OHTA.ca

It's nice to know the law is applied fairly.

I've been told that this is the SECOND officer to get nailed. I'm assuming they were "off-duty" right? Police aren't subject to the HTA while on duty, correct? Or is it just when they are on an actual call, not just on duty?

Bookm wrote:I've been told that this is the SECOND officer to get nailed. I'm assuming they were "off-duty" right? Police aren't subject to the HTA while on duty, correct? Or is it just when they are on an actual call, not just on duty?

They are exempt from certain traffic laws while "On Duty". And speeding is one of them . I'm sure 'Bear will chime in on this one. So, here's one for him; "Why do officers speed in a marked car without lights on?". Now I know stealth is part of the answer, going to a call and you don't want to announce your presence. But, when the "speeding" marked car travels an extended distance, 10-15 KM for example, I think the officer should have the lights (at least) on, in the interest of public safety .

Reflections wrote: "Why do officers speed in a marked car without lights on?".

A lot depends on the traffic, and you are looking at me with 2 heads right now....sometimes it is quicker to go without lights on, people don't panic as much as they do when they see lights on......I have had people literally STOP on a live lane (passing) on the 401 with the lights on, rather than moving right, talk about reaction time to not hit them....when if you just come up behind them fast, people will just move right!

On a two lane hwy, it is often safer to not have lights on also, rather than forcing everyone off the road, just pass without lights on....

Having said that, really heavy traffic I always have my lights on, trying to plow through the traffic.

I most often travel headlight flashers and front reds on as well....then activate red to rear on scene, this gives notice to drivers when I am now in fact stopped at a crash.

Judging by most of your replies 'Bear, you've heard most of these before . I would still like to see lights of some sort on when an officer is travelling well over the speed limit i.e. 30KM/H+

I can't wait for a close relative of Fantino's to get caught Oh, it'll happen! Just give it some time.

Guarantee: If some "racing" cop kills MY horses (if I had any), they will NOT slip through the cracks on this matter. If they're 50-over on the 401, I really couldn't give a *EDIT*.

You should have seen the poor cruiser trying to get through traffic near Toronto on Sunday. All three lanes were so paranoid about the marked cruiser, everyone jammed up traffic 3-wide!! LOL. He had to be 10' off the back bumper of the guy pluggin' the passing lane. As soon as he hit the exit ramp, things returned to normal

Bookm wrote:

Guarantee: If some "racing" cop kills MY horses (if I had any), they will NOT slip through the cracks on this matter. If they're 50-over on the 401, I really couldn't give a *EDIT*.

There is a lot more to this than hitting horses and speed. For reasons I'm sure you can understand, I can not provide details at this time.

After a lot of thought (trying to build the puzzle with almost NO pieces), I'm quite willing to believe there is a plausible explanation here.

But what I find surprising, after reading the 80+ replies to the article, is just how vocal folks are against policing in general these days. I mean, there was maybe 2 or 3 replies in support of the OPP and Toronto police. The rest were quite noticeably against Mr. Fantino's heavy handed version of modern day policing. You just can't ignore public opinion like that.

On Monday, I was watching Legal Briefs on the Court Channel, and a caller was complaining about a serious problem he has been having with the OPP. He and his wife are middle aged, no kids, and don't like to travel. They have done well for themselves and decided to treat themselves to "a new Italian exotic car" (I'm guessing Ferrari). His driving record is completely clean, yet in the 11 months he has owned it, he has been pulled over 27 times! Never charged, just threatened about driving 8kph over here, or 10kph over there. One officer (off duty) followed him to his house and threatened to impound his car because he felt he accelerated away from a stop sign too quickly.

Julian Fantino can brag about the reduction in speed related fatalities all he wants. But he is apparently losing the public's faith in the police force he has created. Quick fix?... focus on "real" street racers. Quit impounding vehicles that don't belong to the driver (why should the owner or business suffer?). Get rid of the "stunt" portion of the legislation. There are plenty of statutes that already cover that stuff.