OHTA.ca

Hello - I'm a long time forum reader that has never really had much to contribute. Maybe that will now change.

A friend was driving through a construction zone where the local police were conducting a traffic blitz. They pulled him over and charged him with an insecure load. He has asked me to assist with disputing the charge. I have reviewed the ticket and see no fatal flaws however, I will post it for review in case I missed something. I am also attaching a picture of the "insecure" load. If no one else sees a fatal flaw I will submit for option 3 and post disclosure when we get to that stage but for now, I would be interested in opinions.

Thanks in advance.

picture of insecure load

ticket...

Whoops - sorry about the size. I guess it does matter.

HTA S.111

Proper loading

(2) No person shall operate or permit to be operated upon a highway a motor vehicle that carries a load or draws a vehicle that carries a load unless the load is loaded, bound, secured, contained or covered so that no portion of the load may become dislodged or fall, leak, spill or blow from the vehicle. 2002, c. 18, Sched. P, s. 26.

Taking this to trial means that you can successfully argue that the load was secure. I think you will have a hard time making this argument as the load was in fact not secure. Just because the load was partially or entirely in the bed of a pick up truck does not make it secure even if the odds are that it will not come off at low speeds. If he didn't want a ticket, your friend should have used at least 1 strap (though using 2 is proper). All it would take for that load to come off would be a gust of wind, a fast turn, acceleration or stop.

The only requirement is that the load MAY become dislodged or fall, leak, spill or blow from the vehicle...

Insecure load lol. I would argue that there is no possibility those doors are coming out of there under normal driving conditions. I would also suggest that the law posted above implies that the list must be secure under normal driving conditions..... Not in the event of a rollover. The reason I say that is because of the word "blow". I would also take a video of the loaded vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed to show it won't become dislodged. Then I would appeal to the judge's common sense. My prediction: The crown won't take this joke before a judge.

The word blow is in reference to light loads such as leaves, tree branches and things like that, loose paper or cardboard and so on...one cannot guarantee normal driving conditions at all times, if the driver has to make an evasive move for some reason they don't want the load getting tossed out...

I agree Screech. Nobody wants stuff falling on the road but those doors aren't coming out of that pickup unless he puts it on two wheels. I guess I'll have to think twice about putting my groceries in the bed of my pickup from now on. I would plead not guilty and dare the crown to defend the writing of that ticket.

That is a pretty weak charge.

I agree that the odds of this load coming off the truck are remote, but however remote there is still a possibility that it could come off. How many of you would feel comfortable driving with your family behind this truck on a 400 series highway? If this were a commercial truck would we even be having this conversation?

I've followed worse especially just before school starts. And speaking of commercial vehicles, yes we are held to a higher standard. I successfully defended myself in Pennsylvania over an insecure load charge. I made a video showing how difficult it was to get the 4x4 timbers from their storage position on my trailer. I showed the video to the jp on my laptop and he found me not guilty.

So I hand delivered the ticket (because of potential Canada Post issues) on June 12, to request a trial. The clerk was very nice and provided me with a guide for people that are self representing, she explained what disclosure is and gave me a disclosure request form that was pre-populated with the court information on it. She said if I don't hear anything in a month, give her a call to ensure things haven't slipped by me.

Now we wait...

Finally received disclosure. Have a look and let me know of any ideas. Thanks.

here is the photo evidence