Hi guys, Recently I had been pulled over for doing 52 km/h over and received a stunt drive ticket. Like many of you reading this post right now, I was too, desperately seeking for information on this website as it was my first experience with such a hefty charge and I simply did not know what to do. Fortunately, I just went through this entire stressful process all by myself and ended up with something okay for me to live with. So, I would like to share my personal experience with you. (Please note that the information below is a summary of what I have gathered from various websites, forums, others' experiences and also my personal experience. Although it may not be exactly what will happen to you, it should give you a general idea what to expect for your specific situation.) First, let me tell you briefly what happened to me. I was driving on 416 Southbound and I was pulled over near Kempville for doing 152 km/h, and of course my car was immediately impounded and my licence was suspended both for 7 days. Like everyone else, I also received the yellow court summons slip and mine said I needed to appear in the court in Brockville. Just like you, I started seeking for all kinds of information online and offline and I guess that is where most of you are at right now. So, the followings are what I think that's important for you to know for the next steps. The impound and suspension are both for 7 days to the hour, and you will need a valid driver's licence to get the car released back to you or you will have to get someone with a valid licence to drive the car for you if you don't have your temporary licence yet. So, on the last day of suspension/impound, go to Service Ontario (or a similar agency if you live elsewhere) and get your temporary licence BEFORE you go to get your car. The Ministry of Transportation website says that licence reinstatement fee is $281, and I also personally called Service Ontario and asked them about the fee, they also told me it's $281. However, if your licence was suspended for stunt drive, ie. the 7 day road side suspension, you very likely do not have to pay a cent for it. I didn't, and I also read at least one other's post saying they didn't either. Just tell the clerk you want your licence reinstated, and they will check if you have outstanding fine that needs to be paid off first. If you don't have any, they will issue you a temporary licence slip, and the Ministry of Transportation will mail you the actual licence in a few weeks. ALSO, I received a temporary licence in my mailbox from the MoT, but the mail came in after I got my temporary licence at Service Ontario, so DO NOT count on the mail. Next, you just need to pay off your towing and impound fee, then you will have your car back and be able to drive it again. After having your car back, your stress level should go down a bit. Now, all you need to do is wait for the summons day. Here is what I think may happen quite differently depending on the individual case. But don't worry, I will share with you everything I have learnt. When I searched for help, I got all sorts of recommendations such as hiring a paralegal/lawyer, contacting the crown etc. Some websites intentionally make it sound so much worse by emphasizing the 6-month prison time and the $10,000 fine so to make you spend more money than you need to hire a paralegal/lawyer. I did not hire anyone to represent me. Here's why, the yellow slip you have is a court summons ticket, it is NOT a trial date; it is the day for you to go to court to learn what charges you could be possibly facing. Once you are there, you can talk to the crown personally, you can ask the judge to adjourn your case, and can either plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead not guilty, you will enter the trial process and they will let you the trial date. What happened me was that I talked to the crown 5 minutes prior to the court start time, and he offered me a speeding ticket of 45 km/h over, and asked me if I could go with that, and of course I said yes. So I ended up pleading guilty for 45 km/h over, and paid $395 and received 4 demerit points. I was happy about this outcome and able to live with it as it was the consequence of driving that fast. However, I did not try to play any game but was just being honest, and because I had a clean record the crown was able to reduce it for that reason. But here is what's important for you to know: 1. MAKE SURE you talk to the crown before you go into the court; This is the most important thing in the entire process since the crown is the one who has the authority to reduce the charge. Therefore, be sure to get there early and line up with everyone else in front of the crown's office. If that is when you decide to go to the court to talk to the crown for the first time, then GET THERE EARLY because those paralegals and lawyers will all want to talk to the crown and they represent many people, so it takes forever. When talking to the crown, be honest, apologize, be regretful for your actions and tell them that you are not gonna do it again. The crown may ask you what you wish to do, do not be afraid, tell them that you have learnt the lesson and you wish to have it reduced, aka, get the stunt part of the charge dropped. If they do, just be thankful and take it. On the other hand, I DO NOT recommend talking to the crown on the phone, which does not show sincerity, and after speaking to my OPP friends, I DO NOT recommend playing any games, unless you are willing to take the risk. All the things you say will NOT change the fact that you were speeding at the time. In addition, there is absolutely no point in explaining why you did it, just try to keep the conversation concise and direct, the crown does have time for your stories. 