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What's a 'load' ?

Definition in the HTA or Dictionary?

In Toronto - a bylaw conviction will show up on your driving record. In Ottawa, it will not.

There are no points associated with any City bylaws in Ontario.

jsherk is absolutely right....
I have been to several court proceedings and seen paralegals come and present several cases in about 5 minutes (if that)
They tend to take plea deals and go back to the client saying this is the best they could do and make several hundred dollars for doing nothing at all.
You could do this for no charge.

If you're ...

Read the section again - it states 'if safe to do so...'
Seems to me, you have a pretty good defence.

Time of day - traffic volume - vehicles ahead and behind you...

I would suggest this;
Don't do anything at all - yet.
Appear on the first appearance date and request disclosure - agree to return on whatever date they request if it's an agreeable date to you.
Now that you have the officer's notes - go through them very carefully - looking for errors - you may want to post the notes here redacting personal stuff ...

I think you are reading this wrong - when it comes to prosecuting a bylaw offence - a certified copy of the City/Town bylaws must be present in the court - you are not entitled to a copy of the bylaw any more than you would be entitled to a copy of the Highway Traffic Act.

This is different if you have been charged with an HTA offence which has ...

It's not unusual for defendants to approach the prosecutor and see if there is anything on the table to be had - with a charge like this, one never knows - essentially you are guilty and are facing the minimum fine - however, talking to the prosecutor may offer the opportunity to get him on board with a reduced fine - I've seen suspended sentences ...

No question that S.9 clearly states a defendant will be convicted on the 15th day if no action has been taken.

That's the law - the reality however, is, as usual, something quite different.

It all has to do with manual data input - e-tickets have made data input nearly something of the past.

Imagine a court; any in Toronto, Windsor, Ottawa ...

Don't sweat this - the 15 mentioned is only to get the ticket into the system as quickly as possible and have it dealt with - in actual fact you have 44 days to respond.

If, you have not responded by the 45th day, you will be convicted in your absence, the fine on the ticket imposed with 5.00 for costs and a Notice of Fine and Due Date will be ...

Ticket with charge laid out - no section number.

Is this a fatal error?

Many thanks to those who reply.

I reckon you're mistaken, OPS - change of venue can be had - for the right reason(s).

Can't help you re the forms - in Ottawa rlc tickets are dealt with by selecting trial - arriving early, say half an hour - speak with the prosecutor - offer to plead guilty if he will reduce the charge and inform him of your financial situation - if he won't reduce, then plead guilty when your name is called - the jp will ask the prosecutor for ...

Wait - you may receive a phone call or a summons - they (police) may call you to attend a station for an interview - politely decline and offer an alternative date and time to meet at your office or home. Do not attend the police station.

If any of that occurs - then post and you'll get lots of advice.

There is no right to counsel.

There is a JP in eastern Ontario who mistakenly advises those self-representing if they waive their right to counsel - there is no right to counsel.

I won't get into the state of affairs you note - only to say that it sounds like he's confused - I suspect he's talking Careless and misquoting the old fine of 260.-- taxed up to 325.00 - Careless comes with 6 points. Had he given you a Careless ticket with a fine of 315.00 the advice from this forum would have been to completely ignore it.

If this was my ticket I would ignore it - if you do this, on the 45th day after the date of offence you will either be convicted or the ticket will be dismissed.

If you are convicted you will receive a Notice of Fine and Due Date at the address on the ticket - this will allow you 15 (usually) days to pay - which you will have to do to prior to ...

Not a hope in h8ll.

Disagree - I'll tell you why;

the S.128 is written out underneath and has a clearly distinctive number eight whereas the indicated speed is essentially this 'E'.
I would let this ride and not attend court - while we all know the E is supposed to be an 8 - it is not, as stated above.

If convicted on the 45th day, I would ...

There is no independent witness.

I'm hoping with the month notice the other driver won't show up at all. Once I get disclosure I can know more about what the prosecution will try to prove right?

I ask because if they do not, then there is nothing to answer - there is case law out there, I don't recall which, that clearly states a witness is ...

@thisiskat
Are there any independent witnesses who can testify to the distance between your vehicle and the one you struck?

iFly55 is correct - don't limit yourself and most definitely get disclosure - you never know, you just might be able to plea this down to an unnecessary noise with a higher fine or charitable donation.

Sorry if this may sound like a dumb question, but isn't plea bargain what I want? From what I understand, I probably won't be able to win in court by coming out without any kind of offence thus making plea bargain the best course of action. If I misunderstood anything can someone let me know.

I have received a reply from a paralegal who my ...

It sounds like you have found a lawyer that is interested in fighting the charge for you and not just plea bargaining like the others you talked to.

This is not the first or second time I've seen you type something like this - I don't know if you're angry, feel you got screwed along the way somewhere, or are simply ignorant of the profession ...

Please forgive me, can I take it as yes they will show the dash cam video in court?

If they have it, and they choose to use it, then yes, it will be used in court. It will also be disclosed to you assuming you request disclosure which you should do once you have a trial date.

The Town of Smith Falls uses video pretty much every time someone ...

I base it on experience ... having hired lawyers in the past (before I understood the process), they would literally wait until trial date to get disclosure and then just basically accept the deal the prosecutor offers without putting any time or effort into possible ways to fight it.

A good lawyer would be requesting disclosure ahead of time and ...

Too many times a lawyer or paralegal will do the bare minimum and just try to get charge reduced, as opposed to actually fighting it.

That's quite the charge/allegation - what do you base that on?

Vehicles interfering with traffic: 170(12)

(12) Despite the other provisions of this section, no person shall park or stand a vehicle on a highway in such a manner as to interfere with the movement of traffic or the clearing of snow from the highway. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 170 (12).

In order to obtain a conviction at trial the prosecution must have a witness who can testify as to the closeness of the following vehicle.

Yes, any witness has to attend. That being said, they technically have to show up. Once they are there, the case is a slam dunk. There was an accident, therefore, too close.

It's my understanding that a FTC ...

Here's the thing about Follow too Closely;

In order to obtain a conviction at trial the prosecution must have a witness who can testify as to the closeness of the following vehicle. Prosecutors know this and the proper ones, not having that witness, will withdraw the charge. The witness can be the police officer who observed - an independent ...

I would double check the ticket - look for a decimal point between the 1 and 69 - have never seen a rlct with that amount of time.