So just today, I got a speeding ticket down at Highway 7 and Westney (Pickering area) I was driving my 2008 Acura CSX. The cop stated I was doing a 125km/h on a 80km/h posted speed limit area. I find that they are completely accusing me of this since I was exiting a corner on wet roads and it was a fully loaded lane (Meaning there was like 6-7 cars cruising really close to each other).

Plus they clocked my speed at over 500-600m away by the time I even noticed, they gave me a flat number which obviously shows that they just randomly assumed the number.

All I did was just pass a person on the passing lane who was going around 70-75 since I was in a rush to get to class. I didn't check my speedo, but I don't think I was speeding in any way...

So my ticket is $235 and 4 demerit points. I still have my G2 license since the drivers are still on strike. I can't justify having 4 d-points on my belt especially since my insurance is going off the roof.

I have a clear record before this incident...
I don't have anything against the police, as he was polite and not stuck up like all the other cops, I just can't deal with this ticket, I'm a full time student barely having enough money to eat lunch.

I've decided to take this up on court... I just want some advice since this is my first time in court.

RX7CLUB HELP ME OUT! It will be greatly appreciated
Sorry for the long post, this was kind of a place to let me blow off some steam and explain this situation.

 

waiting for charn to chime in........

 

go fight it in court, doubt you'll lose

 

It's honestly just the demerit points where I'm afraid of, the insurance price going off the roof! $235 is still a huge huge huge dent to my wallet but I can work that price off by saving up over time.

 

yes, if you go fight in court and win, you don't lose any points

 

You mean gain, demerit points are accumulated through driving penalties.

Always fight something like this, maybe consider ex-copper or such?!?

 

I contacted X-Copper about this, and I was just wondering if X-Copper is any good?
Any opinions, past assistance from them?

Any one know how I can ask for full disclosure on that the police recorded on that date?
Thanks!

 

You ask for it when you submit your ticket or call I believe, it's been a while but I think it s $10, but well worth it in my opinion.

 

Firstly you need to understand exactly what and why you need to dispute the allegations.

Insurance rates can rise simply because of a conviction, demerit points are irrelevant from an insurance rate perspective. Demerit points are for use by the ministry of transportation.

Step 1 is to sit and write down everything you can remember about the event. You will forget details over time.

Step 2 is to go to a courthouse and file for a trial date. (Despite what it says on the ticket you can go to any POA courthouse within the first 15 days)

Step 3 is to wait for the trial date to arrive in the mail.

Step 4 is to post on the forum when you receive the trial date and you will get further instructions.

You'll ask for disclosure once you get a trial date. I will give you a precedent letter to use for the request. You do not have to pay for disclosure, the crown is obligated to provide it to you.

I'll be happy to guide you through the next steps if you are comfortable doing all the leg work. To educate yourself you can read through many online sites that provide a fountain of information.

If you are looking to hire someone, interview a couple of places and I definitely wouldn't suggest X-copper. X-Copper declared bankruptcy a couple of years ago stiffing many hundreds of clients along the way. The law society had to step in and manage their office for a long period of time. They are under partially new management now but I still wouldn't recommend them.

Good luck

 

Wow, thanks ScrappyDoo I already wrote down everything, more or less what I wrote on this forum is what I can remember, I'll jot down some more finer details.

I just want to clarify, so I can go to any courthouse? and I can request the trail to be taken there? because there is a courthouse just a few blocks away from my house where I can even walk there and I definitely don't want to go all the way to Whitby for trial.

Not to be noob or anything since this is the first time this has happened to me,

What's a POA and Precedent letter? (Tried googling before asking)

Thanks! I'll keep this forum updated.

I would also just like to add, if I can't get rid of this 4d-points I'd never be able to afford driving my FD again!

 

You can request the trial date at any location but the actual trial will be held in the jurisdiction where the allegations took place.

POA = Provincial Offenses Act
Precedent letter = a letter previously written for the same purpose that you can simply input your information and recycle.


You still aren't understanding. A conviction is separate and apart from the demerit points system. The points can result in you losing your license with the Ministry but the conviction is what will increase your insurance rates.

Anyhow, follow the steps if you so chose and I'll assist as I can.

 

You really seem to know your stuff.

Good to know RX7club is awesome.
I'll first do the 4 things you said and I'll update the forums.

 

thats why Charn is the man goodluck!!

 

Agreed.

 

I think Scrappy practices some silly thing known as law. I should hope he knows what he's doing. He's handy to have around.

