Things people don't know about the highway traffic act

[forrest]

 

1. double solid lines are a notification/suggestion that it is not safe to pass...

 

2. yellow speed limit signs are suggested for safety - white means it's an "official" sign...i e if you're not caught on radar and i can visually see that you're travelling at a high rate of speed you can be given a "disobey official sign" ticket which yields the same penalties as disobey stop sign....

 

3. yes you can pass on a highway when it is safe to do so....but use your discretion on this one...any accident or mistake can lead to "drive left of centre"

 

 

I cross the double yellow frequently:

If you pass across a double yellow you are responsible for any accident that you are involved in.

 

How did the parent post know these things? Has the poster collected a slew of tickets supporting his 20 points?

[Canuck2fan]

Yes, you see it all the time where 3 or 4 cars go...but, the trick is...pull the last guy through over lol...he has no defence. The light is red. I have never lost these tickets.

 

The HTA (briefly) says that when turning left, only one car is allowed to creep into the intersect (people these days don't really understand that creeping doesn't mean sitting in the middle). If the driver is unable to complete his turn by the time the light goes from amber to red, he is allowed to complete it when it is safe to do so. Only ONE car can do this.

 

I guarantee any cop his yearly quota of tickets in about two hours then if they follow that part the HTA at these intersections.... To keep traffic moving I can't see a cop giving a ticket at these intersections I am talking about unless there was an accident.

 

However, only charging the guy turning left in the event of an accident would ignore the part where the driver with the green light can only enter the intersection when it is clear and safe to do so regardless of the colour of the light as well. Not to mention the part about a car being in an intersection has the right away over cars stopped at a stop sign or red light..... If the officer doesn't charge both drivers that isn't fair either.

 

Situations like this are where the judges and lawyers earn their money deciding which of the contradictions in the law(s) applies and to whom.

 

Another thing about these intersections is that you would probably wind up being shot or tire ironed to death if you didn't enter the intersection if your car would fit during the green light.... Rather than have to face the mob behind me I would take my chances on a cop having a bad day, heck most of the time they are the 6th or 7th car to go through. I am pretty sure once you met with the crown, told them you would fight it because of the location and why they would drop it or reduce it to a weaker charge if you agreed to pay the full fine. The crowns I have met could give a crap about anything but the cash first meetings are more like lets a make deal than justice as you probably well know. If that didn't work then I would definitely roll the dice in court, maybe at some time your brethren have charged the JP for the same thing (yeah like that would ever happen)LOL

Edited April 26, 2008 by Canuck2fan

[Bernie]

Not trying to be an here but you may want to double check the lighting. When doing safety inspections all that is required is one taillight and one license light on non-commercial. Turns and braking can be signaled by hand. Been over this with the MTO a couple times. I think that it is a poor regulation and should be updated but no one seems interested in changing things. There are many changes I would like to see but get stonewalled every time I make a call.

[fishing n autograph]

Not trying to be an here but you may want to double check the lighting. When doing safety inspections all that is required is one taillight and one license light on non-commercial. Turns and braking can be signaled by hand. Been over this with the MTO a couple times. I think that it is a poor regulation and should be updated but no one seems interested in changing things. There are many changes I would like to see but get stonewalled every time I make a call.

 

no problem bernie...... there's a lot of the Ontario Regulations that I couldn't really tell you about...especially for commercial trucks etc.....in fact, to know that stuff there's a course you have to take called "heavy truck interdiction" which basically gives you the qualifications to do MTO inspections.

[fishing n autograph]

I guarantee any cop his yearly quota of tickets in about two hours then if they follow that part the HTA at these intersections.... To keep traffic moving I can't see a cop giving a ticket at these intersections I am talking about unless there was an accident.

 

However, only charging the guy turning left in the event of an accident would ignore the part where the driver with the green light can only enter the intersection when it is clear and safe to do so regardless of the colour of the light as well. Not to mention the part about a car being in an intersection has the right away over cars stopped at a stop sign or red light..... If the officer doesn't charge both drivers that isn't fair either.

 

Situations like this are where the judges and lawyers earn their money deciding which of the contradictions in the law(s) applies and to whom.

