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need help with a speeding ticket

So driving back from beachclub montreal I get a speeding ticket in cobourg/clarington going 142 in a 100 zone. Its a $317 ticket with 4 points that will stay on my record for 2 years according to the officer.

Is there anything I can do other than accept it? Anyone think I should fight it? I think I will on my day off on thurday. Its my very first ticket other than parking tickets in 8 years of driving. I was about 60km away from ajax where there was a higher volume of traffic and most likely a better chance of not being caught, although I wouldn't be doing 140 with higher volume.

Turns out I hit early moring rush hour traffic from ajax ALL the way to etobicoke. So really, if I was doing 120-130 from cobourg to etobicoke, it probably would have taken me an extra 30mins.

What do you guys think I should do? And please, I know I should have been speeding. No disappointing dad responses.


Btw the power is out in my house, and I'm typing this on my berry. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.

I'm not here to lecture you on speeding in general, but just so you know, your chances of getting busted go up exponentially for every 10 kph after 120. At 130, you'll probably get a ticket if you sustain that speed over a long distance; at 140, you'll almost definitely get one; and at 150 or higher, it's a criminal offense now and you know the rest.

If it's your very first ticket, I would just try to talk to the justice of the peace, who will usually drop it down to an "affordable" fine with no points. Still goes on your record, but (Moral Hazard/ChemEnhanced correct me if I'm wrong) your insurance company will usually ignore a conviction if it's your first and it's not "serious".

You can try to fight it, but your only hope would be for the officer not to show up on the trial date. If he does, there's no way you're getting off with a ticket that high. And it would suck to drive all the way down there for nothing.

Oh, and don't bother with X-Copper or any of those agencies, they won't do shit for you.

be a man and accept your punishment.....I honestly can't stand people who can't accept when they are in the wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut Still goes on your record, but (Moral Hazard/ChemEnhanced correct me if I'm wrong) your insurance company will usually ignore a conviction if it's your first and it's not "serious".

If the insurance company runs a check at renewal then most likely your rates will go up....you are considered a higher risk if you have a speeding ticket....doesn't matter how fast you were going. Not all insurance companies will run a check every renewal....it may be two years before they run a check.

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced If the insurance company runs a check at renewal then most likely your rates will go up....you are considered a higher risk if you have a speeding ticket....doesn't matter how fast you were going. Not all insurance companies will run a check every renewal....it may be two years before they run a check.

My renewal was just this month that passed. So I dunno who when they will do another check.

quote:

be a man and accept your punishment.....I honestly can't stand people who can't accept when they are in the wrong.

I'm going to anything and everything I can to myself out of this situation. Yes I know I could be wrong but if there is another way to to get out or have a lesser punishment I'd like to take that route. If you don't ask you won't get. I will only accept blame until this situation is over.

Given that its your first offence I would plead guilty with an explanation ...

That way you only have to drive up once ... If u make a court date you will have to drive up twice (once to make the trial date and for the trial itself) and lose 2 days because of the ticket. If you plead guilty with an explanation they will reduce the fine and points that you lose, which is what they would do in court anyways. You have an outside chance that the cop will not show up, but the chances of a cop not showing up are better with GTA cops as opposed to those hick booney-ville cops (with nothing better to do).

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced be a man and accept your punishment.....I honestly can't stand people who can't accept when they are in the wrong.

fuck that noise. lazy cops that dont show up to court dates for the motherfucking win. ive lucked out on that several times haha.

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced be a man and accept your punishment.....I honestly can't stand people who can't accept when they are in the wrong.

If it was running a red light or something then I would agree, but everyone knows that the posted speed limits on 400-series highways are far too low; they are determined by politicians and not traffic engineers. And in fact they used to be higher (120 I think), but they were lowered ostensibly to prevent certain types of collisions, which not surprisingly, still happen with about the same frequency.

Obviously 140+ is not a very safe cruising speed regardless of speed limit, but take it in perspective - the severity of the punishment is not really proportional to the seriousness of the "crime".

quote:

If the insurance company runs a check at renewal then most likely your rates will go up....you are considered a higher risk if you have a speeding ticket....doesn't matter how fast you were going. Not all insurance companies will run a check every renewal....it may be two years before they run a check.

