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I would like to note that I have never received a ticker prior to this situation.
I was coming home around 12:30am May 29th going southbound on the Don valley parkway (Highway), I was approaching my exit, I proceeded to get into the right hand lane as I live right off the Lawrence Don valley parkway off ramp, as I got into the right hand lane I noticed a police officer about 25 meters from the Lawrence off ramp pulled over in the right hand shoulder, he then proceeded to flash his flash light (not his police sirens). I pulled over right away but was not sure what I did wrong as I was not speeding. The officer then approached my vehicle and stated that I will be receiving a 490.00 dollar ticket for Failing to move to another lane for emergency vehicle. I then proceeded to tell the officer I live right up the street and I had no choice but to get into the right hand lane to make my Off ramp exit, I also noticed that their was 2 motorcyclists in the left lane directly beside me so as I wanted to switch lanes it was not safe to do so. I find this very unfair as he was at such a close distance to the off ramp (literally 25 meters). The police officer then called in another cruiser at witch a friend of his showed up. They then had a brief 10 minute conversation behind my vehicle and I heard constant laughing, at witch I heard the officer say “give this KID a ticket for that stuntâ€. Then without questions the officers started searching my vehicle, I was a little shook at the time and was not sure what to do. After they searched my vehicle without consent the second officer that showed up left the scene. This is when I received my ticket and I can assure you, I was not in the greatest mood.
I am posting this as i would like some advice or possibly some direction of how i should handle this situation, this is my first ticket so i am very clueless on this matter. Any help is greatly appreciated.
I am very distraught about this whole ordeal.
Last edited by Soly13 on Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
1999 Buick Regal LS - Just Started!
1993 Buick LeSabre custom....No pun intended.
-FWI, Arctic Purple (8,500K), Output: 12V100W Bulbs, Custom "Y" after cat exhaust setup (deep low rumble), 20% bronze tint to match paint, Custom ghetto gold Bonneville rims(outer lip sanded and polished). Park Ave chrome grill.
Wow, that really sucks. Sounds like the cop was having a bad day or enjoys ticketing younger drivers.
I've never received a ticket myself (knock on wood) but I would look into fighting it if you can. Cops rarely show up at court dates so the tickets get thrown out then.
Good luck with it though.
Audio: 12" Alpine Type R in 2.3 cu. ft. box tuned to 31 hz, Audiobahn A8000T, Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.1, Kicker wiring Mods: Cross drilled and slotted rotors, hopefully more to come soon
Lawyer up now, they'll be able to help you better than us, sounds like you had no way to move over more, lawyer will be able to help prove that. Do they camera's in cruisers where you're located?
Jason Z - Exposed Autos
2001 BMW 330i- Titanium Silver - Sport Package - 3 Pedals - Koni Yellow/H&R Sport 2006 Volkswagen GTI - (gone) Tornado Red - DSG, Stage II~280hp/325tq 1993 Pontiac Bonneville - (gone) Purple Pearl H4U/SLE. Loud
No idea what Canadian laws are like, but in the U.S., you'd go to court and plead "not guilty." The judge at that time will issue a trial date. You go home, and you show up on your trial date and hang out in the courtroom until they get around to calling your case. The state will have the officer, and an attorney to fight their case. I've heard people say that cops rarely show up to court, but I at least would like to give you a different view. My friend who is a police officer LOVED going to court, because they get paid, but get to hang out in court and drink coffee and eat donuts, instead of doing actual work catching criminals. My lawyer friends tell me that if the officer doesn't show, the judge will typically "issue a continuance" which is legalspeak for setting another trial date, and I'm told they can do that up to something like three times, before they'll throw the case out. On the other hand, for all I know, you could get lucky, be the first case of the day called, and have the officer still at home snoozing, and have the judge throw the case out. But since you can't predict the future, all you can do is prepare yourself to show up in court.
