police blitz at Danforth and Broadview

Just before 9am, ticketed for "disobeying a stop sign" during the blitz.

Two police officers were stopping cyclists west of Broadview & Danforth. Tickets were being given for failure to stop at the stop sign at the intersection of Bloor and Cambridge.

Cambridge is a small street intersecting the Bloor Viaduct. When traveling south on on Cambridge at Bloor, cyclists and vehicles must turn right (west). Cyclists turn onto a bike lane.

I did NOT disobey the stop sign as my ticket states. I do admit to a 'rolling stop' or 'Idaho stop'...determined it was safe to proceed and made my right turn.

Am I the only one who feels this $110 penalty is wrong?

You're probably not the only one, but let's face it: The stop sign means stop. If you didn't stop, you disobeyed the sign. It's not a Yield sign - you don't have the option of deciding whether it is safe to proceed without stopping.

I got the same ticket at the intersection this morning and I don't want to get into the argument about whether I disobeyed or not but I agree with the o.p. that the $100 penalty is wrong because the punishment doesn't fit the crime. The blitz was nothing but a money grab - it ineffectively educated cyclists.

As the officer was writing up my ticket, many other cyclists were rolling through the stop signs so how was the message relayed to these cyclists? And to give me a ticket of $110 which also goes against my driving record is just unfair. You do not need a licence to ride a bike yet what you do outside of a car can affect your driving record and insurance rate - c'mon!

I'd like to fight this ticket only for the sake of my driving record yet I'm not sure what's the best way to do this. Anyone have a suggestion or a paralegal that specializes in this?

The basic process is as follows:

1. Appear and enter a plea of not guilty before the deadline on the ticket, or hire a lawyer / paralegal at the beginning to take care of this for you. You must do this or be convicted by default.
2. Request disclosure, and look for anything that might lead to a possible argument at trial. Assuming that the officer's notes indicate that you rolled through the stop sign, and you identified yourself to the officer, I am not sure what defence you would have based on what you've written. Maybe a delay argument, if it takes too long to get a court date.
3. Either proceed to trial or plead guilty. Assuming that the officer shows up on your trial date, you probably want to try to work something out with the prosecutor - a reprimand or lesser fine. If the prosecutor won't agree, make your pitch to the justice of the peace - the prosecutor will ask for the fine on the ticket, you'll ask for a lesser fine or reprimand because of the circumstances.

There are also some resources in the great library at osgoode hall (queen & university), such as books on fighting traffic tickets in Ontario if you decide to do it by yourself - might be worth checking those out.