Fighting traffic ticket

[pike slayer]

So I was driving from sault to sudbury and I made a mistake and broke the speed limit and got caught. I know I'm an idiot, kicking myself in the butt.

Now should I be fight the ticket? Ive always heard that if the officer isn't present they rip up the ticket. Any truth to this? Cause you know he won't be showing up in the sault. But if it's that easy then everyone would be speeding in different towns. Looking for some advice thanks

[grimsbylander]

Why would the officer not show up?

[Steve]

officers show up...they get extra pay to do so...

 

but you may get it reduced, if it is a 30km or more ticket....if it is less than that, just pay it.

[pike slayer]

I'm from the sault and I got the ticket in sudbury. I would assume the officer wouldn't show up in the sault for a speeding ticket.

[misfish]

officers show up...they get extra pay to do so...

 

but you may get it reduced, if it is a 30km or more ticket....if it is less than that, just pay it.

 

Get it knocked down to no points just a fine. It will not effect your insurance policy. You can take your chance of a no show, but if he does, then your going to pay. The fine plus points and increase on your insurance.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Brian B

[John Bacon]

I'm from the sault and I got the ticket in sudbury. I would assume the officer wouldn't show up in the sault for a speeding ticket.

 

If you got the ticket in Sudbury then the trial would probably be in Sudbury.

 

E.g. I am from Toronto. When I chose to fight a ticket that I received in Donwood (just outside of Peterborough) I had to go to Peterborough to fight the ticket.

 

If you are lucky, the officer won't show and you get off scott free. If he does show, then you stand a good chance of getting an offer to plead to a lessor charge (e.g. 15 over instead of 30 over). They don't have time to hold a trial for everyone who fights the tickets.

 

But, I would expect that you will need to make the trip to Sudbury rather than the officer making a trip to the Sault.

Edited August 1, 2015 by JohnBacon

[OhioFisherman]

I am not sure how your system works up there, so things may be different. I fought two tickets here in Ohio where the officer was clearly wrong, neither were for speed. You go to court and plead not guilty? The officer is not there, they schedule you to come back another day for a hearing, and the officer is there.

 

I drove an 18 wheeler for a living, keeping unjust points off of my driver's license was important to me. In both cases my tickets were thrown out, I ate the ones I deserved. In both cases I had pictures that proved the officer was wrong, but he got paid to show up in court, and I didn't.

[misfish]

 

 

but he got paid to show up in court, and I didn't.

 

 

You got that right Paul.

 

When I got nailed for 20 over, the officer told me ,after handing me the ticket, go to court and ask for a lower charge. Why he couldnt just give me the lesser, is beyond me. It cost me 4 hours off work.

[Old Ironmaker]

I don't think all jurisdictions are the same for traffic court now. If I'm not mistaken the ticketing constable does not have to show up in Hamilton. A supervisor can present evidence in his or her absence. If I'm in the wrong I pay, if not I fight it. I went to court(OPP) a few years back because I was speeding but not as much as I was fined for. I talked to the Crown rep. before the hearing and she immediately knocked it down to 90 in a 80 from 110 in a 80 which meant points too. Get there early and ask for the Duty Clerk for the Crown or call the Crowns office well before hand, they don't want to pay OT for a cop to show up if off shift. They are very reasonable in my opinion.

 

If you were speeding and got caught pay the fine. You have to go to the jurisdiction where the fine was levied for certain. One reason Smokeys down south love ticketing out of state drivers, especially Yankees and Canucks. The last time I got a ticket in Georgia I was doing 125 in a 70. MPH! I went straight to jail. A long time ago.

 

The old joke was if Johnny D is sitting in the back seat, who's driving? ........The Cops.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Old Ironmaker

[FrankTheRabbit]

Any guilty plea to a lesser charge will result in an increase for your auto insurance. The prosecutors will only want a guilty plea-any kind of guilty plea because it helps them out in the end for their win loss record.

