Inquiry: I was going on a country/ high way and there were cops on the side with speed detectors. The speed limit just got reduced from 80 to 50 km and I was just about to slow down when I saw the cop waving on the sidewalk. There were a few cars behind me and everybody pulled over. We didn’t know who the cops were waving at and what they wanted us to do.
I stopped for about 3 seconds and because i misunderstood the cop’s hand gestures ( he was trying to get me to turn into a church parking lot) I just started to drive on. Then the cop went into his car and chased me down, we were just a block away and were going very slowly. When the cop asked me why I didn’t pull into the church, I said in sorry but I didn’t understand his hand gestures. He was very rude and on top of a speeding ticket, he gave me a failure to obey police orders offense, and told me to show up at court next month to discuss the fines. I have a perfect driving record and would never in a million years disobey a police order if it werent for that he was giving out misleading hand gestures. I don’t know what I should say on court because I know he will be very persistent and rude. Should I bring a witness or do I need a lawyer? I don’t want to lose the case and have a criminal record
Response: It is unlikely that the charges are under the Criminal Code of Canada and that they would result in a criminal record. The paperwork provided to you by the Officer will likely be listed under the Highway Traffic Act. If so, then the major concerns will likely be driving record conviction, demerit points, insurance increase, and any court appointed penalties. If you would like to contact our office, we offer a no-cost initial review of cases via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299 and can provide some more specific information after reviewing your matter in more detail.