Good to know. I have no tickets on record, but I remember asking my broker a few years ago and he said that one conviction might result in a very slight increase in rates, but not much. I guess policies have changed, or maybe different insurance companies have different policies.

Re: need help with a speeding ticket

quote:

Originally posted by Dior Homme Turns out I hit early moring rush hour traffic from ajax ALL the way to etobicoke. So really, if I was doing 120-130 from cobourg to etobicoke, it probably would have taken me an extra 30mins.

Considering Cobourg is only about 130km from Etobicoke, you would only have saved around 15-20 minutes if you had been able to drive 140 instead of 120. Was 20 minutes worth $317, plus insurance rate increases?

Now consider that you hit rush-hour traffic... You would have saved 5-10 minutes, if that. Which means that the amount of time you spent waiting for that cop to write you a ticket probably took longer than the amount of time you would have saved driving 140 instead of 120km/h all the way from Cobourg to Etobicoke.

That's an expensive time-saver my friend.

In the future, do not exceed 130 km/h, and you'll probably never be pulled over.

ive seen this speedtrap on my GPS many times and seen the cops 50% of the time.

I dont know what you should do ... pleeding mercy might help.

Everytime I've fought a ticket and the cop has shown up, I've managed a significant reduction in the fine, in addition to removal of points.

I say fight it...

ps...Dont worry, I totally comprehend the logic in shaving 30 minutes off a loooong drive after a full day of partying...

It was bumper to bumper from scarborough to etobicoke. So from cobourg to scarborough I wouldn't of been doing 140 obviously. From from that 60km stretch I could have done 130 and might have been fine. Aside from this situation I still think the 100km speed limit is too slow, but that's another story. In retrospect yes I probably shouldn't of been doing 140 but I'm not anywhere near being a dangerous or terrible driver. I am very aware of the cars on the road and I always analyze other drivers driving patterns.

Obviously looking back I wouldn't have done it but then again I don't have a crystal ball to tell me what I shouldn't be doing.

First off, the police officer will show up. It is part of his job and if he is summoned, which he most likely will, he has a legal obligation to attend to court. So hoping the officer doesn't show quite frankly is futile.

However, if you choose to fight the ticket, you most likely will not receive a court date until about 8-10 months from now and the conviction will not appear on your record until you are in fact convicted. So that 2 years is now 14 months. But another thing you should keep in mind, is that I'm pretty sure that insurance companies can look at your abstract and see any convictions, for the previous THREE years. Once again Moral Hazard et al. will be able to clarify that.

Either way dude, you were driving way too fast. Sucks balls, I know, but 42 over is pretty damn fast.

quote:

Originally posted by Dior Homme Obviously looking back I wouldn't have done it but then again I don't have a crystal ball to tell me what I shouldn't be doing.

it's called "having a conscience" or knowing what's right or wrong

quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew it's called "having a conscience" or knowing what's right or wrong

Thanks, please also tell me you obey every rule and regulation in this world. Do you ever do 110km on the highway? Because that is still speeding. So judging by you description of a conscience you would be found guilty. Finding a toonie on the ground and picking it up with no one around in sight is still wrong but I'm sure you or anyone else still will claim it. I am in no way shape or form a dangerous or wreckless driver. I got caught in an unfortunate situation and yes I may have to pay a penalty but that is okay with me. I would like to have the charges at least lowered.

get a paralegal and fight it.
if u need one pm me, this guy has been great to me throughout the years, i've gotten a ticket at wasaga many years ago and for a little extra he drove there for me and had it reduced to maybe 10-15 over..

he will charge you though 250 maybe 300 bucks maybe a little more but you can be sure he will have it reduced to no points most likely which is the biggest issue here..

