Ask our Traffic Ticket Experts
September 2nd, 2010
Question: A witness reported me to the police. The witness was behind the bus and estimated that there was 20 feet between my car and the bus when the light started flashing. The posted speed limit is 50KM/H. Does the prosecture need to prove that I should be able to safely stop at within this distance?
Answer: There are a few sections of the Highway Traffic Act that you may have been charged under. At least two of them carry 6 demerit points against your licence upon conviction. I would recommend contacting one of our staff for a free consultation via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299 as we will require more information.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: School Bus, Traffic Ticket Defence
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August 28th, 2010
Question: I received a ticket today for not having my license on me. I forgot my wallet at home, I was 5 minutes from home. My partner offer to go and get it but the police officer refused and gave me a ticket for not having my license plus a speeding ticket. can i fight the no license ticket
Answer: If the two charges are being fought together at Court, it is possible that we may be able to have the Fail To Surrender Licence charge withdrawn as part of a pre-trial deal. The Speeding charge may be the one that will be of more concern depending on how far over the posted speed limit you were travelling and how many demerit points will be applied to your licence. I would recommend contacting one of our Agents to review the matter to see what can be done to reduce or eliminate the charges. We offer a free initial consultation via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: Fail To Surrender Licence, Speeding, Traffic Ticket Defence
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August 22nd, 2010
Question: I was parked on the street where there aren’t any signs stating that you cannot park there. I got a ticket for parking more than 3 hours. The street address on the ticket gives the address for the south side of the road, not the north side which I was parked on. It says 1290, but I was on 1275. Can I fight this?!
Answer: Unfortunately, we generally do not fight parking tickets as the cost to fight them is generally more than the benefit of having the charge dismissed. However, you can file the ticket with the Court yourself to contest it. If you can prove to the Court that you were not in contravention of any parking signs or municipal bylaws, then you may be successful in having the charge dismissed.
Good luck
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: Parking Ticket, Traffic Ticket Defence
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August 16th, 2010
Question: Hi, I was convicted under section 159.2 and would like to appeal. I believe I had a good case, but my witness was too nervous to come up to the stand (he’s esl) and the other was witness was out of town.. how can I file an appeal?
Answer: Good morning. It sounds like you may not have a very strong grounds for appeal. An appeal must be based on an error of fact, or an error in law. We generally recommend contacting one of our staff for a free consultation as soon as you have been issued a charge. After a case has gone to conviction, there is generally little that can be done and the work and cost involved to appeal a conviction can be prohibitive. You may however wish to contact one of our Agents to look at the specifics of your individual case via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299. Another option would be to develop the appeal on your own and file it with the Court directly. However, if you are going to file an appeal it would be best to have the argument prepared by a licenced Paralegal to maximize your chances of having the appeal granted.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: Appeal, Traffic Ticket Defence
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August 9th, 2010
Question: I was charged with failing to stop at a stop sign. The sign was about 10 m from the intersection, and while I did stop, i didn’t stop at the intersection. Under one HTA, if there is no line at the stop sign, you must stop at the inersection. Most people don’t know that, and as such, many have been ticketed. I went to trial and lost, which resulted in losing 3 demerit points. I want the points back, and would like to appeal. Is it worth it?
Answer: If a matter is going to trial, it is important to hire a paralegal to represent your interests. A licenced paralegal will be trained in the law and Court procedure, as well as know what to say (and perhaps more importantly, what not to say) to provide the best odds of winning the trial. By admitting before the Court that you had stopped before the intersection itself, you admitted guilt to the offence. An appeal must be based on an error of fact, or an error in law. Appeals are unfortunately not an avenue to have a second trial if you are unhappy with the outcome of the first and it sounds like there are no valid grounds for an appeal in your matter. Appeals can be costly and time consuming. In this case, you may unfortunately be stuck with the conviction.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: Appeal, Disobey Stop Sign, Driving History, Driving Record, Stop Sign - Fail To Stop, Traffic Ticket Defence
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August 3rd, 2010
Question: Today I got into an accident with another vehicle, i was travelling south in the right hand lane of a 3 lane roadway, the southbound being a double lane. I was intending to turn left across the two remaining lanes, and signalled my intent, checked my mirrors, and proceeded to turn. Unfortunatley, there was a vehicle in my blind spot, and I was hit on the drivers door by this approaching vehicle and we were both pushed into oncoming traffic, but both managed to drive safely off the roadway. I was doing less than 40 km an hour, but the other driver was not, I dont believe. He hit us pretty hard, but most of the damage was done to his vehicle. The police officer charged me with Change lane-not in safety contrary to highway Traffic Act section 142(1)…my question is, how can they charge me with an offense that says i failed to signal, when I absolutely signalled, and even had a discussion with the passenger in the other vehicle about her seeing me signal??? can i contest this??
