A speeding traffic ticket is subject to section 128 of the Highway Traffic Act.
RandomPilar
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First Ticket - 86 In A 60 - Questions

by: RandomPilar on

Hello all,


On a sideroad, one-lane in each direction, I was caught doing 86 in a 60 for my first ticket in 10+ years of driving.


Background:

- mid-day, good driving conditions

- travelling in pack of 3-4 cars, going about the same speed

- offer driving in opposite direction pulls a u-turn and pulls me over

- 86 in a 60 ticket

- officer showed me his radar, it did say 86


Questions:

- should I fight this? I think I should...

- I was travelling in a pack of 4 cars going approximately the same speed, why was I the one "picked"?... woudn't his radar have picked up all 4 cars doing 80+?

- because he was driving in the opposite direction and he passed 3 others cars and me in such a short distance, how do I know the 86 was from my car?

- officer only wrote 1 street name (not intersection).... this street has multiple speed changes.... should he have specified nearest intersection?


I appreciate any help!

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Radar Identified
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by: Radar Identified on

Some answers:


Fighting this is the only way to avoid the full fine and demerit points. You should be able, at worst, to plea-bargain to 15 over, since this is your first offence. Take your ticket to the courthouse and choose option 3, or mail it if they have that option. They'll then set a trial date. Option 2 is pleading guilty to the same offence with an explanation, which usually is not a good strategy.


You were picked because you were probably the first vehicle he caught up to. They can't stop everybody. He likely looked at the traffic stream, estimated your speed around 85, and got a reading of 86 as he went by you. There are any number of possibilities. Unfortunately, when there are mulitple speeders in one area, the police usually only get one, and, it was your turn this time.


As for the location, no intersection is required. If he wrote the street down, that is sufficient.


If you're not comfortable with court proceedings, you can always hire a paralegal to represent you. However, you should be able to plead this down on your own, which is what a paralegal would likely do anyway. Check out the rest of the sections on speeding, and also "courts and procedure" to get some insight.

* 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
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hwybear
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by: hwybear on

and if you were the very last one, all three other vehicles out of beam, therefore your the solo vehicle remaining

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

Hello again,


I got my disclosure package this week via fax. It contains about 3 "notepad" pages of the officer's notes. It also contains information on the calibration and maintenance of the radar device. What should I be looking for and how do I proceed with using this disclosure?


The only thing in the officer notes that seemed weird was the fact that he guessed I was going between 80-85 before turning on his radar. How would he guess within a 5kph range? He said I was behind 4 other cars. He turned his radar on "about halfway" through the pack and caught me at 86.


Anything I can work with here or is there anything I should focus on?


Thanks!

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by: Stanton on

RandomPilar wrote:The only thing in the officer notes that seemed weird was the fact that he guessed I was going between 80-85 before turning on his radar. How would he guess within a 5kph range?

May sound a little weird but it's normal. An officer should visually observe your vehicle speeding prior to activating the radar to confirm their suspicion. Without the visual observation, there is no way to show the radar reading is for your particular vehicle. As for the accuracy of their observation, that's pretty reasonable as well. An experienced traffic officer will easily spend several hours of every day conducting speed enforcement. Figure how many vehicles they just observe (not stop) every day, add that up over a few years, and you're talking thousands of observations at least. Like anything in life, put enough time into something and you become pretty good at it. I've seen newer officers in Court estimate speeds within 10-20 km/hr range, but 5 km/hr sounds pretty reasonable for an experienced officer.

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