 

Best thing to do is arm yourself with your own facts and dispute what the charges are.

 

If you want to dispute the charges, first thing you'll need to do is have your own version of events with what happened. Day time, night time, cloudy, sunny, dry roads, wet roads, etc. Be as detailed as you possibly can...go back to what you've written and try to remember as to what happened, because you'll need have your own version of events to contest what the charges are.

 

Next, request for a full disclosure. Whatever you've been charged with, everyone is entitled to full disclosure, which is the officer's version of events. This will be what you'll need to analyze to form your defense and dispute the charges.

 

The strategy with this is, you want to request full disclosure no less than 60 days before your court time. You want to time it and hope they don't end up providing you your full disclosure, so when you arrive in court, you plead for a stay of charges based on not receiving full disclosure in a timely manner to form your defense. When they re -schedule your new court day, you can plead a violation of 11 A or B which infringes on your right to a fair and timely trial (which is I think 11mths).

 

Another thing you can look up and request is to see if the officer has been trained and obtained a certification to operate that particular radar detector. And so whether or not the radar was calibrated prior to you getting pulled over.

 

At the end of the day, if you really did speed, you prob should pay for in.

 

The above strategy will take time.

 

Good luck.

Edited August 1, 2015 by FrankTheRabbit

[Old Ironmaker]

Frank, I have had 1 traffic ticket in 19 years, 10K over the limit. My insurance went down not up. Many insurance companies are different wen dealing with rate increases. It is not an automatic increase for some fines.

[4x4bassin]

Frank is bang on here . Insurance companies rate speeding tickets as minor and major , that's it . Basically any ticket below 4 points is a minor infraction to them whether it's

25km over or 1 km over . It all depends how your particular insurance company works (1 free ticket/accident) whether your rates go up but it will go against you . If it is a major

infraction you would want to get it knocked down to a minor or your rates will most certainly go up . Fighting these tickets are not all that hard if you just want to get it knocked

down a bit , just mark the right box on the ticket (they are all different) send it in and wait for your day with the prosecutor , then just show up . If you were not a total ass to the

cop (they will have his notes) the prosecutor will always cut a deal for a guilty plea . There might even be an option for out of town drivers like yourself to do it over the phone , I

know they have this option in Peel region ( at least they did 5 years ago) So anyone who thinks when a cop gives you a ticket and says "no points" and think everything is ok , just remember

your insurance company doesn't care about points (that's the MOT) they are just looking at guilty pleas on a minor or major infraction .

Good luck

[misfish]

 

 

Any guilty plea to a lesser charge will result in an increase for your auto insurance.

 

 

WRONG

 

Just got my new policy last month. Dropped $189 for the next year. Ticket I got and asked for the lessor, was 11 months ago.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Brian B

[FrankTheRabbit]

 

 

WRONG

 

Just got my new policy last month. Dropped $189 for the next year. Ticket I got and asked for the lessor, was 11 months ago.

Ok, I'm guessing it's dependent on who your insurer is and perhaps whether there is a one infraction grace rule? I was charged with running a stop light, challenged it, prosecutor proposed for me to plead guilty to a lessor charge that had no demerit points, and my insurance went up. Been a G licensed driver for 16 years and no other previous convictions either.

 

You plead guilty to any traffic violation, it's just ammunition for your auto insurer to justify a rate increase.

Edited August 1, 2015 by FrankTheRabbit

[misfish]

Ok, I'm guessing it's dependent on who your insurer is and perhaps whether there is a one infraction grace rule? I was charged with running a stop light, challenged it, prosecutor proposed for me to plead guilty to a lessor charge that had no demerit points, and my insurance went up. Been a G licensed driver for 16 years and no other previous convictions either.

 

You plead guilty to any traffic violation, it's just ammunition for your auto insurer to justify a rate increase.

 

Same company the last 15 years. Driving since I was 16. 51 now. That was my second ticket in all those years. My first was when I was 18. Funny, they pulled over 5 of us then. All doing 100 in a 80 heading into Caladon east.

