Ontario Traffic Ticket Options

There are two types of tickets you can receive in Ontario, Canada and three to four options to choose from once you have received a traffic violation ticket. There is the “Part I” ticket and the “Part III” ticket which simply determine the relevant section of Provincial Offenses Act under which they were issued.

The first step is to know what you are being charged with and their consequences. For example a speeding ticket for zero to 49 km over the speed limit will be issued a Part I Offence Notice which contains an ‘out of court fine amount’. A speeding ticket for 50 km or more over the speed limit will severely affect your insurance rates by thousands of dollars every year.

The choice a person who receives a traffic ticket has is limited to three or four possibilities. The first possibility is to pay the ticket might either sending in the correct amounts to the address listed on the front or back of the ticket, or by showing up to be Provincial Offenses Office court to pay the fine in person. They will accept checks, cash, ATM debit cards in addition to Visa and MasterCard.

The next possible choice when confronted with a traffic ticket is to plead guilty with an explanation for what's called a walk in guilty plea. With this option you are accepting the exact charge you have been dealt. The Justice of the Peace can find you guilty of the charges and giving an extension on the time you need to pay the fine. The Justice of the Peace cannot however reduce the charges or the points or throw out the charges if you have been found not guilty.

The third option is a trial option and begins with filing a notice of appearance or an ‘intent to appear’ form at the Provincial Offenses Court in Ontario. This form will then be forwarded to the jurisdiction in which the ticket was received in order for trial to be set.

The final option, although not always available in all jurisdictions, gives someone the option of entering a first attendance meeting with the prosecutor to discuss your case. The investigating officer should not be in attendance at this meeting. The prosecutor will then consider all the circumstances surrounding your case, your ability to pay the fine and prior your driving record.

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