going straight on a turn lane reasoning | GTAMotorcycle.com

going straight on a turn lane reasoning

bengali548

bengali548

Well-known member
hey guys i have a court date on june 11th for going straight on a turning lane

i was heading south on kennedy from the 401. i went into the plaza that was on the side of the dairy queen because of an auto part store over there by kennedy and ellesmere. this was during rush hour so kennedy was packed. i went into my lane but a guy behind me was coming at me so i had to go. i didnt have enough room to go into the middle lane unless i braked hard (which might have got me rear ended) so i went forward and i was already in the white solid line so i couldnt switch lanes after. so i decided to go straight in which i got caught on my bike.

i was going to take that story into court but i have my doubts about it. what do you guys think? can i win this on my own or should i get legal help?
 
You're basically confessing guilt. You're not going to win with that I don't think.
 
bengali548 said:
hey guys i have a court date on june 11th for going straight on a turning lane

i was heading south on kennedy from the 401. i went into the plaza that was on the side of the dairy queen because of an auto part store over there by kennedy and ellesmere. this was during rush hour so kennedy was packed. i went into my lane but a guy behind me was coming at me so i had to go. i didnt have enough room to go into the middle lane unless i braked hard (which might have got me rear ended) so i went forward and i was already in the white solid line so i couldnt switch lanes after. so i decided to go straight in which i got caught on my bike.

i was going to take that story into court but i have my doubts about it. what do you guys think? can i win this on my own or should i get legal help?
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Your story explains how you ended up in the turning lane, but not why you didn't turn. What you should have done is completed the turn, and then found a driveway or whatnot to turn around in and made another left to get into the direction you wanted..
 
^ That is correct. If you find yourself in an incorrect lane for what you originally intended to do at the intersection, the best course of action is to go the way the lane directs, and find your way back by some other way.

An explanation of why you did the illegal action is a confession that you did the illegal action. The concept of "due diligence" - that you did everything in your power to avoid the illegal action, but it happened anyway - most likely won't work, because you COULD have simply turned the way that the signs directed you to do for that lane.
 
Unless your reason was so compelling that it amounted to making your action involuntary, you are going to be convicted.

due diligence is not a defence under this particular HTA section. (not that you were duly diligent anyway)
 
OpenGambit said:
Unless your reason was so compelling that it amounted to making your action involuntary, you are going to be convicted.

due diligence is not a defence under this particular HTA section. (not that you were duly diligent anyway)
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the guy driving behind me was going pretty fast plus no one was giving me space to merge in the center lane and the light was green so i didnt have time to stop. i didnt notice the signs on the ground because i was looking for a way to merge while trying to avoid this guy rear ending me. could i work that around in any way to help me?
 
Their response will be that you should have slowed down well in advance to make the legally-prescribed turn.

It doesn't make sense that there was someone ALSO in that right turn lane directly behind you, ALSO going too fast to make the legally prescribed turn. Something doesn't add up.
 
If you say you didn't notice the arrows you're pretty much saying you're not paying attention. It's not a defense. You really should have turned right and found a place to turn around. They're simply going to say you jumped the queue by jumping the light and pulling in front. I hate when people do that frankly.. I'm not saying that was your intent, but that's what they'll figure you did.
 
RetroGrouch said:
No one has heard of pleading guilty with explanation? May not get you off the conviction entirely but it sure will reduce the fine.
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Well, he's talking legal help..I don't think he's trying for reduced fine. If he is, that's an expensive way to lower what is probably a $110 fine! :)
 
If the judge asks "If you had to do it over again what would you do?"

If you say the "The same thing" then you're guilty.

If you say "I would have waited for a break in traffic" Then the judge says "You should have thought of that the first time. You're guilty"

We all get caught in one of these traps once in a while. If you used excessive acceleration to get ahead you could have been picked off under HTA 172.

It sucks when you are expected to martyr yourself to a tailgater but the government needs the money.
 
Brian P said:
Their response will be that you should have slowed down well in advance to make the legally-prescribed turn.

