How To Fight A Speeding Ticket In Ontario

Fighting Speeding Tickets

Fighting speeding tickets takes time and effort – here's how…

Can You lot Fight a Speeding Ticket?

The goal is to avoid the speeding ticket going on your driving abstruse, so that your insurance is not affected.

Fighting a speeding ticket is about three goals:

• keeping your driving record clear
  • delaying or reducing the bear on on insurance
    • saving any demerit points

Where you cannot win the ticket, delaying the conviction (the finding of guilt) to speeding, can reduce and filibuster the impact on your insurance.

Why Fight Your Ticket

Speeding tickets have more penalties than only a fine, such as:

• demerit points
• licence suspensions
• insurance increases
• employment implications

Where the driver disputes the ticket, the ticket does not go along the driving record or insurance until afterward whatever court date or when a conviction is registered at the courtroom.

Courtroom System Delays

Many times courtroom dates are delayed months and fifty-fifty years.

As of date of writing, many traffic tickets have been in limbo since March of 2020.  Where the commuter has asked to dispute the ticket by applying for a court appointment or trial engagement, the issue is:

• the ticket is delayed from,
  • going to the insurance
  • going on your driving record
  • reduces or removes any demerit points
• reduces the affect on insurance rates
• may avoid any licence suspensions
• can reduce or save/abolish the fine

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Speeding & Insurance

Where the driver has told the court that they wish to fight or dispute the ticket, the ticket does non continue the driving record until the case has completely gone through the court system.

While the speeding ticket is existence disputed then, the ticket is NOT on the driving record.

Any insurance implications and demerit points are also delayed until Afterwards any court date.

Many courtroom dates accept been known to exist months abroad and dates over 1 twelvemonth are not uncommon for some traffic ticket courts.

Disputing any traffic ticket or speeding ticket keeps the ticket abroad from the insurance until the next renewal date. For example:

• insurance is set to renew in April
  • driver receives a speeding ticket in Feb
• driver requested a trial date
  • the trial date was set for June
• subsequently the ticket was not on the commuter's tape for the insurance renewal in April
  • insurance tape is clear on renewal appointment
    • as no conviction has been registered
      • as the ticket is "awaiting" trial

In this example, whether the driver ultimately wins the ticket or not the driver avoids the insurance "seeing the ticket" until the adjacent years renewal.

Fighting Your Speeding Ticket

In legal terms a speeding ticket is chosen a "Strict Liability Offence", which means that the prosecution does not have to prove:

• why, or that you meant to speed, or intended to speed
• just that the driver was speeding

In traffic court the prosecution does Not have to bear witness that you intended to speed or that you intentionally were speeding.

All the police and prosecution accept to prove in strict liability offences is that you lot committed or "did the act".

The driver is e'er legally responsible for the speed of their vehicle.

Explanations are not Defences

You cannot defend yourself by saying you:

• didn't intend to speed,
• you had no intent to speed or
• that y'all had a reason to or,

A driver cannot come to traffic court and brand a defense force for speeding past maxim it was a error, error or give an explanation.

Explanations, explaining why the commuter did the act are not defences to speeding.

Two (2) Defences to Speeding

At that place are ii legal defences to speeding:

• rushing someone to the hospital
  • to save their life,
    • when information technology is impracticable to,
      • call an ambulance or police force
• imminent fear for your life
  • you actually speeding to become to a place of prophylactic,
    • eastward.one thousand. driving to the law station

Speeding to have intendance of someone in need of medical attention means that:

• the driver was speeding in lodge to accept someone to a medical facility,
• where no other reasonable means of transportation was available and
• the emergency was life threatening.

Imminent fright for your life means that:

• the driver was in actual fear for their life, and
• that they were speeding to get to a place of safety
• when no other means was available.

This includes speeding to become to the police station or some other place they would be protected from the threat, but does not include rushing to get dwelling or other similar identify.

The driver must accept been speeding to get to a known place of condom e.g. a police force station

Speeding Ticket Trials

Speeding ticket trials are won on:

• the officers evidence
• cross-examinations of witnesses
• legal technical arguments, e.g.
  • errors on speeding tickets
  • Lease applications
  • legal applications of the constabulary

Legal Technicalities

Too the two legal defences to speeding the prosecution must testify the instance to the court beyond a reasonable doubtfulness, and without errors, for example:

• is the officers name "printed" at the elevation of the ticket
• is the date of offence and time proper
• is the driver properly identified on the ticket
• is the location and municipality properly specified
• is the offence specified properly
• is the section number and Highway Traffic Act on the ticket
• is the fine the correct corporeality
• did the officer sign the ticket

Many of these issues are considered the essential elements of the charge that the prosecution must testify to captive a driver of speeding.  Where the information is lacking, in mistake and non provided to the guess, the guess may dismiss the charge.

Police Officers Evidence

In a trial for speeding the law officer will first take the stand.  The officers job is to explain to the approximate the "Who What Where When and How".

The officer must explain to the justice how they recorded the driver speeding.  The officeholder must tell the courtroom:

• I was stopped on King St for the purpose of conducting speed enforcement
• the posted speed at this location is 60km/h
• I was using a police radar that was working properly
• I observed a brown auto that appeared to be speeding
• I activated the radar device and recorded a speed of 80km/h
• I stopped the driver who identified themselves with an Ontario drivers licence
• I issued that person a ticket for the offence before the court

This evidence is chosen the police officeholder's "evidence in chief".

Source: https://ontariospeeding.com/fighting-speeding-ticket/

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