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need help with a speeding ticket
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| Dior Homme |
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. |
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| DigiNut |
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 for you. |
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| ChemEnhanced |
| be a man and accept your punishment.....I honestly can't stand people who can't accept when they are in the wrong. |
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| ChemEnhanced |
| 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".
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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. |
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| Dior Homme |
| 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. |
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| Special K |
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). |
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| Special K |
| 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. |
that noise. lazy cops that dont show up to court dates for the mothering win. ive lucked out on that several times haha.
:disbelief |
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| DigiNut |
| 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. |
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| Spam |
| 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. |
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| E2EK1EL |
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. |
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| 1dawoman |
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... |
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| Dior Homme |
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. |
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