 

Another thing about these intersections is that you would probably wind up being shot or tire ironed to death if you didn't enter the intersection if your car would fit during the green light.... Rather than have to face the mob behind me I would take my chances on a cop having a bad day, heck most of the time they are the 6th or 7th car to go through. I am pretty sure once you met with the crown, told them you would fight it because of the location and why they would drop it or reduce it to a weaker charge if you agreed to pay the full fine. The crowns I have met could give a crap about anything but the cash first meetings are more like lets a make deal than justice as you probably well know. If that didn't work then I would definitely roll the dice in court, maybe at some time your brethren have charged the JP for the same thing (yeah like that would ever happen)LOL

 

 

Good point, that's why I hate doing MVC's (motor vehicle collisions - we don't call them accidents anymore because that implies no one is at fault)....most of the time I don't charge people because of the simple fact of conflicting stories. Unless something is completely obvious or one driver is completely honest then it's easier. But if there's no third party witness it's harder to get a conviction because both drivers are looking out for their best interest and aren't 100% honest.....

[fishing n autograph]

Whether your windows are tinted too much is left solely to the discretion of the police officer who stops you. It's my understanding that no police force in Ontario uses a device to ascertain the degree of tint (different levels of Government couldn't agree on who would pay for such a device). Consequently, one officer might ticket you while another officer wouldn't. Regardless the inconsistency involved in the enforcement of this law, I don't understand the need for drivers to be able to see other drivers. I have tinted windows for two reasons:

 

1. to prohibit people from seeing into my vehicle; and

2. to keep my vehicle cooler (less AC used = less gas burned = less emissions)

 

The law, such as it is, is only on the books because police forces argued that they must be able to see (through the window) to be able to ascertain whether the driver of a stopped vehicle has a gun. The typical "shotgun" approach. I'll suggest that 99.9% of all Ontario drivers stopped by police don't have a gun in their hand. Rather than the existing law, police should simply request drivers to roll down all windows before they approach the drivers door. If any driver doesn't comply, break the nearest window with a baton.

 

if i did that......

 

 

Dear Inspector, I broke a guys window. I'm sorry, please take it out of my pay cheque when he sues me....lol

 

Just kidding. I've never had to draw down on anyone when on a traffic stop. I've been lucky. As for being able to see, out take down lights and spot light illuminate even the darkest tinted windows. I've never given a jab for dark windows, but it gives me a solid reason to stop and talk to the anyway.

[Kerry]

. Amber light means slow down and prepare to stop. Technically running the amber light and going through yields the same penalty as running a red light.

 

HA,

In Orillia yellow means red and green is an unfortunate circumstance(must be mold or somethin on that light).Maybe we should just take up walking cause you can do that on yellows, reds delayed greens and hold up the whole bloody town if you want to stop and tie your shoelace or something!

 

Kerry

[danbouck]

"I don't understand the need for drivers to be able to see other drivers."

 

I think being able to see the other driver is a very important part of defensive driving. I spent my first few years driving a motorcycle and I can tell if a driver is going to cut me off or turn left in front of me just by seeing his/her face.

 

And it's even more important for pedestrians or cyclists. JMHO

 

That's as good a reason as any!

[Fisherman]

That's as good a reason as any!

Bang on Dan, if you can see them applying make up, playing with the phone, you're damm sure they're not paying attention to the surrounding traffic!

[jjcanoe]

Don't forget the good old :

Right turns allowed on red unless otherwise posted, but only from the curb lane, (not the second lane out from the curb).

 

ie: 401 west exit @ dixie road or 400 north @ Hwy #7

 

jjcanoe

[Canuck2fan]

Good point, that's why I hate doing MVC's (motor vehicle collisions - we don't call them accidents anymore because that implies no one is at fault)....most of the time I don't charge people because of the simple fact of conflicting stories. Unless something is completely obvious or one driver is completely honest then it's easier. But if there's no third party witness it's harder to get a conviction because both drivers are looking out for their best interest and aren't 100% honest.....

 

That seems fair to me to not charge anybody if there is any doubt in a collision with no injuries. Their insurance will likely cause them more pain than a charge could anyway.

 

As an aside I pity any officer who has to rely on eye witnesses for anything though. I work at two different jobs and I can count on the fingers of one hand the times that when something bad has happened that any two people tell the same story but you know they were THERE and the was no way they could have missed what happened..... it is all about spin.

[HTHM]

Resurrecting this thread....