whoever thinks 142 is fast those people can eat a dick
the whole speeding ticket system is the biggest fucking scam in the world, probably worse than parking tickets.
speed limit on a highway should be at least 120km/h but they know if they change that then there will be no more revenue coming in from these "traffic violations" which is fucking bullshit imo.
there are certain times where you have to go slow, (more cars on the road you slow down, no cars on the road and you driving from mtl you should be able to drive faster) basically common sense should be present according to the road/traffic conditions.

quote:

Originally posted by geroin speed limit on a highway should be at least 120km/h but they know if they change that then there will be no more revenue coming in from these "traffic violations" which is fucking bullshit imo.

so true

cars shouldn't be physically able to do more than 100km/h if there aren't any roads on this continent that allow you to drive faster. What's the point? It's like making guns and ammo available to everyone but telling them they aren't allowed to use them.

lol, some of you guys are on this guy like he killed someone. Whatever, he went 140+.. what a criminal.

Ok, you should *always* request a trial - about 3-4 weeks before your court date you should also send registered mail to the provincial prosecutor (addressed @ your court house) requesting full disclosure (officers training, writing on front/back of ticket, radar unit involved, last time it was calibrated (if not laser), etc). Apparently they now have forms available for this at the courthouse...it's been 5+ years since I had to bother with this but there was a time where I was a regular, lol.

I first learned about this stuff on a site called fyst - www.magma.ca/~fyst - but it seems to be down/gone. Perhaps there is a mirror out there - a google search gave me some relevant threads for you.

For me, there have been times where the cop showed up but didn't provide the info I requested and thus didn't want to testify - I was off. Another time he didn't provide it, and instead I got another court date 5 months later (aka 9 months after the ticket). Other times I received the info, didn't want to bother with a trial, and just went for 15 over.

FYI - demerit points stay on your record 2 years from infraction date. Insurance is 3 years from conviction date. (as far as I recall)

Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by Swamper FYI - demerit points stay on your record 2 years from infraction date. Insurance is 3 years from conviction date. (as far as I recall) Good luck

i think it's both conviction date.. first is 2 second is 3

and the website:

http://web.archive.org/web/20071028...magma.ca/~fyst/




it makes me sick how people accept the system here, you speed you get pulled over, fine you "broke" the law, pay the ticket and go on your way, but no you get fucked twice for making one mistake, not only you've got a fine to pay but then you end up paying thousands of dollars to insurance for 3 years because now they deem you an unsafe driver which basically forces people to hire lawyers/paralegals to avoid these insane fines which now creates another industry that we feed which is paralegals (hilarious really), insurance should worry about the actual car accident claims and who is at fault instead of looking at demerit points. Absolute scammers.



btw great quote from the website:

"Deliberately setting the speed limit too low, and then sending out cops to sneak behind motorists is highway robbery disguised as traffic safety enforcement... [in a traffic court] the robber is the plaintiff and the victim is the accused..."

"Breaking the laws of speed limit doesn't kill, breaking the laws of physics does."

quote:

Originally posted by Dior Homme Thanks, please also tell me you obey every rule and regulation in this world. Do you ever do 110km on the highway? Because that is still speeding. So judging by you description of a conscience you would be found guilty. Finding a toonie on the ground and picking it up with no one around in sight is still wrong but I'm sure you or anyone else still will claim it. I am in no way shape or form a dangerous or wreckless driver. I got caught in an unfortunate situation and yes I may have to pay a penalty but that is okay with me. I would like to have the charges at least lowered.

I'm sure most people do those things...the difference is some people can't accept the consequences of their actions and others can. If you can't accept the consequences of your actions then it tells alot about you as person.

quote:

Originally posted by Dior Homme Thanks, please also tell me you obey every rule and regulation in this world. Do you ever do 110km on the highway? Because that is still speeding. So judging by you description of a conscience you would be found guilty. Finding a toonie on the ground and picking it up with no one around in sight is still wrong but I'm sure you or anyone else still will claim it. I am in no way shape or form a dangerous or wreckless driver. I got caught in an unfortunate situation and yes I may have to pay a penalty but that is okay with me. I would like to have the charges at least lowered.

woah dude judging by a paragraph explanation I hit a soft spot
FYI I wasn't judging, just merely pointing out, so chill!

and there's nothing wrong with picking up money from the ground, what planet are you from?

quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew woah dude judging by a paragraph explanation I hit a soft spot FYI I wasn't judging, just merely pointing out, so chill! and there's nothing wrong with picking up money from the ground, what planet are you from?