2. There is a lot of freedom in charge reduction; This is what I have gathered from everything I read so far: a). If you hold a G licence, and did 150 -165 km/h Don't worry, play nice and you are very very likely to get your stunt drive dropped to a speeding ticket, this likelihood will even increase if you have a clean record. But how far they are willing to drop down, depends on how much you are over. b). If you hold a G licence, and did 165 - 180 km/h You are in a more serious situation, depending on your driving record, you may get your stunt drive part dropped, but you may be facing a speeding ticket without any reduction in speed, that means you will get 6 demerit points. You may also face more fine, a possibility of further driver's licence suspension if you have accumulated demerit points. c). If you hold a G licence, and did > 180 km/h I am sorry, you may face the consequence of a stunt drive. At this point, I would recommend hiring legal services. d). If you hold a G2 licence, and did any of the above You will mostly like have the above happen to you AND a 30 day licence suspension. 3. You can have up to 90 days of grace period to pay your fine When you plead guilty, the judge will tell you how much to pay and also ask you when you wish to pay, so you could either pay right there, or ask for 30, 60, or 90 days of grace period. 4. Increase of the insurance premium If you plead guilty, your charge will immediately appear on your driving record, and it will be there for three years. So during this time, any insurance company will be able to see it in the record database, and adjust your insurance rate accordingly. There is a lot of variations between people so I will just have to tell you that, in general, your insurance will NOT go up until the renewal date. Depending how much over the speed limit, the insurance company will decide weather it is a minor or major offense based on their criteria. So how much will go up is hard to tell at this point. But if your renewal date is coming up, I would recommend you push the court date after the renewal date because prior to conviction, your charge will not show up in your record yet. Some people say that their premium got readjusted for the 7 day road side suspension, but others say that insurance companies are not allowed to do that. As my insurance renewal is in the summer next year, I can only tell you that at this moment, there is yet any adjustment for mine. All in all, if you are caught with stunt driving, just be thankful that they drop the stunt part of the charge, and that's a lot of legal services aim to do eventually. Depending on your personal situation, you may or may not need to resort to legal services. Remember that the the goal of the ticket is not to punish you, it is to make sure you don't do it again in the future. So just make sure you show remorse and regret of your action, be honest, talk and dress well (business casual to formal or otherwise indicated by your court), I am certain that you can walk away with something less than what you have. It is a long read, but if you have made it all the way here, I hope you find it helpful. Good luck and drive safe, X
Hi guys,
Recently I had been pulled over for doing 52 km/h over and received a stunt drive ticket. Like many of you reading this post right now, I was too, desperately seeking for information on this website as it was my first experience with such a hefty charge and I simply did not know what to do. Fortunately, I just went through this entire stressful process all by myself and ended up with something okay for me to live with. So, I would like to share my personal experience with you. (Please note that the information below is a summary of what I have gathered from various websites, forums, others' experiences and also my personal experience. Although it may not be exactly what will happen to you, it should give you a general idea what to expect for your specific situation.)
First, let me tell you briefly what happened to me. I was driving on 416 Southbound and I was pulled over near Kempville for doing 152 km/h, and of course my car was immediately impounded and my licence was suspended both for 7 days. Like everyone else, I also received the yellow court summons slip and mine said I needed to appear in the court in Brockville. Just like you, I started seeking for all kinds of information online and offline and I guess that is where most of you are at right now. So, the followings are what I think that's important for you to know for the next steps.
