On the Road

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Q: I recently received a traffic ticket when I made an illegal left turn during rush hour. When I looked at the ticket after the officer drove off, I noticed the offence merely stated Disobey Sign. The ticket did not say what the sign was that I disobeyed. Is that an error that I can fight in court and are there demerit points for the offence?

A: The offence of Disobey Sign has been in the Highway Traffic Act for many years, however, it was rarely used by police officers enforcing traffic laws.

This particular section of the act, 182 (2), is appearing frequently of late as a bona fide charge to traffic offences relating to official road signage. Section 182 gives provincial and municipal governments the authority to place signs and markings on a highway to facilitate the flow of traffic and to ensure the safe passage of vehicles and pedestrians provided the signs are prescribed in the regulations of the Highway Traffic Act.

Subsection 2 goes on to state that every driver or operator of a vehicle (including bicycles) or streetcar shall obey the instructions or directions indicated on any sign legally placed on a highway.

The language in this section is generic and the offence of disobey sign seems to be a 'catch-all' offence whenever a motorist or cyclist disobeys a traffic sign.

And for the most part, that's true.

The courts prefer that police officers use specific offences when dealing with signage violations such as disobey stop sign, disobey lane sign, prohibited right/left turns and so on.

Substituting a prohibited left turn offence with a disobey sign offence is neither improper nor unlawful from a procedural perspective and would not normally provide for a workable defence that might cause a justice to consider dismissing the charge.

While the actual sign that was disobeyed may not be noted on the ticket, the officer will undoubtedly make mention of it in the evidence he presents to the court.

The fine for disobey sign is $100, which includes the victim surcharge and a conviction will carry two demerit points.