It doesn't make sense that there was someone ALSO in that right turn lane directly behind you, ALSO going too fast to make the legally prescribed turn. Something doesn't add up.
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the middle lane was busy with traffic so he merged into the right lane as i merged in also but he had a heavy foot i guess

invictus43 said:
If you say you didn't notice the arrows you're pretty much saying you're not paying attention. It's not a defense. You really should have turned right and found a place to turn around. They're simply going to say you jumped the queue by jumping the light and pulling in front. I hate when people do that frankly.. I'm not saying that was your intent, but that's what they'll figure you did.
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there were 2 arrows one being right at the exit for the plaza and the second being at the intersection. i didnt notice the first one because it was below me and i was looking for a way to enter but the second i noticed. the lane extended forward after the intersection so i didnt have to cut anyone off. at the time it seemed like the best option instead of taking a right turn at a high speed.

RetroGrouch said:
No one has heard of pleading guilty with explanation? May not get you off the conviction entirely but it sure will reduce the fine.
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if i plead guilty it'll go on my record and it'll raise my insurance. i dont care about the fine just the insurance
 
Devil's-advocate in this thread will better prepare you for saying the correct things and answering things the correct way.

Were there just arrows in the road, or was there an actual sign indicating that it was a right-turn-only lane? Where was the sign? Go re-check if you have to.

Signs written in black and white are legal requirements for you to follow. Markings on the pavement generally are not.
 
I use the Dairy Queen right turning lane to get past traffic at Kennedy and Ellesmere all the time as well. Two things I have learned 1) do not risk it during rush hour 2) make the right and go through Wendy's parking lot if during rush hour

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=kennedy+ellesmere&aq=&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=47.604038,114.169922&ie=UTF8&hq=kennedy+ellesmere&hnear=&ll=49.891235,-97.15369&spn=47.604038,114.169922&t=m&layer=c&cbll=43.766335,-79.281309&panoid=x2BfDF1VoqIKZ_NTtfU2SA&cbp=12,175.97,,0,24.49&output=svembed"></iframe>
<small>View Larger Map</small>
 
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bengali548 said:
the guy driving behind me was going pretty fast plus no one was giving me space to merge in the center lane and the light was green so i didnt have time to stop. i didnt notice the signs on the ground because i was looking for a way to merge while trying to avoid this guy rear ending me. could i work that around in any way to help me?
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That doesn't make any sense. If you knew that merging into the center lane was so important then you definately knew that you were in a turning lane. It sounds like you jumped the line to me.
 
It's not the painted signs on the pavement that he has to worry about (they are not binding).
It's because of this sign that OP received a ticket:
http://goo.gl/maps/dCeu

invictus43 said:
If you say you didn't notice the arrows you're pretty much saying you're not paying attention. It's not a defense. You really should have turned right and found a place to turn around. They're simply going to say you jumped the queue by jumping the light and pulling in front. I hate when people do that frankly.. I'm not saying that was your intent, but that's what they'll figure you did.
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bengali548 said:
the guy driving behind me was going pretty fast plus no one was giving me space to merge in the center lane and the light was green so i didnt have time to stop. i didnt notice the signs on the ground because i was looking for a way to merge while trying to avoid this guy rear ending me. could i work that around in any way to help me?
Click to expand...
 
I was just in court yesterday, and someone else was being charged with the same thing. There was quite a long debate between the officer, prosecutor, and the paralegal representing the person being charged, but in the end, he had to settle on being guilty. I believe they reduced the fine, which they probably would have done without hiring a paralegal.
 
joelsephstalin said:
I was just in court yesterday, and someone else was being charged with the same thing. There was quite a long debate between the officer, prosecutor, and the paralegal representing the person being charged, but in the end, he had to settle on being guilty. I believe they reduced the fine, which they probably would have done without hiring a paralegal.
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im debating whether hiring a paralegal would do any good. is there any hope of me getting this ticket cancelled or anything i can say. from the way this thread is going im thinking that my only option would be to say that the other guy was coming up fast behind me and i felt that he was going to hit me.
 
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