OHTA.ca

Hello,

So, was travelling in downtown Toronto, west heading towards the gardiner on side streets. There is a "no left turn" sign from 3:30-6:30. The 30's are quite small, and I actaully thought it was from 3:00-6:00pm. I was charged at 6:14pm.

However the person behind me was not given a ticket and clearly violated this rule as well. I am very upset at this selective "give a ticket to who you want". I am a young professional driving a fairly exotic car. I was asked "is this your car?". Also I am a minority, and so I believe I was NOT randomly selected. The person infront of me did get a ticket.

I took a picture of the car behind me, and took it's licence plate. Do I have any grounds to move further based on this "selective" police officer? How can a police officer give a ticket to whom he/she pleases WHEN all have broken the bylaw? This is UNFAIR!

Sure it is 2 demerit points and I might get lucky with 0 demerit points if I get a plea, but the fact that we live in an unjust and selective society does not bode well with me?

Please advise!

In any situation where a police officer is looking for a specific offence (in this case, the turn), they'll stop the first vehicle they see that does it. It's kinda like officers pulling people over for speeding when they're doing a roadside speed trap: They stop the vehicle at the front of the line (unless it's the OPP airplane). This may seem unfair, but it's how it's done. They can't stop everybody. Sometimes they'll nail more than one vehicle, sometimes not. I've been caught that way many times, too.

As for the "minority" comment, do you have a convertible with the top rolled down? If not, go sit where the officer was and see how easily you can pick out the ethnicity of other drivers. Chances are, it isn't as easy as you think. Even if you do have a convertible, you still made the turn, and you were the first to get into the officer's line of sight. It won't help your defence. In fact, it will likely only make the JP steaming mad and zap your credibility. It's more than likely that you got asked the question "is this your car" because you are young rather than anything else.

Best bet for this offence... pick option 3 and go from there. After you get a trial date, you can get disclosure of the officer's notes and see what the evidence is against you. From there, you can figure out what you want to do.