Road design, safety and Vision Zero

[Coke6pk]

Heard from a cop that they sometimes ask "was that a red or amber" and proceed to give a ticket for an amber.

I mean, that's another type of discretion....like when the police measure your speed at x and then give you a ticket for < x.

I guess I should qualify, no one has ever gotten a ticket where the officer believes the person ran the amber, only when they are giving them a break.

I don't much like it in general, because people who fight tickets (i.e., have resources and look right) are liable to get it decreased even further.

Just another source of bias that automated enforcement doesn't have.

Be aware that on a Pt I Provincial Offence Notice, there is a box to the right hand side marked "CODE".  If a ticket is reduced roadside (lower speed, lesser charge), it will be marked with an "R" in that box.

If you proceed to fight that ticket, the prosecutor already knows you got a reduction, and is less or un-likely to reduce further.  Additionally, if you fight the ticket (ie. 65 km/h in a 50 km/h zone), the officer is required to provide the evidence as they noted.  "ie, I recorded on radar the vehicle travelling at 95 km/h in a 50 km/h zone".  The JP will register a conviction BASED ON THE EVIDENCE PROVIDED AT TRIAL, therefore, a conviction will be for 45 km/h over the speed limit, and not the 15 km/h over that was on the ticket.  Fighting a reduced ticket is VERY RISKY unless you have some information or evidence that works in your favour.

Coke

Personal note: Was in my car returning from work last week around midnight on Homer Watson Blvd. Stopped at a light, when the light went green, I proceeded, and a car (that was previously stopped behind me), got into the right lane and gunned it past me. A few seconds later an SUV also passed me on the right (I have a heavy foot, I was not impeding traffic, but was turning left at the next lights, hence why I wasn't in right lane... plus there were hardly any cars on the road), but it immediately lit up like a Christmas Tree and pulled over that first vehicle. Proving, SOMETIMES there is a cop around when you want one! (Even though it is a rarity!)