Answer: Section 142(1) of the HTA reads:
The driver or operator of a vehicle upon a highway before turning to the left or right at any intersection or into a private road or driveway or from one lane for traffic to another lane for traffic or to leave the roadway shall first see that the movement can be made in safety, and if the operation of any other vehicle may be affected by the movement shall give a signal plainly visible to the driver or operator of the other vehicle of the intention to make the movement.
As noted, you signalled your intent to change lanes and checked to see whether the movement could be made in safety. However, the changing of lanes was not done in safety. Your case would likely be resolved at a trial, although it is also possible that the charge may be reduceable to a lesser offence. I would recommend talking with one of our Agents via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: Change Lane Not In Safety, Highway Traffic Act 142(1), Traffic Ticket Defence
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July 29th, 2010
Question: I got a speeding ticket in Windsor on Dougall PKY at 6th concession. I was fined for doing 110km in an 80km zone. I was stopped just feet away from where the speed limit increased to 100km/h. I told the officer I had set my cruise to 100 just prior to the sign. I asked when was the last time he calibrated his equipment, he said approx 5:15pm, I got the ticket at 6:15pm. also I had an expired insurance slip and he gave me a summons to court for no insurance. the date on the sumons and ticket are one day apart.
Answer: If I understand your case correctly, you have a ticket for the Speeding charge, and a separate summons for Drive M/V – No Insurance. The category of Speeding that you are charged in goes from 30 km/h to 49 km/h over the posted speed limit. If there was no reduction in the rate of speed issued on your ticket from the actual measurement of speed made by the Officer, than it is likely that the Speeding charge can either be reduced or possibly be eliminated. The No Insurance charge, is the most serious of the two offences carrying very high fines (bare minimum total fine of $6250 for a first offence, and $12500 if you’ve had a prior conviction) and potential suspension of licence for up to one year. If your vehicle was insured, then it is possible that the Prosecutor may be argued into dropping the offence to a charge of Fail To Surrender Insurance Card. Given the complexity of your case, and the seriousness of your charges and penalties, I would strongly recommend discussing the case in more detail with one of our staff via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: Insurance, Speeding, Traffic Ticket Defence
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July 28th, 2010
Question: My son was driving a vehicle registered under my name. I had forgotten to pay the registration renewal. He was pulled over and given a $400 ticket due to the unpaid registration. The vehicle on the ticket is clearly not the car he was driving, wrong make, wrong model, wrong reg #. Is this enough to be considered a fatal error on the ticket? The car he was driving has since been in an accident and is off the road.
Answer: Quebec law is not necessarily the same as Ontario law. In Ontario, given what you have stated, there may be a valid defence. However, I would recommend contacting a paralegal Court Agent in the local area to confirm whether or not this would hold true in Quebec.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London.
Tags: Error On Ticket, Traffic Ticket Defence, Vehicle Registration
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July 19th, 2010
Question: how does a 4 or 3 point speeding ticket get knocked down to 0 points (in your testimonies) when we go to court and get fines reduced and told that the lowest point reduction allowed is to 3?
Answer: Two arguments generally happen before the start of a trial once the Prosecution and Defence have reviewed the evidence: 1) Can the Prosecutor actually prove the case in the courtroom? and, 2) if so, is there a lesser offence that both parties can agree upon? If the case resolves under the first condition, the charge is withdrawn without any conviction registered against the Defendant (along with no fine, demerit points, suspension of licence, etc.). If the charge resolves under the second condition, a number of factors will come into play as to what lesser offence both parties can agree to. These can include what Court the matter is before, which Prosecutor is present for the resolution meeting, how far into a speeding range the Defendant is, how strong/weak the evidence is against the Defendant, whether there are any aggrevating factors involved, even how busy the Court docket is can play a role. In a specific case, it is always best to consult with a licenced paralegal to understand the factors that are likely to come into play with a particular charge. If you have been charged, we offer a free initial consultation with clients at our offices or via our toll-free number 1-866-801-8299.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London.
Tags: Speeding, Traffic Ticket Defence
Posted in Traffic Ticket Defence Advice | No Comments »
July 17th, 2010
Question: Got a speeding ticket for going 23 over the limit, everything is correct on the ticket except my driver’s license # is one digit off (1588 instead of 1558, clearly written). Is this grounds for ticket dismissal? Also, the ticket was given by Military Police and i am a Military member.
Answer: The incorrect driver’s licence number will not likely be a fatal error unless it is compounded by other errors on the ticket. However, a 3 demerit point charge can generally be argued down to a lesser 0 demerit point charge. I would recommend contacting one of our staff via our toll-free number for a free consultation to determine the merits of your case.
Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London
Tags: Error On Ticket, Speeding, Traffic Ticket Defence
Posted in Traffic Ticket Defence Advice | No Comments »
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