First ticket ever - Failure to Stop - How to proceed?

Good morning everyone!

This morning I was on Lakeshore, exiting on to the Gardiner at Jameson. I drive a Honda Fit and was directly behind a large cube van. As I went through the intersection, once the cube van stopped hiding the lights, I noticed that the light was yellow.

Just as I got on to the highway a cop pulled me over and issued me a failure to stop ticket. I plan on fighting this because there is no way I could have stopped safely by the time I saw that the light was amber.

Can anyone advise me on the steps that I need to go through to fight this? I know that I have to go down to the court building to file for a trial, but what comes next? Any advice?

Thanks in Advance!

There are some good articles on www.ontarioticket.com and on this forum that explain the whole process.

Just to be clear, were you charged with HTA 144 (18 ) Red Light - Fail to Stop, or HTA 144 (15) Disobey Amber Light?

For the courthouse, print off a NIA (Notice of Intent to Appear) from the Toronto Courts website and fill it out. After that, wait for your trial date. When it comes, file a disclosure request. As Simon says... www.ticketcombat.com is a good primer. Feel free to post any other questions here and keep us updated on the progress of your case.

I was charged with 144( 18 ). Thanks for the links

I'm filling out the NIA right now, and I'm a little confused - it appears as if it asks me about my language selection twice, worded exactly the same... is this correct?

Do I fill out my name and address again at the bottom if I am not using a representative?

TIA!

I just posted recently about my first ever ticket which is listed as HTA 144 ( 18 ) "Red Light - Failure to Stop" and there are some errors on the ticket which I do not think are fatal flaws, but I'm wondering if they can help with my defense?

1) The ticket lists me as male... I am quite *obviously* female

2) the '8' in the "144 ( 18 )" has a straight line in it, as though the officer originally wrote 11 instead of 18. There are other 8s on the ticket and there is obviously a correction that was made. Subsection 11 is about left turns, and my 'offence' did not include any turns whatsoever.

3) The time on the ticket is about 8 minutes earlier than when the ticket was actually written - when I was pulled over I sent a text message to my partner that I had been pulled over and that was sent at 6:56, the ticket is written for 6:51 and I was pulled over immediately after going through the intersection.

Other Questions:

I at no times saw a red light while going through the intersection, only amber... if I was guilty of any charge it would be 144 ( 15 ) - what are the odds that the cruiser was equipped with video and could prove that I went through the intersection on the amber? If I do, does that quash the whole issue, or do they just withdraw the red light ticket and issue me an amber one? When the officer pulled me over, she said that she was recording audio - does this make it more or less likely that her car was equipped for video?

Thanks!

If the video evidence contradicts the charge that was laid, the ticket will be withdrawn and it is unlikely they will bother laying another information for the correct charge.

Also, none of the errors on the ticket sound fatal. If you take it to trial the prosecutor can request that they be amended. However, if it is not a trial situation (i.e. a guilty plea), the JP may quash the ticket for "not being proper and regular on it's face."

Note: I merged the "new topic" of "Errors on Ticket" into this one. Please keep all discussion related to the one ticket on a single thread. That way it's easier for others to see the "big picture" as opposed to gathering piecemeal information. It's easier to offer coherent and relevant advice that way.

Thanks Simon - I don't know if there's any video at all, but it would certainly prove my case for me.

I've had some people suggest that I hire a paralegal or someone similar to fight this for me - my case seems fairly straightforward, but I don't want to lose just because I didn't hire someone. That said, I'd prefer not to have to pay out ANY money to paralegals or the city for this stupid thing.

What is everyone's opinions on hiring professionals to handle their tickets? At what point should I hire someone - can I wait until I've received my disclosure documents or should I hire someone right away?

Thanks!

You can hire someone at any point in the process. It really depends on how comfortable you are with the process and with representing yourself.

Hi Everyone,

I just got another ticket trying to get to the damn building to file my first ticket - I've posted about it in the relevant section: http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/post15240.html

If anyone can offer any insight on dealing with 2 tickets at once, or can recommend a good traffic ticket/paralegal service I'd be most grateful.

Thanks!