I received a ticket for speeding 40km/h over, I asked for mercy. He reduced to 15 km/h, which is still a conviction but no demerit points. I have 2 convictions already, This third one will kik me off my belair insurance and will make me go to facility association insurance company. I cannot afford to pay that type of insurance, its double close to triple what i pay now.

what are some good options?

facts:
-I confessed to the officer i was speeding.
- Officer wrote "r" for reduced on ticket and warned me if i fight he will bring up the original speed i was going at
-My other 2 tickets are speeding 10km/h over and 15 km/h over, no demerit points.
-Belairdirect will not insure me if i have 3 convictions.

Options i have come up with:
fighting the ticket, gets me 6-10 months (newmarket ticket) of insurance until convicted guilty. BUT i am worried that when i ask for my disclosure there wont be anything i can argue against the officer and the original speed limit will be my conviction.
paying the ticket, and somehow getting someone else to insure my car. very hard to accomplish.

I also called ticket solutions 1800 number and the lady told me honesstly the odds of my already reduced ticket getting thrown out or winning at trial are slim . but if i do want to fight the ticket to postpone the conviction on my record, they will help me by making sure the original reduced fine and speed limit stays as my conviction. thats for the price of $250

Questions:
if i fight ticket what do i have to do to make sure my original speed is not what i get convicted of?(i dont want to pay ticket solutions for that)
and
What are my other good options?

thanks, Hector

You can always plead guilty to the original speed before the trial starts, if you're trying to give the system time to purge one of the tickets from your record for insurance purposes. (They stay on for three years.) That means simply check off that you want a trial, and then a month before it is scheduled, call the Prosecutor's office and tell them that you want to plead guilty and avoid a court date. This gives them enough time to cancel the court date and the officer. Fighting a ticket in court where the officer dropped the speed from 40 over to 15 over is not a good idea.

The other solution is to find another insurance provider. 3 minor convictions and they're going to send you to the Facility Association? You have got to be kidding me. I know of one person who has five minor convictions and still has "regular" insurance, albeit with a much higher rate than someone with no convictions would have. Another one is also still on "regular" insurance despite:

- 2 collisions in a 3-week period this year, not charged
- One at-fault collision last year, convicted of left turn - not in safety
- Conviction for speeding 33 km/h over speed limit
- Conviction for STUNT DRIVING

"That means simply check off that you want a trial, and then a month before it is scheduled, call the Prosecutor's office and tell them that you want to plead guilty and avoid a court date. This gives them enough time to cancel the court date and the officer. "

i am fighting another ticket, a no left turn, i hope to win because of the bilingual act in toronto. the method i took to request a court date was in person at the office near black creeck. Can i do the same thing, and just check off not guilty and request court date in person?, then theyre going to tell me wait 6 months for my court date, so i wait 6 months and they give me a court date, for example, june 1, 2010. I then call up the prosecutors office may 1, 2009 and request to plead guilty and avoid court date? Did i uderstand what you said correctly?

I like that idea, this way i can pay cheaper insurance for a lil bit longer, raise some money, look for regular insurance that will insure me and sign on with them in june 2010.

thank you, and if anybody else has any good ideas im all ears.
-Hector

I think RI nailed it dead on here. You understood him right, except for the May 2009 misprint - can't call someone on past date

This also gives you enough time to find a new insurance provider. 3 minor tickets = insurance suspension ??? Having an insurance suspension (or a kick-off) is usually as bad as a serious charge like "Stunt Driving" or "Careless" for your rates. It also stays on record for 7 (not 100% sure here) years - so it will affect you for that long.

_________________
"The more laws, the less justice" - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The hardest thing to explain is the obvious"

www.OHTA.ca & www.OntarioHighwayTrafficAct.com

I'm pretty sure that's right.

Why cancel an already scheduled court date? By letting it happen you still can plead guilty with an explanation at worst plus have a chance of winning if the cop does not show up (unless you don't want to spend time to take that chance)

The cop might show up and mess up the plans a bit. The stakes are higher. If your insurance can let you have one more small ticket in 3 years instead of 2, then it's well worth waiting out.

_________________
"The more laws, the less justice" - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The hardest thing to explain is the obvious"

www.OHTA.ca & www.OntarioHighwayTrafficAct.com

hey guys i am fighting a speeding ticket but have not got a court date yet, but have heard from a friend of mine who dates a opp lady, that the cop who gave me a ticket is being moved to another city Ottawa, which i will confirm closer to my trial date, so what do i do then?? go to court and stand up and say not guilty and if hes not there i win?

thanks
Koboss

Yup.

_________________
"The more laws, the less justice" - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The hardest thing to explain is the obvious"

www.OHTA.ca & www.OntarioHighwayTrafficAct.com

Most times when the officer drops the ticket to under 15km they want you to pay the ticket.

The officer believes that most people seeing that there are no demerit points on the ticket will just pay the fine and not fight it. Usually the officer is either inexperienced or they don’t like going to court, but it’s usually a sign of an inexperienced police officer.

If you fight the ticket yourself you have a 25% chance of the ticket being dropped, if you hire someone who knows how to run a trial, the legal arguments and all about radar and laser your chances of winning go up to about 90% depending upon the jurisdiction.

So, I have chosen option 3 for my ticket, trial option.
Now they said wait two months to get your court date by mail.
I was reading on ticketcombat.com that i should send 2 letters.
one for a speedy trial and one for disclosure.
does anybody know when is the good time to send these letters?
should i wait for the two months to get my court date or send them out asap?
-Hector

You don't have to send anything for a speedy trial, but once you have a court date you'll need to send the disclosure request.

_________________
http://www.OHTA.ca OR http://www.OntarioTrafficAct.com

about that disclosure, i dropped it off at traffic court with my ticket checked option 3 5 days after getting the ticket, this was about a month ago, and i recieved my court date march 2010 but still no disclosure?

is this normal

koboss

It takes time for the Crown to assemble your disclosure request. However you should fax or send it via registered mail. This way you will have a record of notification in case the Crown says they didn't get it.

_________________
http://www.OHTA.ca OR http://www.OntarioTrafficAct.com

if its just a waiting game then its worth using all resources

dont stop when you get the disclosure, read through it and look for things that you need further disclosure on

1) manuals and testing procedures
2) officers training
3) unclear notes

i think that its important to make them work as hard as possible for your conviction.

i have had adjournments for disclosure related issues before.

for the offences you already have ;


for the actual conviction stays on your abstract for 3 years from date of FIRST conviction, and for the points its 2 years from date of OFFENCE.


and also if you are convicted you should be appealing that aswell, did you know that while you are in appeals the conviction is struck off your record?

so do the math;

clock starts ticking from date of first conviction

if you can keep the conviction in appeal for three years from that date it will never actually appear on your record and then you can abandon the appeal and just pay the fine!