First 'Major' ticket

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slantsixdan said:
As for insurance: there's nothing to be done about it. The insurance cartel in this province is criminal. We almost got public auto insurance in ON a few years ago like they have in BC, and it would've saved us a whack of money, but nooooooo, because the insurance companies launched a massive, high-dollar, successful propaganda campaign against it, even as they were pretending to be cash-starved and poverty-stricken. :roll:
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Just for the record, I'm in BC and what we have can't be any better than what you have there. We have ICBC, a Government Agency or Crown Corp, some sort of Government run hell and as criminal as it gets :munky2:

Like everyone else said, dispute it and see what happens. My son disputed a ticket years ago and the judge dropped it because the cop failed to identify him before rambling on so you never know. It can't hurt to go, other than you are admittedly guilty and thus just wasting tax payer dollars, but that's another story altogether and I live in a glass house so I best not cast any stones :-D
 
In NY, we are not allowed to pull over unless it is at least 5 mph over. 2mph for speedometer miscalibration from the factory + 2 mph the radar miscalibration + 1 mph for the speeding = 5mph. We have moving and stationary radar and stationary Lidar. We can actually go on visual estimates also because in NY, Cops are trained to be "Vehicle Speed Estimating Experts". That is probably why they will reduce one ticket every 18 months without hesitation.... But NY is all about getting money any way they can, for the cheapest way posible. Just for getting a speeding ticket here, the state charges a $55 court fee.

I hate the traffic cameras in Washington, D.C., they take your picture and send you speeding tickets in the mail... just got one last month for 51 in a 35, $100 fine.
 
i spent alot of time in my youth ... in the court house.

set it up that you are going to take it to court to fight. check the not guilty box. Wait for your paper work ... then call the prosecutor AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Now the prosecutor will ask what you want to do. Just flat out tell him that its your first big offence and are looking to get the fine reduced. (they get this every day so its not hard to talk) The prosecutor will ask what you have in mind. Tell them you want 15 over the limit. He will give you another figure to ponder. Either take the reduced fine from the prosecutor or take it to court and end up guilty anyways. Take the reduction from the prosecutor.

I always play this game with every ticket i get now, unless its the 15 over then i just pay it.

I like to play the game of getting the longest period to pay the ticket. The last ticket. I asked for 365 days to pay the $200 lol ... the judge granted it too ... 30 to 90 days is the standard figures. I just take the long stretched out time to set an example that i cant bend over and pay the government whenever they turn the disco ball on. Also shows the others sitting in the room to take a chance :) ... worst they can do is request you pay in 30 days :)
 
I'm with plumcrazy on this, set a court date, (it will probably take about a year to get a court date) and they will likely reduce the charge and points.

I did this just before christmas. I had 2 charges, 1. failure to show insurance, (insurance slip was expired). 2. 21km over I think, the officer knocked it down from 30 over, they got me in a trap where the speed limit steped down from 60 to 40. So pretty close to your deal.

Anyhow, here is how the process worked in my case (Scarborough Style)

- I went to court on the dated given, do not be late. While I was waiting around for the court room to open up, the office called out my name, I showed her my insurance slip, which was up to date this time. She was also pretty cool about it, because she walked me through the court process, she also suggested that I listen to the crown prosecuter carefully, hint, hint, nudge, nudge. I took this to mean, they're going to make you an offer, it is a good one and it's the best your going to get so take it, because our case is tight as a drum and you'll get slaughter if this goes any further.

- When you go into the court room, you will meet with the prosecutor, they either call out your name or if your lucky they don't (I'll explain why in a second)
- The prosecutor will likely make you an offer. In my case, they asked the office if they were satisfied with the insurance slip provide, she said yes, the charge was dropped. Then they asked if I would plea to a 15 over, which is a $50 dollar fine and no points. Worked for me.
- Here is the interesting part. If your name was not called, this was about a quarter of the people there, they dropped all charges. I think the officers either did not show up, or the evidence was not sufficient.
- Once the prosecutor meets with everyone, the judge came in and they started calling us up to the front of the room one by one. That where you plead guilty to the charge.
- You leave the court, pay your fine and your done. It was a nerve racking at first, but actually no big deal in the end it only took a couple hours when it was all said and done. I also noticed they had no patience for excuses, the crown just wants to get small fry like us done and over with.

