OHTA.ca

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post as i have been reading many on this forum and have read some useful information however i felt inclined to join the forum so that t i could get some help with my case. Last weekend i was pulled over by a cop in Vaughan. When i saw the lights behind me i was at first confused and thought he was trying to get by me to pick up someone else or respond to a call. i was on a residential street and at a stop sign when i noticed him so i turned right onto the joining street and pulled to the side when much to my surprise he pulled in behind me. I waited five minutes for the cop and tried to retrace my steps as i could not think of what i had done wrong. The officer approached my window and i asked him "Officer...what happened?".... he responded to me " you blew a stop sign".... i responded " what?!! .... where???.... i never saw it!!"..... by the end of the ordeal the officer wrote me a ticket. It was $110 fine and 3 points!... i drove back to the sign that the officer said i blew and noticed that this sign was obstructed by overhanging tree branches.. i knew that second that this is why i missed it. i dont normally travel this street however i know for a fact that i stopped at every stop sign along the way including the very stop immediately after it that i ended up being pulled over at so why would i have not stopped at this one? turns out the cop was parked in the parking lot of the school where this sign was and so i assume he was in position to see motorists miss this sign. i am even inclined to think he didnt just randomly pick this stop sign to hand out tickets and that it may have been because there were other complaints of people missing the sign and that may be why they put a cop there.... instead of calling the city to fix the issue they slip a cop in there instead to hand out tickets and generate some revenue no doubt !!.... anyways, this is where the questions come in. i have read ticket.combat and continue to review it for reference over and over and man is that site helpful!.. but there are questions i have that i dont have answers to. Ive been looking up the laws and highway traffic act and have found verbiage on what the min distance a stop sign must be to be visible which i read is 60 meters. i have taken an enormous amount of pictures and am building a case based on all the information i can find that would help me fight this in court and prove that the sign was not visible and must be.

does anyone have any advice on this ?

does anyone know what type of pictures would be acceptable in court for example do they have to be date stamped, show the intersection and how do i show distance on a photo if i were to stand 60m from the sign to prove its not visible? or is google earth/street view an acceptable option.?

i need to know what evidence i can take from the scene to court and not have the prosecutor or the JP chew it up and throw it out...

can anyone help?

Date/Time.stamp is easy to fake.

If the sign is really covered, report that (keep records),and fill your boots with pics

the bigger the stack the better.

All above is based on something is blocking sign.

cheers

viper1

Pictures will be the key.

You need to print out three copies of each pic with date/time stamps on them, from some place like WalMart.

Did you take any pictures right after the incident? These will be the most powerful ones.

I would plead not guilty and request a trial and then once you get notice of trial, you can request disclosure (officers notes).

Also make sure to bring copy of specific law that mentions the 60 meter visibility.

Thanks Guys,

I know the pics will be the biggest factor. To answer the questions, I did take a couple pics the very next day and oddly have been repeatedly going back to the scene to take more pics at different angles just to make sure that it's clear to see what I saw that day ... I guess I'm just looking for that perfect pic or maybe It's my OCD lol. Now it was mentioned that I take the pics to Walmart ? Are pictures developed from Walmart able to be date stamped? Because that would be a bonus for me. I have not been able to find a way to date stamp my pics and would love to know how to do that . My camera does not have the option . It does show the date on the file though but not on the picture when it's printed and I'd like to be able to show that the picture has the date and time it was taken.

I've filed the ticket for trial so I'm going to wait for the trial date and then file for disclosure . Also I thought about calling The city to report it but thought about it afterwards and thought maybe that wouldn't be a good idea as they would probably have someone come out and trim the tree which might ruin my evidence and I still haven't figured out how I'm going to show pictures at a 60m distance yet. Any ideas on that?

Thanks

well I had an old camera that I could use any (time stamp)day I like.

But now what happens is the date on the camera.

walmart or any repro will show the date.

90% the prosecuter will take one look then bail.(if you have a big pile)

make 3 of all for a bigger pile.....you need to present each pic for evidence. So keep track if they do in fact prune the trees.

Cheers

Viper1