Need Help with speeding ticket

[mk316]

Guys I got a court date for March 11 for a ticket I got March 10 last year. I got a ticket of $67 for doing 69km/h on a 50km/h street. This occured on Pharmacy avenue just north of lawrence on the downhill section as you're going northbound.

Does anyone have any experience with tickets to help me out. Should I go myself or send in one of those paralegal companies. I hear the prosecutors always want to bargain some cases before court. Mine is a pretty small speeding offence and is also my first one but still nervous obviously since this will result in 3 demerit points if convicted.

[voyager6868]

One thing that seems obvious to me is that it will have been over 12 months between the date of the offense and your court date.

"McCarter was referring to the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in 1992 that eight to 10 months was a reasonable wait for cases to go to trial, which resulted in 50,000 criminal charges being dropped."

Now this Supreme Court ruling *may have* only applied to criminal trials, not traffic court. But you could still try to make the argument that waiting over a year is simply unreasonable, based on this 1992 ruling, and have the charges dropped.

[voyager6868]

Actually I was reading a bit more, and probably since your case isn't a criminal one, the delay argument won't work. The main reason for throwing out a case for an unreasonable delay is because of the stigma associated with being accused of a crime. In this case, I don't think you could argue that you have a reputation to protect after being given a ticket for speeding

[TrevorK]

You were speeding, so suck it up and pay the ticket.

Be a man.

[chivalryx]

You were speeding, so suck it up and pay the ticket.

Be a man.

Either that, or if the traffic laws are the same there as in the GVRD, if the traffic cop doesn't show up to contest your complaint, the charge gets thrown out. Happens a lot too since cops usually have better things to do than go to court for small things like this.

[Rosico]

You were speeding, so suck it up and pay the ticket.

Be a man.

Wow, I bet nobody here has ever gone past the speed limit here! lol.

Get a paralegal's opinion. Then do a cost/benefit analysis on thier costs vs. the cost of your rising insurance. You will likely find out that it is cheaper to fight the ticket with their assistance. My advice is to protect your record!

[gostinger]

I've been to court for a seatbelt ticket and while there many people were caught by the same officer on Pharmacy for speeding and everyone seemed to be able to plead guilty to a lesser charge , one woman was even going over 70 km in 50 zone (school) my ticket for the seatbelt though seemed like i was on a murderous rampage in comparison.You'll be fine in court so it seems, to get it reduced.As for me though i guess due to the fact i may have become a human missile after a collision and may injure someone else or even kill them while in fact I and others can speed around like maniacs and take the chance that we just might get it reduced.

By the way they will show up for court...the whole docket is theirs and they will be reemed

[rookie]

Just pay it and quit wasting tax money already!

[Cheap Dave]

I agree with others here. I got caught doing 120 in an 80. The tag was like $265 or something. This was my first ticket and I was scared sh*tless. In the end, I listened to the "just pay it and get it over with" plan and all worked out fine. I lost a few points, but got them back a couple years ago.

Just get it over with and try to take it easy on the lead foot.

[SUPERMAN-01]

fight the ticket.
set a date and make the officer go.
they usually dont since it such a small matter.
but if they do just pay it and get it over with. they uisually lower the ticket as well ifu talk to them

[mattwing]

Points not used by the insurace industry. They are only used by the goverenment for establishing mandatory suspensions.

When applying for new insurance they ask how may minor tickets and how many major tickets do you have. You already have a minor ticket, pleading guilty to another offence is the same for insurance purposes, even if it is less points. Look at ay of the websites regarding insurance quotes (kanetix.com for example) they will ask for tickets excluding parking tickets, without ever mentioning points.

Pleading to a lesser offence only helps if you plead a major into a minor, for example reckless driving to into a following to close charge.

Paralegals/Ex-cop companies specializing in traffic tickets often charge only if they win, but they considered having you pleading guilty to a lesser charge as a successful defence. Like I said at the start that is only helpful to you if you have a charge for a major offence. If you have a minor charge, I would get them to represent me only if they totally got me off.

[Canadianpsycho]

Just pay it and quit wasting tax money already!

Like it will stop them from raising taxes regardless.


Best option: Set a court date. Either the cop doesn't show up (highly unlikely nowadays) and you get out of the ticket, or you can go to the prosecutor, and he'll offer you a lower charge (15 over) which is no points and like 40 bucks. If you're a student or whatever, let them know you don't have much money, they'll possibly drop the fine a bit, or at the very least give you even longer to pay it (just dont forget )

I've been ticketed 6-7 times for speeding. Points and X-copper are useless. Especially for a 70 dollar ticket.

[bargain shopper]

I'm not sure why everyone keeps telling you to suck it up and pay, please who hasn't ever gotten a ticket. I think the least you should do is get a price quote from a few ticket fighters. "Ontario Traffic tickets" will pay your fine if you don't win, I hear "ticket advocates" will not charge you anything if they don't win, that means the most you can lose is $67.00, the cost of your ticket. And these 2 places, WIN means 100% discharge, not a lesser offence or reduced points. Go look up in the phone book or internet, "paralegals", there should be tonnes. You don't even actaully have to go in to talk to them, just fax them ur ticket and they can give you a quote.

Hope all goes well for you.

[jm1]

All you'll ever need to know (although it has a bias towards fighting vs. just paying it and don't worry about it):

http://www.magma.ca/~fyst/

[D-3vil]

Since the court date is scheduled more than a year after the offense date, all you have to do is fill out a form (forgot the name of it, but info is available on the net as far as I know) and you're off... the charge will be dropped!

Sorry for the bold, but I know personally that this is true... I personally know worked for various traffic and criminal offenses (from speeding tickets to reckless driving) -- no, it wasn't me who was charged.

If you're unsure about what you need to do, contact an agent. He will charge you a fee, but your record will remain untainted.