OHTA.ca

I made a right turn during prohibited hours (7am-6pm) in Toronto. I was ticketed by a COP who was specially watching for that trap.

After I've received the ticket HTA144(9), I discovered one of the seven digits of my license plate was incorrectly written on my ticket. I was thinking about to make a First Attendance at the court office to see the prosecutor for a reduced charge...any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much !

john smith wrote:I made a right turn during prohibited hours (7am-6pm) in Toronto. I was ticketed by a COP who was specially watching for that trap.

After I've received the ticket HTA144(9), I discovered one of the seven digits of my license plate was incorrectly written on my ticket. I was thinking about to make a First Attendance at the court office to see the prosecutor for a reduced charge...any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much !

Not a fatal flaw, this will be amended in court.

I agree with Reflections.

Pleading guilty to a lesser charge should work if you're concerned about the level of the fine and demerit points. If you want to fight this charge, there are some other ways to go about it, though. As for the First Attendance, as much as possible try to convince the Prosecutor that you're trying to save the court's time, and they might even drop it down to a municipal by-law infraction (no guarantees, obviously). The good thing about a by-law infraction is that your insurance rates won't go up and it won't go on your driver abstract, either.

Dear Reflections & Radar Identified:

Thank you kindly for your answers. I had returned to the sence and found that the Restricted Turn Sign (in Toronto) is non-bilingual. Is this charge worth to fight for ? If yes, How? If I can't have the charge reduced to a municipal by-law infraction, I will have to fight for it. I know the demerit points will stayed in record for 2 years, for how many years will the insurance company track my driving infractions?

Thank you very much for your help!

Your insurance company will bring your rates up for three years following most HTA convictions.

As for the sign not being bilingual, this has consistently proven to be the "default" strategy for fighting "disobey sign" in many parts of Ontario. I'd do the leg work before your attempt to plea bargain with the Crown, meaning set up your trial date, then make a full disclosure request.

See if they give you proper disclosure. The prohibited turn sign, in this case, was put in place by a by-law. As weird as it sounds, if they do not provide you a certified copy of the by-law that erects the sign as part of the disclosure package (part of the "explanation and clarification of the charge") that is sufficient to get the proceedings quashed. The other things you should receive are the officer's notes (typed please).

Take a photograph of the sign with a time-date stamp on it. Bring your evidence with you to court, if the proceedings don't get stayed. Then, in court cite the French Language Services Act (section 5), the fact that Toronto is a designated bilingual region (therefore communications such as the sign must be bilingual), and Ontario Regulation 615 (which gives examples of bilingual signs). The sign that indicated what you did was illegal was itself not in compliance with both the FLSA and O.Reg 615, therefore of no force and effect. The JP should dismiss the charge at that point. If the JP does not, cite the R. v Myers case. So you've got plan A, B, and C: Plea-bargain to municipal; quash on improper disclosure; bilingual defence. Hopefully it works!

For more information on bilingual defence and how to make it work, check out this link:

Radar Identified wrote:Your insurance company will bring your rates up for three years following most HTA convictions.

As for the sign not being bilingual, this has consistently proven to be the "default" strategy for fighting "disobey sign" in many parts of Ontario. I'd do the leg work before your attempt to plea bargain with the Crown, meaning set up your trial date, then make a full disclosure request.

See if they give you proper disclosure. The prohibited turn sign, in this case, was put in place by a by-law. As weird as it sounds, if they do not provide you a certified copy of the by-law that erects the sign as part of the disclosure package (part of the "explanation and clarification of the charge") that is sufficient to get the proceedings quashed. The other things you should receive are the officer's notes (typed please).

Take a photograph of the sign with a time-date stamp on it. Bring your evidence with you to court, if the proceedings don't get stayed. Then, in court cite the French Language Services Act (section 5), the fact that Toronto is a designated bilingual region (therefore communications such as the sign must be bilingual), and Ontario Regulation 615 (which gives examples of bilingual signs). The sign that indicated what you did was illegal was itself not in compliance with both the FLSA and O.Reg 615, therefore of no force and effect. The JP should dismiss the charge at that point. If the JP does not, cite the R. v Myers case. So you've got plan A, B, and C: Plea-bargain to municipal; quash on improper disclosure; bilingual defence. Hopefully it works!

For more information on bilingual defence and how to make it work, check out this link:

http://www.ticketcombat.com/step5/bilingual.php

Damn Radar, you are as dangerous as running with scissors

Sitting reserve for the last month and only called in once = WAY too much spare time = Idle hands... very dangerous indeed

hi all... i'm in a similar situation ..

got a disobey sign - no left turn at designated times... i believe it just said 8am to 8pm and dont remember is mon - fri is on there..

my questions is.. if mon - fri is on there... can u i use the bilingual defence ? i got the ticket in waterloo and the court will be Kitchener..

please advise.. i really cant afford this ticket to go on my record.. i just got of a stunt driving charge with 49km/h over.... and have 4 demerits already

i contacted a whole bunch of lawyers and no one told me anything convincing...