OHTA.ca

On Wednesday, I got pulled over and ticketed(HTA 154.1(3)) for improperly using the HOV lane, southbound on the 404 towards 401 westbound lane, under the tunnel. I was driving alone. In a normal circumstance, I would of been clearly at fault and should not be using that lane, especially during rush hour. However, I drive a Chevrolet Volt Commercial vehicle (basically it was vinyl decals, company name, website, lame slogans and all), which has green plates, so I am legally able to drive on HoV lanes alone.. http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/ ... ates.shtml

But the officer gave me the ticket anyways, who did not acknowledge that I was able to drive on the HOV lanes with green plates. I called the hotline at the back, but for two days I could not reach a single person, and it would automatically hang up after a few transfers, telling me to call back later. Eventually, I went to take time off work to go to the courthouse and see if I could get it dropped without needing to speak to the judge

If I actually end up going to the court date, I really don't need to bring any proof. I am driving a vehicle with legit, unexpired green vehicle plates, which are legally able to drive on all HOV lanes. Green Vehicle plates have either GV or EV prefixes, for example, mines is GVAA 056, basically I have the 56th green vehicle in all of Ontario, and this is clearly written down on the ticket. The Ministry of Transportation website says it, hell, there are even signs on the major highways (not on streets yet from what I've seen) indicating that green plates are okay on HOV lanes. I know that they have been really lazy on updating all the signs, I've only seen less then a dozen of these updated signs on the 400 series highway with HOV lanes. So far I've wasted $3 for parking at the courthouse to line up and ask why I was issued this ticket to no avail, eventually getting a court date. I don't want to take more time off and pay for more parking to go to the court date. I'm not in the wrong at all here.

Is there any way of getting this ticket thrown out before the court date?

I might even have audio footage of the conversation between the officer and I (My vehicle is equipped with a dashcam), I'll will need to look at it. Funny thing is that I've bumped into other officers all the time at the same location inside the tunnel and they've always waved me through or chatted me with in regards to how the Volt is like to drive and live with.

You can call the courthouse and see if you can get an early resolution meeting with the prosecutor, your case is so clear cut that they will almost certainly withdraw the charge. Unfortunately you will still have to go down there and meet with them in person, however the meeting will probably be quicker then a trial. If you can find it I would bring a copy of the regulation that says it is ok for you to drive in the HOV lane, and a copy of the vehicles registration to show that it has plates that authorize it to be there would be helpful too. Also I believe that you can now request early resolution meetings in Toronto by selecting option 2 on the ticket and mailing it to the court house, so if this happens again you can do that and save yourself having to make two trips.

I found the specific regulation that allows vehicles with green plates to be in the HOV lane. It is O. Reg. 620/05, s. 2 ss. 9. If you meet with the prosecutor I would print a copy out and take it with you in case he or she isn't familiar with it. I have pasted in the link to it below.

Lol, in your second video even the officer says "A lot of police officers don't know about them" as you've unfortunately found out.

It might not hurt to keep a copy of the regulation with you in future, just in case you get stopped by another officer who isn't aware of the exemption.

Just my luck, I got pulled over a few hours ago, at the same place in the tunnel. The officer did not know about it, and I had to go to the MoT website and show him, and let him know how it works. I think I'm just going to avoid the HOV lane for now, ugh.

i'm very surprised that LEOs tasked to HOV enforcement programs are unaware of the 'Green Plate' exemption

OP i would actually go into the station and talk to the Staff Sgt. and advise them to maybe setup some sort of workshop or training camp... or atleast send out a memo to all the officers in that division

i've seen posted signs along the 404 and 403 which read

your not alone. the same thing happened to me back in April after only driving the Volt for a month. In my case the LEO actually lied in his notes claiming that an illegal entry into the HOV lanes was the reason for the ticket (both are covered by the same section of the traffic act). He must of realized his error after the fact. Mediation didn't help so now I have to go to court to try and fight this, but it's the LEO's word against mine, so I will most likely lose. I may stand a slim chance of victory if I can convince the judge that this sort of thing is happening to GV plated cars out there so I am looking for other cases just like yours that I can bring into court as anecdotal evidence. Maybe we could help each other out a little? (I'd be curious to know the name or badge # of the LEO who charged you for starters) If anyone else has had similar experiences I'd like to hear about them too. This is the only one I have found so far.

"Anecdotal" evidence won't be admissable in court. It's considered hearsay.