Hi everyone,

Need an expert advice here. 10 days ago I got a speeding ticket. Ticket has a fatal error on its face-offense not known to law. It says speeding 75km/hr in posted 60km/hr zone. What is the best way to proceed?

1. Should I completely ignore this ticket and let the JP to quash it?

2. Should I go with option 3 - request a trial and force the fatal error by not showing up at court?

Does court notify you if ticked was quashed? If not, when to call to check on the status of the case? If JP overlooks the error and enters a conviction in my absence, do they send any paperwork and give you enough time to pay the fine before MTO suspends the license? I know that if convicted I'll have 15 days to appeal, but I'm concerned about possible license suspension and keeping a track on the case.

Would appreciate any comments.

I hate to burst your bubble here but Speeding 75km/hr in posted 60km/hr zone is not a fatal error. If it said speeding 60km/hr in posted 75km/hr zone you'd be in business.

Could you please, support your argument? It should simply say "Speeding"

I don't think numbers matter at all - see list of fatal errors with example here : http://www.ticketcombat.com/step5/quash.php

There is no offense in HTA such as "Speeding 75km/hr in posted 60km/hr zone", but there is an offense "speeding".

ynotp wrote:I hate to burst your bubble here but Speeding 75km/hr in posted 60km/hr zone is not a fatal error. If it said speeding 60km/hr in posted 75km/hr zone you'd be in business.

I'm looking at ticket combat and they list "speeding x km/hr in an x km/hr-zone" as a fatal error, this is what my ticket has on it. This is because it's an "unknown offense." Please, clarify.

The example TicketCombat uses is:

- unknown offence (e.g. speeding 70kh/hr in a 64km/hr zone);

What they are trying to comunicate is that 64 km/hr is not a known speed limit. All valid speeding tickets state the speed your are charged with going, and what the maximum speed for that zone is. If the officer just wrote speeding, how do you differentiate between 1-15 over vs 16 - 29 vs 30 - 50 vs 50+?

As you can see from the other thread youve posted in, there is some debate as to whether simply writing "speeding" without an actual speed is a fatal error. The opposite however is not true. Your ticket has the correct short form wording that is accepted by the Courts.

Thank you everyone for clarifications. You help is greatly appreciated.

I highly recommend you definitely always request a trial with officer present. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. If everybody in Ontario did that then the wait times would be too long for trials and we would get off on charter right to speedy trial. Also, if you request a trial WITH the officer present, then you have more time to think about what you want to do and you can get disclosure of the officers notes to make sure they tested the radar properly, etc.

If you request a trial and if there is a fatal error, then you can just not show up and the Justice should quash it. If the Justice does not quash then you can appeal on an error at law that the Justice should have quashed because the ticket was not regular on its face. If you do not show for the trial, then there is officially "no trial", and if there is officially "no trial", then the Justice can NOT amend the ticket. If there is a fatal error and you show for a trial and point it out, then the prosecutor will just ask to have it amended and now there is no more fatal error.

I do not think what you posted is an error at law though, so you should probably go to trial.

*** This is not legal advice and is my opinion only. ***