34 Over In Community Safety Zone - Auto Summons

I was pulled over yesterday in a community safety zone and told I was doing 84 in a 50. When i passed the officer I looked at my odometer and I was only doing 64. I was given a summons on the spot to appear in court at the end of June. Do I have any chance in this if it comes down to his word over mine. I was in the car alone but have travelled these same roads every day, twice a day for 6 years and know exactly where all of the speed limits are and make sure i don't go more than 15k over them.

Your word that you were not speeding is not likely to be sufficient. (As in, I haven't heard of any case where someone testifying "I wasn't speeding" vs. the officer's "the driver was speeding" with all of the evidence, has led to an acquittal.)

You have to go to court anyway, so you may as well file a disclosure request and get the officer's notes and a copy of the radar or laser manual. From there, you can figure out if there's an avenue of defence. (We can help you in that regard.) Alternatively, you can hire a paralegal or lawyer. Generally, though, if you have a reasonable driving record, the Prosecutor will offer a plea-bargain to a lesser speed.

stormsam wrote:When i passed the officer I looked at my odometer and I was only doing 64.

The officer did not take the speed reading when you passed him. He likely zapped your vehicle with radar or laser about 500 metres to 1 kilometre before you passed him. When you are just going by the officer, it is too late for them to activate the speed-measuring device and get an accurate reading. They do it much earlier, often well before you see them.

Thanks for the info. Just going over my summons and it does not have a signature from the officer or anything signed anywhere on it, will that make a difference. He also did not ask for my registration and insurance so the summons only has my plate number with no make or model of the vehicle I was driving.

Also, I pulled into the community saftey zone after stopping at an intersection where another police officer was directing traffic. I stopped at the intersection, turned right when motioned to, and was stopped in the community safety zone approx 500 metres after I pulled onto that road.

If it was a regular ticket without a signature, it would probably be considered invalid and withdrawn. A summons on the other hand isn't an actual charging document, so errors on it aren't considered fatal. Some people have argued that the summons itself isn't valid without a signature, but they can be easily corrected (with a corrective summons) and the Courts could be unaware your copy doesn't have a signature. If that's the case you'd be found guilty in absentia.

The fact that he didn't ask for your ownership/insurance probably isn't relevant. Vehicle make and model can easily be accessed by police when they run your plate on their computer, or by simply looking at your vehicle. I don't believe there is a spot for make/model on the summons either. That being said, those details should be recorded in the officer's notes, at least make and color, for purposes of identifying your vehicle. Insurance info is optional, and won't have any bearing on your charge.

As stated above, speeding tickets can be somewhat difficult to dispute. You may want to consider hiring a paralegal to represent you if you're adamant on fighting it. Regardless, see what the evidence against you is by requesting disclosure. I would also suggest speaking to the Crown and seeing if they're willing to offer you a deal to a reduced speed/fine.

I am going to ask for my disclosure on Tuesday due to the long weekend as I recieved my ticket on Friday. My trial date is set for June 27th which is only 5 weeks from the time i am requesting disclosure. Will this go against me if I don't have it in time for my trial date?

The date on your summons is simply for a first appearance, not a trial. You can advise the Court if you wish to plead guilty or not guilty on that date. If you decide to plead not guilty, another date will be set for the actual trial.

You may as well go ahead and file the disclosure request now. It can't hurt.