To really prepare yourself, it helps to either hire a lawyer, or at the very least discuss your case with one. This is easier to do if you have attorneys for friends, and are old enough to buy them a beer at a local bar. If not, well, do your best. Some lawyers will give you a quick 15 or 30 minute discussion for free. But if you want them to represent you in court, it will cost you money. This might not actually be a bad idea, even if it costs more than the ticket, especially if you are young, as insurance companies will seriously raise your rate or even drop your coverage if you get a ticket while you're on a probationary license. If you're not a young person, then they'll still raise your rates. So it might pay off to hire an attorney.
If you fight it yourself, ARM YOURSELF WITH KNOWLEDGE. Your ticket will list what section of whatever code you've been charged with. You can generally go to your local public library, or possibly even online, to look up that section of the code. Do it. The code will describe what the crime is, and what punishments it can carry. It will also list exceptions and exclusions to the rule, and even have examples of cases where a case had to be decided where it was unclear how the law should be applied. As a brief example, it is illegal to cross a double-yellow line. However, consider the case where the bus in front of you is broken down, and you need to cross the double-yellow line to get around it. The exception to the law will permit you to do this, so long as you understand that you do not have right-of-way, and will need to yield to normal traffic on the "wrong way" side of the road. Look for any exceptions that might apply to your case. For example, if the officer's emergency vehicle was not immediately identifiable by a reasonable person as an emergency vehicle, if it was say, *parked* on the shoulder, with no lights on, and no easily visible markings or light bar to give you an indication that it was an emergency vehicle. If you say, LIVE nearby and need to take that exit to get to your home, which is a normal thing that you do every day, and never see an emergency vehicle where the officer's car was.
Equally important is to argue for any point where the officer committed a crime in the process of giving you your citation, such as not reading you your rights, or searching your car without permission. (Again, you'll have to sort out what applies and doesn't apply in Canada, but a lawyer can help you sort that out.) -If the officer did anything dangerous in the process, such as tailgating you, or something like that. Anything that could be identified as a MISTAKE on the part of the officer is something you MUST argue in court. Definitely argue about the officer's conduct of calling in a second officer, laughing about their own actions, and acting unprofessionally such as saying "give this KID a ticket." -Officers are supposed to uphold and respect the law, and Judges don't like it when their officers of the law act like children. But it will be YOUR job to show up all of those points during your argument portion of the trial. If you don't have an attorney, you should at least have DETAILED point-by-point notes to make your case. IF YOU HAVE A WITNESS, such as a friend who was with you in the car or something, you need to have them testify that you are telling the truth, and that the officers were behaving unprofessionally.
You will be allowed to ask questions of the officer. If you ask questions, make sure they're good ones, and relevant to your case. "How long were you parked there?, What were you doing there? Why weren't your lights on? Did you ticket anyone else that day at the same location?" Those would all be good questions to ask.
The state's attorney will get to question you, too. Expect questions like "How fast were you driving? Did you use a turn signal?" -things like that.
Above all, one of the most important things you must do is to NOT ADMIT IN COURT THAT YOU ARE GUILTY OF A CRIME. For example, if your ticket was for speeding, say going 80 MPH in a 35 MPH zone, and you go to court, and you tell the judge "Well sure, I was speeding, but I wasn't going 80, I was only going 70." -Then you have just admitted guilt to a crime in front of a judge, and he will have no choice but find you guilty. For example, say you got ticketed for weaving in and out of traffic, and the state attorney asks if you used a turn signal. Let's just say that in reality, you didn't. You'll have to say "I don't recall, but I do use turn signals religiously, as my parents, and anyone who has ever been in my car can attest. I can't say for certain that I used them or not, but I think that it is likely that I did." -This amounts to saying "I dunno" and is effective at not admitting to a crime.