If there is no other traffic can one legally make a left turn or go through a red light? IE 2 am on a country road controlled intersection.

[Roy]

The correct answer is NO.

[Big Cliff]

It probably isn't legal but I was in court one time and a young lady had done just that. She claimed that she had been sitting at the light for at least 5 minutes without any other cars going threw and finally figured the light must be defective.

 

Long story short:

 

The judge asked the cop something about the light being a controlled light and the cop said it was. The judge said something about it not triggering and they let her go.

 

Nice to see this thread being brought back up, some good reminders here.

[Terry]

if a man farts in the forest and there is no one around to smell it does it still stink.....

it is illegal to make the left, but if there is really no one around to see it.....

[ketchenany]

#4 U turn

 

Some one at YRP should be sitting at Islington and Langstaff or Pine Valley and Langstaff and watch the jokers who can't wait to make a left turn and go down 50 feet past the light and come right back up to make a right turn!

[fishing n autograph]

Is there a no u turn sign posted?

[Old Ironmaker]

Resurrecting this thread....

If there is no other traffic can one legally make a left turn or go through a red light? IE 2 am on a country road controlled intersection.

Red lights are there so you can play with the GPS and talk on the phone, no?

 

If anyone here has been to Hoovers Marina there is what we call "the punishment" light, it is red constantly at the intersection of Nanticoke RD and RR#3. Allowing traffic to continually flow from the Hydro plant (where hardly no one works any longer). If the traffic sensor isn't working you may sit waiting for hours.

[DanD]

When doing safety inspections all that is required is one taillight and one license light on non-commercial. Turns and braking can be signaled by hand.

 

Yea I think the reg says something like, a vehicle less then 20 feet long and less then 8 feet wide; only require those two lights on the rear.

The driver's side window must be able to open, to perform hand signals. There's nothing about that window having to go back up. Window doesn't go down, vehicle fails inspection; throw a hammer through window, vehicle now passes. LOL

 

I was pulled over in my 50 Chevy by a city cop, for making an improper lane change. I was in the left lane and needed to be in the right; I made the hand signal and moved into the right lane. The cop was already in the right lane a couple cars back; because he didn't see a turn signal light, he pulled me over. At first he didn't believe me that the car never had signal lights when the car was built. After having a look inside the car and saw no sign of a signal light switch; he admitted that if I did make a hand signal, he wouldn't have been able to see it and let me go.

The next day I installed a universal switch and rewired the car to accommodate signals. No more people waving at me while I was making a turn; not to many now what hand signals are anymore.

 

Dan.

[Old Ironmaker]

Anyone remember the old Studebakers and Morris' I think that had a signal arm pop out on each side of the car? That was the turn signal.

[lew]

 

At first he didn't believe me that the car never had signal lights when the car was built.

 

Back in the day my mom had a 1955 Austin A-35 and it was the car I learned to drive in and what I took my test in.

 

It didn't have standard turn signal lights either but instead had a switch on the dash that you flipped left or right and a little lighted arm would pop out of the door post just behing the front doors. When you completed your turn you flipped the switch back to center and the little arm folded back in again.

 

Funny little car but alot of fun to drive.

 

Wonder how many folks would even know what it was today if they saw those little arms flipping out

 

This isn't Mom's car but you can just make out the arm behind the drivers door window.

 

[lew]

Anyone remember the old Studebakers and Morris' I think that had a signal arm pop out on each side of the car? That was the turn signal.

 

We were posting the same time Johnny but I spose Mom's car is what you were referring to.

[mike rousseau]

#9 drives me Nuts!!!!!

 

Happens all the time....

 

I'm turning left at an intersection and car in the oncoming lane is turning right... They stop and look at you like your the jerk for not going... Or they wave you through...

[John Bacon]

Something that should be illegal..

Dogs riding in the backs of pick up trucks!! How many times I see this! One quick move and your pup is airborne and likely to die and also likely to cause a crash.

PLEASE FishNAutographs and other officers...start writing tickets for unsecure load for these fools. It is my number one pet peeve. If you must have your dog in the back, put in a crate and secure it with tie-downs..give your dog SOME safety.

 

Is it illegal for people to ride in the box of a pickup? I read that it is perfectly legal to have passengers ride in the box of a pickup.

[Ron]

Only if all the seats with seat belts are first occupied.