[4x4bassin]

 

 

WRONG

 

Just got my new policy last month. Dropped $189 for the next year. Ticket I got and asked for the lessor, was 11 months ago.

 

I can bet it was a minor infraction , if it was a major I doubt the rates would be going down .

Get another minor in the next year or so and your rates will go up , the insurance company

now have you on watch !

[misfish]

 

I can bet it was a minor infraction , if it was a major I doubt the rates would be going down .

Get another minor in the next year or so and your rates will go up , the insurance company

now have you on watch !

 

read whole posts..

 

Speeding,20 over, knocked down. It happens all the time. Oh ya, I had a guy hit me the christmas before. Rental and all was given to me. His fault.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Brian B

[4x4bassin]

 

read whole posts..

 

Speeding,20 over, knocked down. It happens all the time. Oh ya, I had a guy hit me the christmas before. Rental and all was given to me. His fault.

 

Sorry about that Brian but I didn't see your post till after I sent that one .

Like I said , that's a minor infraction and generally would not result in an

insurance rate increase but get another one and plead guilty in the next

couple years and your rates will most likely go up . Getting a ticket knocked

down makes no difference to an insurance company unless it is at that

minor/major threshold . Oh and by the way I too have got a ticket in that exact

same spot in Caledon East

[misfish]

No worries.

 

The church? NO WAY. LOL

Edited August 1, 2015 by Brian B

[FrankTheRabbit]

 

Same company the last 15 years. Driving since I was 16. 51 now. That was my second ticket in all those years. My first was when I was 18. Funny, they pulled over 5 of us then. All doing 100 in a 80 heading into Caladon east.

Wow. Need to know who your insurer is.

 

I was with COOP, switched to AllState with lower rates. My guilty plea to a lessor charge was at least 5 years ago and my insurance with AllState worked out to be $120/mth.

[4x4bassin]

No worries.

 

The church? NO WAY. LOL

 

No , not the church . Southbound on Airport coming into town , they use to always sit there .

I should of known better , grew up in that town and knew all there hiding spots

[misfish]

 

No , not the church . Southbound on Airport coming into town , they use to always sit there .

I should of known better , grew up in that town and knew all there hiding spots

 

Seems they had the south and north covered then. I was heading north bound from Brampton. Dam those Caledon gals. LOL

[Canuck2fan]

The only truth about auto insurance in Ontario is that the system is the MOST expensive in North America. There are way too many variables to have ANY hard and fast rules on what will affect one person's rates over anothers.

 

It is a fact though that in Ontario demerit points do NOT have any bearing on your personal rating. All convictions either minor and major do.

 

So if you can not get a ticket thrown out so it results in NO conviction, or reduce it to the conviction of a minor offence from a major offence, fighting it then becomes only about getting the amount of the fine lowered... Just getting the points removed, while still having a minor conviction WILL NOT help you with your insurance company in Ontario.

 

If anyone has had different a different experience in Ontario their rates were lowered for other reasons, or the insurance company didn't run their abstract at renewal so the insurer was unaware of the conviction. If you doubt this a quick check a KNOWLEDGEABLE broker will straighten out any illusions you are under about demerit points in Ontario.

 

So to answer the OP I would fight it only if I could all but guarantee a complete acquittal of all charges.

[Acountdeleted]

I'm going through this right now. Had my gps on my phone when I was driving through Toronto, it kept telling me to turn down one way streets. At a red light I reached over to turn my phone off and got pulled over for distracted driving.

 

I have heard insurance companies love the distracted driving charge to raise your rates so I hired one of those X-police guys. I told him I would only hire for a full acquittal. He said that's fine and put in the paperwork. That was mid may and I have yet to see my court summons yet. Could take a while.

 

I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes.

[Steve]

Canuck2Fan is very correct. He is clearly knowledgeable on the subject.