Finally, it is easier if you can make your case easier for a Judge to deal with. In general, the Judge has reason to believe the officer's version and not yours, because it is the officer's job to catch people who break the law. If the officer says he saw you break the law, the Judge has a reasonable cause to believe his version of the story. However, even officers are capable of MAKING A MISTAKE. Perhaps there was a car EXACTLY like yours driving in front of you and they pulled you over by mistake. Perhaps the officer has a history of picking on kids. Perhaps the situation wasn't what the officer thought it was, such as maybe he thought you ran a red light, where you can show that the light in question was faulty and showed red on once side while it was green on the other, and that the light was repaired shortly after your ticket. If you can convince the Judge that there was a mistake in some part of your citation, you've got a much better job of convincing the Judge to find you innocent, or reduce the charges against you. If you were say, reckless driving, and could get the charge reduced to speeding, that can be an easier deal to swing than trying to convince a Judge that you were completely innocent. (But don't ADMIT to speeding in such a case, when the state attorney asks if you were speeding you'd say "It is possible, but I don't think I was.")
If your version of the story is true, then I think your best bet is to pay a lawyer to defend you. Even if it costs you more than the ticket, it will probably be less than paying for high risk insurance for the next seven years. Again, none of this may apply in Canada, but a lawyer can tell you what does and what does not apply.
-Mark
PontiacDad at WCBF `08: "By any chance, was his name. . .Radomir?"
Good advice above, and your chances are probably better if you hire a lawyer, but having a lawyer is by no means a guarantee that you will not be found guilty anyway. If you loose a case that goes to trial, you will have to pay your lawyer anyway, and the fees may be significant, in addition to the fine. If the officer does show for the trial, he will most likely provide compelling testimony to support his case. The best advantage of having a lawyer is that he will meet with the prosecutor before there is actually a trial and try to come to an agreement on a plea/deal. Nobody wants to go to trial, and pleas are a way to avoid a trial.
1999 SSE. 112k, Cleared Corners, Mobile 1, Energy Suspension endlinks. Ported and Polished LIM, NGK TR-55 Sparkplugs, 180 drilled Intense stat, Flow matched injectors, Intense FWI, Intense PCM, MagnaFlow Cat.
take that garbage to court. I'm pretty sure that cop overstepped his boundaries. If anything pisses me off more than a$$hat cops who abuse and misuse their authority it's the people that let them do it and get away with it.
You don't need a lawyer for this one, fight it. Show up to court on time, well dressed and explain the judge calmly and clearly. Stress you have not had any previous prior infractions and despite being aware of the new laws regarding leaving space for a cruiser you still need to assess the situation on the road and prepare to make a safe exit off the highway.
I'm sure you won't have to pay the $490 fine.
And yes, Ontario has some serious reactionary road laws these days.
97 Oldsmobile Aurora
04 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP CompG
08 Buick Enclave CXL
Barry wrote:freneticburn: Derogatory comments towards cops like you used are frowned upon in this forum.
I'm not saying all are in general. There are bad cops just like there are bad people. Just because he is a cop it doesn't mean he can't be a jerk. besides I love cops, I watch the show all the time
Little Update, well i opted to give my buddy's lawyer a call....in the end after everything was said and done he took care of the whole matter for a mere sum of cash. The money was not my biggest concern, my biggest concern was obviously the amount of points i would/could lose, thus raising my insurance and having to deal with a bad record. In the end it cost me $250.00 CAN but i did not have to pay the $490.00 dollar fine nor did i lose any points. Life goes on but i defiantly learned a lesson or two.
Appreciate all the help, without you guys i would be lost to the point of no return.
1999 Buick Regal LS - Just Started!
1993 Buick LeSabre custom....No pun intended.
-FWI, Arctic Purple (8,500K), Output: 12V100W Bulbs, Custom "Y" after cat exhaust setup (deep low rumble), 20% bronze tint to match paint, Custom ghetto gold Bonneville rims(outer lip sanded and polished). Park Ave chrome grill.
Did he do some laundry too or just fix the ticket?
~Randall~
1993 Buick Park Avenue - 197k - Some odds and ends done - Simply won't die
1994 Buick Regal - 78k - Bone stock - Always ready for a good kicking
1990 Oldsmobile 88 - Gone to a better place
I am very distraught about this whole ordeal.