Even if they don't reduce the charges, your insurance is not affected until after the conviction. It will also be off your record 5yrs after the offense date so if it takes a year to get a court date, then you only have 4yrs to go until it clears your record.

Incidently, I believe for simple cases like ours, those ticket fighting places are just playing the odds that the court will reduce the charge.

I should also mention you can meet with the prosecutor anytime before you court date to plea bargin. You'll then plea'd guilty to a justice of the peace.

Your cop must have been having a bad day. I've been pulled over twice, both times the offices recommended it go to court.
 
Laser "detectors" are nothing but ticket tellers, they don't defeat laser.

Get a passport SRX or similar laser diffusers that defeat laser.

Radar detectors are fine but you gotta be smart just as you do when using laser diffusers.
The key is to slow down when it starts going off.

Windshield mounted laser "detectors" are nothing but a waste of money.
 
slantsixdan said:
It is. Believe me, if I could get ICBC's AutoPlan here in Ontario, I would do so in a hot second!
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I have no idea how much you know about ICBC but, they're supposed to be a non-profit agency, yet they have a profit every year. The profit is "held" in trust, for lack of a better word, in case claim patterns change. Fair enough in principal but it never plays out like that. No rebates for me, 30+ years acccident free, but their execs get 6 figure bonuses in a good year
 
jrlegacy23 said:
contact your District attorney's office, in NY they will reduce a speeding ticket to a non-speeding violation, once every 18 months. Maybe Toronto is the same???
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i was just going to say that when i read your post........
 
first off get a court date , they used to offer a night court but it wasn't very often { I grew up in the beaches and spent my youth on a first name basis with the boys from 55 div lol } .
TO Cudaspaz and the others Ontario is the worst place in the world to have any radar device if they think you have a concealed device they will rip your car apart on the side of the road ,or send you to DOT { A team of goofs who have nothing better to do all day but see who can find the most minute thing wrong with your car } there was a case where the sending unit was behind the grill so they unbolted the front clip of the car at the side of the highway and took it, on top of what was a $1ooo fine at the time .
As for ICky BCy they are a little cheaper before they screw the out of province people out of their safe driving but try and get something fixed and as for a second car try paying full price for every vehicle you own no discount for multiple cars - exactly how do I drive both cars at the same time?
 
A couple of weeks ago my son appeared in court on the date as required per the ticket. The traffic officer didn't show.. case was dismissed.
 
Going in on Friday, set up a court date, hopefully all goes well. At least right now I have Fridays off so I'm not losing any pay.
 
dustermaniac is right NC is harsh but the lawyers are very good at what they do haha. I got many tickets in NC but only 2 points and countless dollars.

In virginia my first ticket was 105 in a 45, did the usual, pulled into a driveway as soon as I could slow down and waited. Police officer was really hard, my lawyer thankfully knew him on well lets say bad terms and talked to both the judge and the police officer. I got away with paying court cost, 1 year unsupervised probation, and the threat that if I did this idiot like stuff again I would serve 2 years. So in virginia I am still a good boy!
 
One of the last tickets that I got about 15 years ago. I was passing a dump truck. There was a cop off to the side of the road with a radar gun in his hand. His back was towards traffic as he was walking back to his car. He turns around and sees me passing the dump truck. He points to me and makes a motion for me to pull over. I get past the truck and pull over. I should have kept on going with all the traffic and side roads to turn down he would have never caught me.

Now here in Ontario, according to the Canada Safety Council (these are the people the police call when they are unsure of how to lay charges), there is no speed limit when passing another vehicle. So I'm pulled over and when the cop comes up to me he states that he's going to give me a ticket for 100km/h in a 80km/h zone. I asked him how he knows how fast I was going since he didn't have me on the radar gun. He tells me that he clocked the dump truck at 85km/h and since I was passing it, I had to be going faster.

I go to Pointts to see about fighting the ticket. The lady at the office told me that I don't need to use them because the officer didn't check off a box on the ticket where it states that he gave me the ticket. She told me all I have to do is go down to the courthouse and tell the Justice of the Peace and the ticket would be dismissed. I head to the courthouse and show the J.P. The lady there tells me the ticket will be tossed but I have to go see the Judge. She gives me a date for traffic court.