The impound and suspension are both for 7 days to the hour, and you will need a valid driver's licence to get the car released back to you or you will have to get someone with a valid licence to drive the car for you if you don't have your temporary licence yet. So, on the last day of suspension/impound, go to Service Ontario (or a similar agency if you live elsewhere) and get your temporary licence BEFORE you go to get your car. The Ministry of Transportation website says that licence reinstatement fee is $281, and I also personally called Service Ontario and asked them about the fee, they also told me it's $281. However, if your licence was suspended for stunt drive, ie. the 7 day road side suspension, you very likely do not have to pay a cent for it. I didn't, and I also read at least one other's post saying they didn't either. Just tell the clerk you want your licence reinstated, and they will check if you have outstanding fine that needs to be paid off first. If you don't have any, they will issue you a temporary licence slip, and the Ministry of Transportation will mail you the actual licence in a few weeks. ALSO, I received a temporary licence in my mailbox from the MoT, but the mail came in after I got my temporary licence at Service Ontario, so DO NOT count on the mail. Next, you just need to pay off your towing and impound fee, then you will have your car back and be able to drive it again.
After having your car back, your stress level should go down a bit. Now, all you need to do is wait for the summons day. Here is what I think may happen quite differently depending on the individual case. But don't worry, I will share with you everything I have learnt. When I searched for help, I got all sorts of recommendations such as hiring a paralegal/lawyer, contacting the crown etc. Some websites intentionally make it sound so much worse by emphasizing the 6-month prison time and the $10,000 fine so to make you spend more money than you need to hire a paralegal/lawyer. I did not hire anyone to represent me. Here's why, the yellow slip you have is a court summons ticket, it is NOT a trial date; it is the day for you to go to court to learn what charges you could be possibly facing. Once you are there, you can talk to the crown personally, you can ask the judge to adjourn your case, and can either plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead not guilty, you will enter the trial process and they will let you the trial date. What happened me was that I talked to the crown 5 minutes prior to the court start time, and he offered me a speeding ticket of 45 km/h over, and asked me if I could go with that, and of course I said yes. So I ended up pleading guilty for 45 km/h over, and paid $395 and received 4 demerit points. I was happy about this outcome and able to live with it as it was the consequence of driving that fast. However, I did not try to play any game but was just being honest, and because I had a clean record the crown was able to reduce it for that reason. But here is what's important for you to know:
1. MAKE SURE you talk to the crown before you go into the court;
This is the most important thing in the entire process since the crown is the one who has the authority to reduce the charge. Therefore, be sure to get there early and line up with everyone else in front of the crown's office. If that is when you decide to go to the court to talk to the crown for the first time, then GET THERE EARLY because those paralegals and lawyers will all want to talk to the crown and they represent many people, so it takes forever. When talking to the crown, be honest, apologize, be regretful for your actions and tell them that you are not gonna do it again. The crown may ask you what you wish to do, do not be afraid, tell them that you have learnt the lesson and you wish to have it reduced, aka, get the stunt part of the charge dropped. If they do, just be thankful and take it.
On the other hand, I DO NOT recommend talking to the crown on the phone, which does not show sincerity, and after speaking to my OPP friends, I DO NOT recommend playing any games, unless you are willing to take the risk. All the things you say will NOT change the fact that you were speeding at the time. In addition, there is absolutely no point in explaining why you did it, just try to keep the conversation concise and direct, the crown does have time for your stories.
2. There is a lot of freedom in charge reduction;
This is what I have gathered from everything I read so far:
a). If you hold a G licence, and did 150 -165 km/h
Don't worry, play nice and you are very very likely to get your stunt drive dropped to a speeding ticket, this likelihood will even increase if you have a clean record. But how far they are willing to drop down, depends on how much you are over.
b). If you hold a G licence, and did 165 - 180 km/h
You are in a more serious situation, depending on your driving record, you may get your stunt drive part dropped, but you may be facing a speeding ticket without any reduction in speed, that means you will get 6 demerit points. You may also face more fine, a possibility of further driver's licence suspension if you have accumulated demerit points.
c). If you hold a G licence, and did > 180 km/h
I am sorry, you may face the consequence of a stunt drive. At this point, I would recommend hiring legal services.
d). If you hold a G2 licence, and did any of the above
You will mostly like have the above happen to you AND a 30 day licence suspension.
3. You can have up to 90 days of grace period to pay your fine
When you plead guilty, the judge will tell you how much to pay and also ask you when you wish to pay, so you could either pay right there, or ask for 30, 60, or 90 days of grace period.
