OHTA.ca

Just got a ticket this morning from an officer who said i crossed the bullnose (2 white lines that meet between highway on ramp and 403) just past Winston churchill and 403. I dont think i did but officers word against mine i will always lose. However he charged me with "Fail to drive in Marked Lane" contrary to the H.T.A. under SEC 156 (1)(A) which reads

Moving from roadway to roadway on divided highways

(a) along or on the highway except on the roadway on the right-hand side, having regard to the direction in which the vehicle is being operated or driven or the animal is being led, ridden or driven

Do i have any recorse here? Or is this the correct offense? Also do opp cars have dashcams? I'm sure i didnt touch the bullnose....

Thanks Guys!

You were charged under the wrong section, 156 deals with driving the wrong direction on a divided highway. The correct section would be 154(1)(a).

There is also case law that deals with the same scenario and section you should have been charged under from 2010, R v. Capobianco.

Link: http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/20 ... ca589.html

The Court of Appeal ruled that crossing a marked line isn't sufficient to say the offence occurred and that the police/Crown also need to show that the action was somehow unsafe.

Others can suggest how to best deal with your situation. I believe that you'll have to go to trial to fight the ticket since I don't think the mistake would be considered a fatal error.

At trial the Crown may try to get the section number changed to the correct one (which you'll want to oppose). If the change is allowed, you'll then want to argue that you didn't cross the line (if that's what you truly believe) and that your action wasn't unsafe. If the police/Crown don't show that your action was unsafe, you'll want to reference the case law and show the elements of the offence haven't been made out.

So make sure you do NOT tell the prosecution or the officer that this is the wrong charge until at least 6 months have passed, as they can withdraw the charge and re-issue the correct one. So you do NOT want early resolution and do NOT want to meet/talk with the prosecutor on any date before the trial.

You want to plead NOT GUILTY and request a TRIAL with the officer present. Once you get your Notice of Trial with the trial date, I would NOT request disclosure as you again do not want to alert them of a wrong charge (and you do not need disclosure anyways for this charge).

Hopefully your trial date is more than 6 months from the date of occurence, and then you are set.