imported_Chan

i am posting for my brother, so he was driving the other night and got into an accident he totaled his car. what happened was he was going straight down a street and ran the amber light because he couldnt stop on time. well someone on to the right of him was turning left and pulled out in front of him. so when the police came he gave my brother a ticket for failing to stop for an amber and said it was his fault when i think of it its not his fault. should he go through x copper ? here is a picture of what he did.



pleae help me thanks a lot.

imported_JookSingKid

From section 144 of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990,
Chapter H.8:

Amber light
(15) Every driver approaching a traffic control signal showing a circular amber indication and facing the indication shall stop his or her vehicle if he or she can do so safely, otherwise he or she may proceed with caution. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 144 (15).

Red light
(18) Every driver approaching a traffic control signal showing a circular red indication and facing the indication shall stop his or her vehicle and shall not proceed until a green indication is shown. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 144 (18).

Penalty for disobeying red or amber light
(31.2) Every person who contravenes subsection (15) or (18) is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not less than $150 and not more than $500. 1998, c. 5, s. 26.

I call bullsh!t

How could you know that the other driver was making a left turn?By the looks of your sketch, your brother hit the other vehicle before any turn was made.

Your brother can always talk to pointts or x-coppers they'll give you free advice and convince your brother that he can get off.

The possible defence is

Your "brother" could not safely stop before entering the intersection. Make sure theres a good reason, or else your "brother" can get caught with a careless driving charge to boot.

marker

A couple of comments here. First of all you have your brother claiming that he went through on an amber light because he was "unable to stop". I say BS too. What really happens so often is that a person is thinking they can squeak through while the light is still orange and just to make sure, a lot of drivers even step on the gas to try and make sure that 1) they will make it through, which leads to 2) they are unable to stop when the lights goes from amber to red faster than they expected and before they actually do enter theintersection.

Second of all, then there is that "other guy" waiting at the intersection, whic for some reason decides to pull out into the intersection right in front of your brother. I've seen this happen too, usually because the person pulling out figures that because the light in front of hime has just trned green, then the traffic on the cross street now facing a red light is going to stop no matter how fast they are going. That's the most common time for an intersection collision to occur - right after a fresh light change. While that should make you look twice andtwice againa fter that before starting through on a new green, it still doesn't make an accident your fault if you get nailed by someone else like your brother running a red light.

When the cops came, the "other guy" probably claimed that he didn't go through the intersection until he had a green. Your brother, who really ran a red light, tries to cover his butt by saying that the light was really just amber when he went through. This is quite alright by the cop because with that admission the cop can nail your brother with running the amber which carries the same points and penalties as running a red.

Your brother could try and fight the charge, but his own admission to the cop at the scene combined with other witness testimony will just end up hanging him anyways.

97SiR

Looking at the diagram you included I am trying to understand how the guy making the left turn got hit by your brother if your brother claims to have run a red light.

Here is my theory. If the light was green for your brother, and then turned amber going to red, there is NO WAY the guy on your brother's right would have started driving until his light was green. Now his light would not have turned green until your brother's light was solid red. For him to see the light change from red to green, press the gass, drive off, get in the middle of the intersection and then get hit by your brother, he must've had a green light for at least 5-10 seconds. There is no way anyone can react quicker than that unless they are at the racing track. Now that means that your brother's light was solid red for at least 5-10 seconds if not more. Most traffic lights have a 2-3 second delay between the time one light turns red and the other green.

Double_B

I was just going to say the same thing. No way this guy is pulling out on a red light to turn left. The light must have been red when your brother was going through the light. There is a delay between the lights, and if he totalled the car, he must have been going pretty fast.