4. Increase of the insurance premium
If you plead guilty, your charge will immediately appear on your driving record, and it will be there for three years. So during this time, any insurance company will be able to see it in the record database, and adjust your insurance rate accordingly. There is a lot of variations between people so I will just have to tell you that, in general, your insurance will NOT go up until the renewal date. Depending how much over the speed limit, the insurance company will decide weather it is a minor or major offense based on their criteria. So how much will go up is hard to tell at this point. But if your renewal date is coming up, I would recommend you push the court date after the renewal date because prior to conviction, your charge will not show up in your record yet. Some people say that their premium got readjusted for the 7 day road side suspension, but others say that insurance companies are not allowed to do that. As my insurance renewal is in the summer next year, I can only tell you that at this moment, there is yet any adjustment for mine.
All in all, if you are caught with stunt driving, just be thankful that they drop the stunt part of the charge, and that's a lot of legal services aim to do eventually. Depending on your personal situation, you may or may not need to resort to legal services. Remember that the the goal of the ticket is not to punish you, it is to make sure you don't do it again in the future. So just make sure you show remorse and regret of your action, be honest, talk and dress well (business casual to formal or otherwise indicated by your court), I am certain that you can walk away with something less than what you have.
It is a long read, but if you have made it all the way here, I hope you find it helpful.
Hi so I have a bizzare situation. Today I received a summons for "being the owner of a motor vehicle bearing Vehicle Identification Number ###, failed to submit the vehicle, equipment or drawn vehicle for inspection or tests as required by an officer" for a vehicle I previously owned. Apparently a violation of HTA 82(9).
The date of offense is June 15, the summons was issued on October 26th and I…
Hi, I need some help for the ticket of lmproper left turn.
When i drove my car from east to west, intending to make a left turn and stop in front of stop line. There was a car in front of me, which has turn on yellow light. The light was turning red and then I thought I cannot leave in the intersection and turned, an incoming car was runing the light and hit me. No one got hurt but both cars had…
Have a ticket in which the radar used was a Genesis VP Directional. I had downloaded the manual for a Genesis VP but I now realize that the unit is not the same so it is the wrong manual. My trial is very soon so I do not have time to ask for disclosure of the manual.
Does anyone have access to an electronic version of the manual for Genesis VP Directional?
I was pulled over today in the city of Oakville for going 75 in a 40 zone. However, I am 100 percent certain that I was going only 50 in the 40 zone. When I was pulled over, I was driving my Dad's car which I felt was the reason I was getting stopped since two teenagers driving a 2013 S Class. He asked does I know why I am being pulled over and I…
I really need help on fighting my 9 tickets i received from one police officer. Here is some background of what happened!
I was caught speeding 66km on a 40km (school zone) on January 29, 2010. I was driving my friend's car and turns out she didnt renew the validation on the vehicle and didnt leave the up to date insurance paper on the car.
Hey question that I think here's probably the best place to get the answer:
I was charged with a careless driving offence in oct, trail in early april, so as of right now my insurance record is 100% clean... except the officer did file an accident report at the scene where I was classified at fault due to it being PI (although very minor). The person I hit did not sue etc, so the insurance company…
Very much unintentionally passed a stopped bus, with sign and flashing lights. Didn't realize I had done it until I was at the end of the bus. I'll save you my sob story, but it was truly accidental. I'm generally very cautious and have a perfect driving record. Never been stopped.
While I realize if a cop had seen me that I would have gotten a ticket, there were none in sight. Though I may very…
I was recently pulled over for running a red and I wasnt able to find my wallet in the car at the time to hand over my license. I had a passport in the vehicle that he used. The wallet was in the vehicle, it just fell through the seats. (Tough to find a black leather wallet in a black/black leather truck at night).
The officer still wrote the tickets for both he signed the one ticket (failure to…
I was passing a vehicle that was going slow for me and there was an oncoming vehicle coming at me. I speed up to get around the person I was passing and the oncoming vehicle turns out to be a cop who turns around and tickets me for going 110km in a 80km zone. How does it work with passing a vehicle? Once I passed the vehicle I went back down to my original speed of just under 100. The officer…
I picked up a brand new (old stock) Fuzzbuster a while ago at auction (wopping $5!!) and I want to mount it on the dash of my old GTO as a cool accessory when I show it at car shows. But I'm not sure if it's legal or not.
