OHTA.ca

yesterday i was driving home from work as usual, same time, same route as always. less than a kilometer from where i stay during the week i noticed a car approaching behind me at a high rate of speed. My last car was totaled out in july from a distracted driver ploughing into my rear end. so still being on edge i rolled the stop sign at approximately 5kmh, i still looked left and looked right with enough time to know the turn was safe but did it to avoid what i thought could be a potential collision. i also drive a manual so occasionally i do not come to complete stops at stop signs out of laziness.

of course this is the time i roll a stop sign infront of an unmarked windsor police car.

we both get caught at a red light and he pulls up behind me but does nothing. second later, the car that i thought was going to collide with me, mounts the curb, bypasses both of us and the driver exits the vehicle and starts screaming at me that i "need to slow down". I maintain that i wasnt driving recklessly but my car "looks" and "sounds" fast, so i know it draws a lot of heat.

when the driver exits his vehicle to harass me the officer then pulls up, flashes his lights and intercedes, explaining to him that hes not a cop. the man approaches the officers vehicle, says something out of ear shot and then the officers demeanor changes towards me. i wont quote him verbatim since i dont have that recall power but it was along the lines of; dont drive like an idiot, youre going to run into to people like him if you do, and when you call us (the police) to tell us that one of these idiots punched you in the head were not going to do a damn thing about it. (at this point im practically speechless that hes threatening to without service to me or anyone else reporting a road rage incident.)

i apologize to the officer, say that im sorry and acknowledge i did roll the stop sign, but i maintained that i wasnt speeding and had no idea why the other driver was so irate. he seemed to get upset with my response and tells me and the other drive to pull into the parking lot were sitting next to.

he gets out of the car, and proceeds to tell me he saw me rolll the stop sign, and that he going to let it go since he was responding to another accident until this "witness" showed up to say i was driving erratic (yes the guy who mounted the curb to yell and potentially damage my car or assault me). He asks for my papers, asks where im headed. i responded with "home" since it is where i do live during the weekdays, but is not the address on my license (i go home to niagara on the weekends to visit and care for my mother who lives alone and i still consider that home. i move for work often, approx less than every 12 months, so i never bother to change my address to consolidate everything and i never lose any mail).

when he returns to the car the other driver is leaning into his window the whole time and theyre rather chatty, which is causing me suspicion. the officer returns to my car holding a stack of tickets and instructs me to go to the rear of the vehicle. all the while the other driver is no more than 10ft away, well withing ear shot, doing his best to intimidate me but also being quite smug about it, and i dont feel i have the privacy nor the interest of the officer to explain why i rolled the stop sign to begin with.

First ticket was for failure to stop/obey signs.

Second ticket no vin tag (when my last car got totalled the impact scratched just the "9" off of the 19 on the tag, the plate itself and the vin tag serial are still clearly visible.

Third for plate obstruct. i have a slightly tinted cover on it but its still easily visible.

Fourth for failure to change address.

I apologize to the officer and explain my circumstance for the tag, plate cover, and address, but again still dont explain why i felt it necessary to roll the red due to the other driver standing feet away. Ive stayed calm this entire time and explain i have a brother who is rcmp and have nothing but respect for police, not to get out of the ticket but because its true. he tells me to leave and its a high traffic road out of the parking lot so it takes me a good minute to get the chance to turn out of it. the entire time theyre both still standing there chatting very friendly, at no point did he ask for the other drivers information/papers, and he wasnt issued a ticket for his recklessness, which leads me to believe they have some connection to local law enforcement that Im not aware of.

So it appears i got hit with the book to be made an example of because i pissed off someone with police ties who thought i was speeding/driving recklessly.

Given the officers threats to with hold services to me and others reporting road rage, his admission that he would not have pulled me over if it wasnt for the other driver doing what he did, their suspicious friendliness, and the fact that the other driver was issued no tickets for breaking what i assume would be several traffic laws to attempt to instigate an altercation with me.

Is there any chance i have with the crown attorney to get any or all of this dismissed? i feel a bit railroaded here. and unfortunately i have no video or audio recording of any of this (stupid me). but am curious to see what if anything the officer put in his incident report about the entire altercation.

Thanks in advance

All four of your tickets have nothing to do with this road rage incident.

You rolled a stop sign in front of a cop.

Your sticker has to be visible. If it's been damaged, you have to go to Service Ontario and they'll give you a new one.

Plate covers aren't legal on Ontario roads. Nothing can obstruct your plate, not a clear cover, or even worse, a tinted one. That's why they say "off road use" on the packaging. Plates are made of a material that wont glare with light, kind of like a stop sign. If you put a sheet of plastic on top of it, it defeats the purpose.

He asked you where you were going. You said home. Your "home" wasn't the address listed on your license so he gave you a ticket.

While you may have felt like you couldn't explain yourself to the officer while this other gentleman was around, the side of the road is not a courtroom. You can request a court date for your tickets if that's what you wish to do. You have the right to do so... in a court room.

Whether or not the officer charged the other driver is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with your tickets.

If you have an issue with the officers conduct, you can file a complaint. Again, this complaint has no bearing on your tickets, but the process is available to you if you wish to use it.

Three of those tickets are fix it tickets. Just fix the issue, take a pic show the crown they will most likely withdrawal it. They will get you for the fail to stop for stop sign.

At plea bargain if you can show that you fixed those three fix it tickets then they will most likely offer to withdraw those 3 and plea guilty to the stop sign.

If you go to trial they will not withdraw any of the charges and try to get you on all 4.

Cabby033 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:45 pm

Bend,You seem to always respond by supporting the actions of the police and offer little advise in the way of defence.Sometimes ,Bend, yes, officers do make mistakes.

I would disagree. By providing this person with what is and isn't a defense, it is defense advice.

(1) Failure to stop at a stop sign is an absolute liability offense. There is no defense other than "Yes, I stopped at that stop sign."

(2) The officer gave a ticket for having no sticker. The driver has admitted that the sticker was damaged during an accident and yes, it was mostly missing.

(3) ALL plate covers are illegal. This individual has admitted to having a plate cover.

(4) It's the drivers responsibility to update their address within 6 days.

It would be probably best for this individual to fix their address, pay for a sticker replacement, remove the plate cover, and then consolidate all these tickets into maybe a guilty plea for the stop sign offense. Yet, that wasn't the question this poster asked.

They asked how do I have all these tickets tossed because the other driver wasn't ticketed, the officer changed his mind about giving a ticket, and the witness and the cop talked too much.

The poster asked, and I answered. The officer had already pulled this individual over for blowing a stop sign right in front of him. None of the other charges rely on the witness, who showed up afterwords. Again, if you disagree with how you were treated by an officer, there are ways to make that argument. You can make a complaint with the OIPRD, and they'll decide whether or not any of the officers actions go against their code of conduct.