Ontario Highway Traffic Act

As others have mentioned above, it's a difficult charge to prove, but based on your explanation of the situation, I wouldn't say the charge is completely without merit. Plead guilty to the lesser offence, and you'll have what's commonly considered a minor offence on your record, with typically minor insurance implications. Risk going to trial and ...

While I obviously can't give you a guarantee, from my experience the Crown rarely seeks more than the minimal fine on a first conviction. If you're able to show that you've corrected everything and agree to plead guilty it's even more likely.

Before the Justice of the Peace hands down his sentence, you'll be given the opportunity to provide input ...

If you don't recall what he looks like, you could check with the Crown or even approach another officer and ask.

I was wondering if I could some how get it taken off my record so my insurance company doesn't rob me blind. If not, do I have any other options?

Once you're convicted of the offence, it will appear on your record. There really isn't any way of removing them from your record except time.

That being said, ten over is likely considered a minor ...

The punishment for the offence is as follows:


...a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or to both, and in addition the persons licence or permit may be suspended for not more than six months.

If this is your first conviction and the circumstances are as you described, then you ...

Failure to stop at a red light is what's known as an absolute liability offence, meaning you can't really use slippery roads as an excuse.

The officer was probably suggesting you request a first attendance meeting with the Crown. The Crown will sometimes offer a lesser fine/charge (sometimes with no demerit points) if you agree to plead guilty ...

What Court were you at? I have never heard of Duty Counsel being present for Provincial matters with the exception of family law.

This is the actual section from the Highway Traffic Act:

Highway closing
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a police officer may close a highway or any part thereof to vehicles by posting or causing to be posted signs to that effect, or placing or causing to be placed traffic control devices as prescribed in the regulations.

Driving on ...

You can try to blame the accident on the weather, but you have to show that you were driving with due diligence for the conditions. If you hit a hidden patch of ice, or there was a sudden downpour of freezing rain, you might have an argument. When the weather has been poor all day, you're aware of it and strike another vehicle that was able to stop ...

Duty Counsel is not available in Provincial Offences Court. You could contact legal aid, but I don't believe you're eligible for any type of subsidised representation with Provincial offences.

The fact that you're dealt with your suspension and expired validation works in your favour, but the Crown is still under no obligation to reduce the charge ...

TorontoGuy24 wrote:Any good excuses?

Speeding is an absolute liability offence, meaning why you committed the offence is pretty much irrelevant.

If you're worried about points, request a first attendance meeting with the Crown. I'm quite sure they'd be willing to reduce it to 15 over with a guilty plea, meaning you'd have no points.

The police officer will not be there for a first attendance meeting. Try not to lose sleep, it's in the Crown's best interest to seek a resolution with you as well.

Charges do not automatically get dropped just because the officer is not in attendance. In some busy jurisdictions JP's frequenly do dismiss minor HTA tickets if the Crown can't proceed, but it varies from one case to the next. The other option is you can seek an 11b motion if it's taken too long for your matter to get to trial, but that again ...

Well, you did commit the offence, but I don't believe it's an absolute liability offence. That means if you can honestly show you failed to act because you felt pulling over would cause an accident, you have a possible defence.

Can't really give you odds of success, because that depends on the Crown's evidence and how well everyone presents their ...

On your first Court date an information (a document listing the charges) will be read out, and entered on record. The officer who charged you is responsible for generating the document and forwarding it to the Courts. It's basically just a formal document that list the name of the accused, the charge wordings and section.