Here's my thoughts:
- It is early 70's technology (x-band) so it won't detect modern police radar. That's assuming no police force uses the old x-band frequency.
Hi guys, I'm still a little in shock of getting my first traffic ticket...
On Monday afternoon, I was returning from Toronto to Ottawa on HW416, I was driving about 15 over 100 like always. Then a car came very close to me on the left lane and made me nervous, I speed up unintentionally to pass the car and change lane, but while doing that a police car pull out of the median. He was hiding in…
May i ask this question regarding transport trucks limited to 105 km/h. Moving road blocks or safety?
IMO it isnt speed that kills. I find transport trucks infact help keep the road going. With cars that choose to not move to the right and slow down the middle lane the trucks would try to pass in their passing lane therefore the slower traffic would move right.
Received a notice from the police that a motion is being put forward to adjourn upcoming trial date. Notice indicates that an officer has sworn an affidavit that the crucial witness cannot attend date trial is set for (we know there is a social engagement at 7:30 pm for the witness, trial time is 1:30 pm). This further delay is a big problem to my daughter's case. She is moving away to…
This is what happened. I was travelling west on a four lane city street that was very light with traffic. I was making a left hand turn into a wide driveway of a business. There was traffic lights about 100 yards past the driveway and were red for the east-west traffic. I was in the left lane with my signal on and there was no oncoming traffic due to the red light. I was slowed right down…
I was driving my families older car and got pulled over, and the police officer informed me my plate was dirty. He issued me a ticket of $110 for the 13(2) act and obstruct plate as the offense. He informed me that such a plate could be used to avoid red lights as well as 407 tolls, also that buying a new plate can help to lower the ticket if I fight the charge, and that he also took a picture…
I received a red light camera ticket. In the picture, you see an ambulance in front of me with flashing lights. I had moved to alleviate the traffic behind me for the emergency vehicles coming behind it.
Is this a possible defense, if so, does anyone know any good case law to justify this position?
what happens if they charge someone for driving at 151Km/hr in montreal and they put for trial, appear after some months and sadly lost the trial ?
In montreal its $300 fine and 5demerit points ...
I heard Ontario and Qubec share the information. So once the trial is over ( and when the file moved to ontario) will his car gets towed and licence get suspended for 7days (later to 30 days ) ? and he…
I got a notice in the mail that trial is set four weeks from today, so it's time to request disclosure. I have zero chance of getting an 11b since trial is less than two months after the offense date and the officer did not reduce the charge. I really want to try and create delays on the trial, to reduce the chance of the officer showing up on multiple occasions. Is there any known loop-holes…
This weekend my father was involved in an accident with a transit bus in Burlington, ON. After the police showed up he was charged with "Fail to obey stop sign" Sec. 136(1)(a). At this particular intersection there NO stop signs but there are traffic lights. There is construction going on there so one of the light posts is smaller.
Driving conditions were terribly wet and visibility was low.…
So my boyfriend and I recently started dating. I have a vehicle that was insured. Insurance cost too much and I found it was just as easy to walk to work due to how close it was. But I didn't want to get rid of my car just yet, plus I'm still making payments on it as well. When we moved into our appartment together, I had it towed to my parking spot out back.
I was making a left hand legal turn on a green light, a driver came through the lane I was supposed to be going into ran the red and hit me head on as I was turning into my lane. When the officer came he was telling me that I was racing and driving recklessly because apparently there was reports of street racing in the area. I was not charged on the scene for this but I'm scared i am going to be…
I got a ticket for failure to surrender insurance because I did not have my new insurance stubs with me, just a bunch of expired ones. My policy number has not changed, so I asked the officer to just run the policy number so I could prove that I was in fact insured. He said they don't have that ability, handed me the ticket and reminded me that my car could have been impounded.
So I'm in a bit of a pickle and would appreciate if someone could clarify something for me.
I'm less than a month away (test on April 6th) from getting my full G license, and got a speeding ticket recently. The ticket was for 49km/h over the posted limit of 100km/h on the 403 in Oakville/Halton region, but was reduced from the initial ~60km/h over.
