By your own admission, you didn't make a full stop before turning right on a red light. The law states you MUST stop, regardless of traffic. It's also an absolute liability offence, meaning the only defence is one of absolute necessity (i.e. a giant steam roller was about to plow into the back of you).

I'm not saying you have no means to dispute the charge, and there is always the possibility of pleading out to a lesser charge, but it does sound like you committed the offence you were charged with.

Could plea-bargain to a charge like Disobey Lane Light if you have an okay driving record.

The officer wasn't saying that you didn't slow down from 60 km/h. He was saying you didn't stop. For this offence, the officer has to observe that the light you were facing was red, and that you crossed the stop line after observing the red signal. Then, either before or after the stop, the officer has to check the traffic lights to make sure they appear to be working correctly. All of that should be in the officer's notes.

Side note: I'm not sure why the officer was torqued off about not knowing what a "Hollywood stop" is, although a rolling stop is sometimes referred to as a "Toronto Stop," "Quebec Stop" or a "California Stop." Regardless, that's not in the Driver Handbook...