Ontario Highway Traffic Act

The only one I heard that successfully worked was where a cardiac surgeon was speeding to a call at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. He got stopped for going 75 in a 40 zone, pleaded with the officer to be released and ticketed later, however the officer refused and ticketed him at the roadside. Anyway, when it went to court, the Prosecutor decided that pursuing the charge was not in the public interest and withdrew. In other words, his justification was that he was rushing to assist a critical-care patient who was having a catastrophic heart attack. (The patient survived and recovered.)

I've also heard of one instance where a person was rushing his dog to the veterinary clinic. Again, ticketed at roadside, dog survived, case went to court, JP ruled "defence of necessity" and found the defendant not guilty.

Other than that, the only other instances were anomalies that had more to do with the JP having a personal beef with one particular Prosecutor.

* The above is NOT legal advice. By acting on anything I have said, you assume responsibility for any outcome and consequences. *
http://www.OntarioTicket.com OR http://www.OHTA.ca

Simon Borys · Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:48 pm

Re: Speeding excuses

Quote

Simon Borys Unread post by Simon Borys » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:48 pm

Speeding (under 50 km/hr over the limit) is an absolute liability offence and therefore you will not be allowed to enter a defence at a trial. Necessity is the only exception. If you were asking what kind of excuse might entice an officer to use his discretion to not charge you at the roadside, I'd also suggest that honesty would go a long way.

NOTHING I SAY ON HERE IS LEGAL ADVICE.

diehard Unread post by diehard » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:20 am · Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:20 am

Re: Speeding excuses

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diehard Unread post by diehard » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:20 am

Radar Identified wrote:
I've also heard of one instance where a person was rushing his dog to the veterinary clinic. Again, ticketed at roadside, dog survived, case went to court, JP ruled "defence of necessity" and found the defendant not guilty.

I also heard about one of the cases above. However, does it have to be determined that the driver was speeding "carefully"?

Even with necessity you cannot be reckless, right?

For example, if the cop testifies that the person was driving like a maniac.

diehard Unread post by diehard » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:40 am · Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:40 am

Re: Speeding excuses

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diehard Unread post by diehard » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:40 am

Simon Borys wrote:
Speeding (under 50 km/hr over the limit) is an absolute liability offence and therefore you will not be allowed to enter a defence at a trial.

Hi Simon,

I'm afraid I didn't understand. If I choose option 3 (plead not guilty), that means I will have the chance to enter a defense at the trial, right?

hwybear Unread post by hwybear » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:57 am · Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:57 am

Re: Speeding excuses

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hwybear Unread post by hwybear » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:57 am

diehard wrote:
Simon Borys wrote:
Speeding (under 50 km/hr over the limit) is an absolute liability offence and therefore you will not be allowed to enter a defence at a trial.
Hi Simon,
I'm afraid I didn't understand. If I choose option 3 (plead not guilty), that means I will have the chance to enter a defense at the trial, right?

I will guess that Simon and RI refer to is that a defence must be for "necessity", any other defence one might use is a waste of your breath as it is not considered a "valid" defence by the courts for this offence. ??

Above is merely a suggestion/thought and in no way constitutes legal advice or views of my employer. www.OHTA.ca

Ripper Unread post by Ripper » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:28 am · Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:28 am

Re: Speeding excuses

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Ripper Unread post by Ripper » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:28 am

Thank you for your replies... Does anyone have any creative excuses?

Radar Identified · Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:05 pm

Re: Speeding excuses

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Radar Identified Unread post by Radar Identified » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:05 pm

Creative? If you're asking for ones that resulted in either the court or the officer ROFL, then I've heard of plenty. As far as ones that were accepted as "defence of necessity," I can't think of any. Some "creative" ones that have been tried and failed include:

- "I was going to run out of gas" (driving faster actually burns gas at a higher rate per kilometre)

- "Oh, my daughter needs to go to the bathroom really badly" (Daughter pipes up: "But Mommy, I don't need to go to the bathroom.")

- "I'm late for a hair appointment"

- "I'm really sick and I'm going to hurl" (Well, actually, this one worked... because the driver DID hurl and was let go)

- "This is a new car and it's just too fast" (Driver record check found all previous vehicles of that particular driver ALSO were "too fast")

- "I'm chasing down some punk who cut me off" (Vehicle impounded for stunt driving - chase another vehicle)

- "My snake is sick" (not a pet snake... and yes this was actually used)

- "My front tires are bigger than my back ones and it throws off my speedometer"

- "My doctor wrote me a note that says I can't drive slow because it brings up my blood pressure"

- "I was too busy texting to notice my speed"

Yes, each and every one of these has actually been used.

hwybear wrote:
I will guess that Simon and RI refer to is that a defence must be for "necessity"

Affirmative.

* The above is NOT legal advice. By acting on anything I have said, you assume responsibility for any outcome and consequences. *
http://www.OntarioTicket.com OR http://www.OHTA.ca

Reflections · Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:31 pm

Re: Speeding excuses

Quote

Reflections Unread post by Reflections » Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:31 pm

What about, "I'm not speeding, it's just that the limits are too low"?, "I'm not speeding, I'm qualifying"?, "I was trying to stay ahead of my drunk friends and warn them about cops up ahead"?, and

......

oh wait for it......

......

"My Viagra perscription just got filled"..........................That's it folks.

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

fredfred · Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:26 pm

Re: Speeding excuses

Quote

fredfred Unread post by fredfred » Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:26 pm

Radar Identified wrote:
- "My doctor wrote me a note that says I can't drive slow because it brings up my blood pressure"

...or you can say that you had to drive fast to keep your blood pressure up because someone injected you with the "The Beijing Cocktail"

Bring a copy of the movie Crank (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479884/) to show the JP just in case he/she doesn't understand.

admin Unread post by admin » Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:49 am · Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:49 am

Re: Speeding excuses

Quote

admin Unread post by admin » Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:49 am

fredfred wrote:
...or you can say that you had to drive fast to keep your blood pressure up because someone injected you with the "The Beijing Cocktail"
Bring a copy of the movie Crank (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479884/) to show the JP just in case he/she doesn't understand.

LOL...this should be in jokes thread! Btw, Crank is a great movie.

Ontario Traffic Ticket | Ontario Highway Traffic Act

Ripper Unread post by Ripper » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:54 am · Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:54 am

Re: Speeding excuses

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Ripper Unread post by Ripper » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:54 am

Thanks everyone, sometimes you have to smile when discussing such serious matters

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