Traffic Offences
Improper Turns in Ontario
“Improper turn” is an umbrella term covering several different ways a turn can run afoul of Ontario's Highway Traffic Act, from turning where it's prohibited to turning without proper care.
Common scenarios covered by this offence
Improper turns can arise from a range of situations. Some involve turning somewhere the rules simply don't allow it — an illegal U-turn where signage prohibits it, or a left turn from a lane not designated for turning left. Others involve turning in a way that isn't safe given the surrounding traffic, such as cutting across multiple lanes to make a turn, turning from the wrong position within an intersection, or failing to approach and complete the turn within your own lane. Because the specific rule that applies depends heavily on the intersection, signage, and lane markings involved, two improper-turn tickets can look quite different from each other while both falling under the same general offence name.
Demerit points
Improper turn convictions generally carry 2 to 3 demerit points, depending on the specific violation. This places it in a similar range to offences like failing to signal (2 points) or failing to yield the right-of-way (3 points), both of which can overlap with an improper-turn situation in practice — a driver who turns improperly may also fail to signal or fail to yield as part of the same manoeuvre. See the demerit-point chart for how these related offences compare.
Why lane markings and signage matter so much here
Because so many improper-turn tickets come down to what a specific sign, lane marking, or intersection design permitted at that exact location, this is an offence where the physical details of the scene can matter more than they do for something like speeding. If you're contesting an improper-turn ticket, the layout of the intersection — signage, lane arrows, any posted turn restrictions — is usually the central question, more so than a general sense of whether the turn felt safe.
Related offences
Improper turns sit alongside a few related offences that often come up in the same situations: unsafe lane changes, which covers lateral movement rather than turning, and following too closely, which can factor into whether a turn was made safely relative to surrounding traffic.