At the very least you can probably fight it down to a lower offense. I would suggest collecting a short video of the location at the same time and on the same day that the ticket was issued to you. Like any Monday at 4:30pm is going to have similar traffic patterns, so you may be able to show how hard it would be for you to attain the speed claimed on the ticket given the traffic conditions. Follow Scrappy's advice before mine though, I just drive a truck.

Good luck.

 

I have not had any success in fighting my own tickets, but have used x-copper. They basically negotiated a lesser charge. In terms of $ the money I spent for X-copper, and the lesser charge cost me more money then the original ticket.

This was a long time ago ( 10yrs ) mind you, and perhaps had I known a few of the things that Scrappy knows I might have been more successful

If I were you I would follow Scrappy's advice.

 

Scrappy is my buddy and owes me a beer...

 

I contacted X-Copper and them, but I guess I'll follow ScrappyDoo first since I'm horrendously low on cash.

 

You should let someone who takes care of these things handle this for you. If you go to court yourself, you need to know how to defend yourself and say the right things. It's better to spend a little bit of money and make sure it gets completely deleted off your record, then to lose and have it on your record making your insurance go up crazily.

I myself have had 3 tickets completely wiped.

1) Careless Driving - this happened when I was driving my old diesel jetta and had a little too much fun when summer came after driving it all winter. Basically took a corner too fast and hit a wall. However, this was in a secluded area and there really wasn't any accident. Just someone called 911 because they thought i got hurt. Anyway when cop came he gave me to ticket because I did something dumb but it didn't really happen on public roads and this offense didn't apply.

The damage... http://thewirdsdomain.com/thewirds_jetta.jpg

2) Unnecessary Noise - 3 weeks after I bought the rx-7 got pulled over and got the ticket. The car came with a giant 4.5" exhaust. I don't blame them.

3) Speeding 138 km/h 401 - Regular driving with the flow of traffic, dumb speed limits, I still drive 100-140 km/h depending on traffic and weather conditions.

Took all these tickets to court and won but I had someone who deals with these things for a living take care of it. To this day my insurance continues to drop and is at $1,800 /year living in TO. I doubt it would have been like that if any of these tickets had stayed.

Sometimes when you fight the ticket yourself, the judge may remove the points and reduce your fine but the conviction still stays on your record AND will affects your insurance. You want it completely removed, not reduced.

thewird

 

thewird, who did you contact or recommend for these cases? I honestly need the conviction removed, I'm still young (18) and G2 License. My insurance premium will skyrocket if I have a conviction.

How did you get rid of the ticket where you were going 138km/h on the 401? I'm gonna go set a court date on Monday.

It was because I got a lot of people telling me that those "traffic lawyers" don't really help. But hearing from you, it seems like it does help a lot.

 

Google maps street view to the rescue...

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&...18.06,,0,14.65

thewird

 

Nice find. I contacted OTT Legal as well, (Yes I'm quite desperate for a reputable traffic ticket fighter) I guess I'll give that place a call too.

 

Whom ever you hire is going to be doing exactly what I told you to do initially.

Your trial date will be many moons from now. You have plenty of time to save if you want to hire someone. If you set aside $50 a month you may even have enough money to hire a lawyer to do it rather than a paralegal.

There have been occasions when I have filed for a trial date and it NEVER comes. In that situation you would have paid zilch and not been convicted.

The expertise comes into play once you have received your initial disclosure. Until then save your pennies calm down and take it easy.

 

You're right. But a court in a place such as Whitby, there might not have a large volume of people taking tickets on trial, so I don't think they'll have a problem giving me a place in court.

Although I do hope for the best situation possible, paying zilch and not being convicted.

I want to also be prepared for the worst situation possible.

But before all others, I must go get a trial date, which I'm going to tomorrow.

Plus if I get a trial date, will the officer who gave me the ticket be notified? Since I kinda want to prolong the time he realizes so his memory is a bit more blurry. Maybe it is quite a stupid thing to pull, but I'm really quite paranoid about this ticket being my first ticket, and the consequence of not being able to drive anymore until the record has been cleared.

I really appreciate all the help I've been getting, thanks guys!

 

Yes, you should do as Charn says and file that you want to fight the charge. You can decide later if you want someone to fight it for you or not. The trials dates are usually quite in the future and you get a letter in the mail telling you when it is. If the cop doesn't show up its a free win for you. Another thing is you should never make yourself stick out or upset the cop so he won't remember you hehe.

thewird