The day comes and I'm in front of the judge stating why it should be tossed. The judge looks at me and says, "I don't care what the law or anyone else says. You're guilty!" I guess he doesn't like guys with long hair wearing leather jackets. :dontknow: Then he makes the mistake of asking me if I have anything to say. Do I?? I tell him in a very loud and pissed off voice, "Maybe YOU and the Justice of the Peace should get your acts together as not to waste my damn time or the courts time!" The judge just sat there with steam rolling out of his ears for a couple seconds and then told me I should leave.

Since then I've got no belief in any justice system. Especially when I see what's happening on the 6 o'clock news.


Wylde1.
 
I have a "legal Service" for a rather small monthly fee and it has really helped with my Wife's habit of getting caught speeding. In Michigan the ticket has three boxes to check, 1- not guilty (go to court & lose, get points and a fine), 2 - guilty (get points and a fine) 3- guilty but with a reason (get points and a fine). What a lawer does for me is he gets to go in the back door and talk to the prosecutor( I would need to wait unitl we are in front of a judge to do this), then he makes the best deal he can for me. It's usually no points but I still need to pay, which is tolerable - this saves on insurance in the short and long term.

So I always recomend people look into these legal services. Always go into court with a lawyer, it's not cheap but you need to play the game. It's just another system to take money, so play the game, pay the lawyers (the judge is a lawyer) and try to keep your record as clean as possible so the insurance companies don't find out.
 
71DDSwinger said:
Even if they don't reduce the charges, your insurance is not affected until after the conviction. It will also be off your record 5yrs after the offense date so if it takes a year to get a court date, then you only have 4yrs to go until it clears your record.
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i have been told that the ticket is off your insurance record after 3 years, 4 if points are involved... well thats my insurance company
 
Got caught 72 in in a 55 in my old valiant by a trooper, I had just had knee surgery, so I had medication in the front seat, The bottle had my name and all, but still the trooperacted he had caught a dealer or something. He tells me to get out of the car, I start pulling out a cruch to walk with, he grabs a gun and says to drop it so I say WAIT I DROP THE CRUCH I HIT THE GROUND, He finally settles down Starts to write the ticket. Here in Kentucky you can plead down the charge if you have a clean record. I go to the local court house and talk to the judge and get it amended to improper equipment 25.00 fine 82.00 court cost 107.00 and no point's. to be honest when he pulled the gun I nearly crapped my pant's
 
Thats one thing I have noticed when driving in the States compared to Home, The troopers always have the hand on or near their gun, in Canada not so much.
 
CudaNut said:
A couple of weeks ago my son appeared in court on the date as required per the ticket. The traffic officer didn't show.. case was dismissed.
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My dad went to court on time and the officer wasn't there so they moved the court date. They never told him when it was and slapped him with another fee for missing. CA sucks.
In 2011 they are practically killing diesels for no reason. Well a reason without good evidence.
 
if the cop doesn't show, charges are usually dropped. hard part is 12months later remembering what they looked like now that they are out of uniform! They usually don't come into the courtroom til the very last minute, if they are there. Done both scenarios.
 
In Michigan, we're allowed to choose if we would like a formal trial in front of the judge, or an informal trial in front of a magistrate.

Most of the time an officer will show for the formal trial because of a state/county mandate. However, I don't believe it applies to informal trials. It's worked for me and a few friends, but I have never gotten out of the formal trial by not having the officer show up.
 
My Dad got out of a ticket in an old chrysler once by popping the hood while hopping out of the car. When the officer got behind the car (had to catch up), he dropped the hammer and acted like the accelerator peddle stuck and he couldn't slow down. It worked too.
 
Good stuff, just went to court this morning. They dropped it down to a 65km/h in a 50. 15k over, no points and a $45 fine. WAAAYYY better than the 4 points and $226. It pays to just show up. And I'm only working 4 days a week so it didn't even cost me pay.
 
Rob said:
I have no idea how much you know about ICBC but, they're supposed to be a non-profit agency, yet they have a profit every year. The profit is "held" in trust, for lack of a better word, in case claim patterns change. Fair enough in principal but it never plays out like that. No rebates for me, 30+ years acccident free, but their execs get 6 figure bonuses in a good year
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Yup and now with the huge debt produced by the olympics,Gord Campell and his criminal cronies will suck all the "extra" money out of ICBC to pay down the debt. ICBC will plead that thier broke and rates will go up again. Or private insurance will be introduced as an alternative.Either way it's gonna get worse here for car insurance.
 
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