Finders keepers losers weepers

quote:

Originally posted by Swamper Ok, you should *always* request a trial - about 3-4 weeks before your court date you should also send registered mail to the provincial prosecutor (addressed @ your court house) requesting full disclosure (officers training, writing on front/back of ticket, radar unit involved, last time it was calibrated (if not laser), etc). Apparently they now have forms available for this at the courthouse...it's been 5+ years since I had to bother with this but there was a time where I was a regular, lol. ... For me, there have been times where the cop showed up but didn't provide the info I requested and thus didn't want to testify - I was off. Another time he didn't provide it, and instead I got another court date 5 months later (aka 9 months after the ticket). Other times I received the info, didn't want to bother with a trial, and just went for 15 over.

THIS

1. Always request court date, for any ticket.
2. 2-3 weeks before the date, request full disclosure via registered mail.
3. If no documents provided to you, file a motion to dismiss the case (since they have no evidence presented to you).
4. If you have evidence presented to you, you still have a chance that a police officer doesn't show up.
5. Even if he does show up, you still have a chance to talk to the person in court and get the fine significantly reduced (i.e. no points, lower amount, different charge).
6. If the duration of time between when you got your ticket and the court date is more than a year, you can always try to request a dismissal since this violates the whole "speedy trial" thing.

All of the above I got off of Google a while ago.

I recently had my first ticket. Making a left turn off of King st during rush hour where it's prohibited Mon-Fri, 5-7 or some other such bullshit. The cop was just pulling over everyone and writing out mad amount of tickets. Funny enough, next day, no cop, everyone that lives or goes shopping on that street still does the same thing... What a cash generator. $110 and 2 demerit points for making a turn at 5PM. wow.

Furthermore...

1. Never talk to a cop beyond "How can I help you officer". Any questions such as "Did you see the sign?" or "Do you know how fast you were going?" should be answered with: "Officer, can you tell me the reason I was pulled over? How can I help you at this time?"

2. ANY STATEMENT YOU MAKE (such as "I did see the sign" or "I was going only 115") already make you guilty - and you bet your ass the cop will tell about your ADMISSION OF GUILT in court!!!

3. When actually in court, try to get the fine (such as speeding) reduced to a city by-law violation with no points and exactly the same $$ payable to the city. You see, an HTA violation such as a speeding ticket, assuming you're convicted, goes on your record. That conviction affects your insurance rates. However, a city by-law violation does not go on your record.

4. It is also highly recommended to change your court date anyway because it might increase the chance that the police officer will not show up.

Point 3 I'm not 100% sure on - it's what some forums gave me on Google.

quote:

Originally posted by geroin whoever thinks 142 is fast those people can eat a dick the whole speeding ticket system is the biggest fucking scam in the world, probably worse than parking tickets. speed limit on a highway should be at least 120km/h but they know if they change that then there will be no more revenue coming in from these "traffic violations" which is fucking bullshit imo. there are certain times where you have to go slow, (more cars on the road you slow down, no cars on the road and you driving from mtl you should be able to drive faster) basically common sense should be present according to the road/traffic conditions.

one million times yes yes yes...

I was under the impression that the limits were dropped during the fuel embargo to save on consumption...

And that was 35 years ago!!!

Speeding tickets are a pure cash cow...

quote:

Originally posted by geroin whoever thinks 142 is fast those people can eat a dick the whole speeding ticket system is the biggest fucking scam in the world, probably worse than parking tickets. speed limit on a highway should be at least 120km/h but they know if they change that then there will be no more revenue coming in from these "traffic violations" which is fucking bullshit imo. there are certain times where you have to go slow, (more cars on the road you slow down, no cars on the road and you driving from mtl you should be able to drive faster) basically common sense should be present according to the road/traffic conditions.

YEY what he said.

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