Traffic Tickets

[vlee]

What happens if you recieve a speeding ticket and your points are dropped but the fine only reduce. Will this still effect your insurance if they review your driving records? Has anyone every gotten off on the points and fines and if so how did you do it, was a traffic ticket fighter hired? I got my ticket last week on the 407 and the only way to have the ticket thrown out 100% is if the cop doesn't show up. It was for going 33km over on the 407 at 133km.

[Wild Weasel]

Insurance doesn't car whether there are points or not. They will treat every minor conviction the same whether there are points or not.

Points don't matter for anything at all except whether you eventually lose your license for having too many of them.

I learned this the hard way years ago, thinking I'd done well by getting points dropped only to find out afterwards that my insurance was still affected.

There are other ways to get it thrown out, though generally you'll need one of those ticket fighters to make it happen.

[Jeff-TheBiz]

IIRC... If you are convicted of the infraction, expect an insurance increase... that is if you have enough tickets to allow an increase...

"There is ticket and there is no ticket there is no try"
[/yoda]

[majic]

some ins co will allow you to have one MINOR conviction on your record w/o affecting the rates.. check with yours!

either way.. FIGHT IT..

[vlee]

Thanks guys, yah I'm going to get a ticket fighter and hope they can have it thrown out. I just hope it's not dropping the points and ticket only but everything.

Anyone know how long your points stay on record for?

[Broli]

Insurance doesn't car whether there are points or not. They will treat every minor conviction the same whether there are points or not.

Points don't matter for anything at all except whether you eventually lose your license for having too many of them.

I learned this the hard way years ago, thinking I'd done well by getting points dropped only to find out afterwards that my insurance was still affected.

There are other ways to get it thrown out, though generally you'll need one of those ticket fighters to make it happen.

learned teh same lesson!

fight it, is what i learned!

no points and a ticket still
for sure means increase when the check it!


good choice Victor

[Triplebogey]

I work for an insurance company and usually 1 minor traffic tkt will not impact your insurance rates, but it depends on the company. Also, If you have been with the same insurance company for a few years then there is a good chance they will not pull your Motor Vehicle Record on your next renewal.....just too costly to check them every year.
Usually they will review it every 3-4 yrs or if you have just had a recent claim. I got a speeding ticket 2 yrs ago and my rates have not been impacted as I have been insured with the same company for nearly 10 years.
I will still recommend to fight the ticket. One good strategy is to indicate that you will fight the ticket and when the court date is assigned to you, turn around and reschedule it.....there is a good chance the police officer won't be able make the new court date and the tkt will be thrown out

[mf5781]

I tried a few different ticket fighters before. No one actually could get them thrown out. They just negotiated to get the fines and points reduced. You can also do this by yourself by making an appointment with the prosecutor. The prosecutor will offer to reduce your fine and points. So unless you know for sure that ticket fighter will get it thrown out, otherwise just save your money.

Since a conviction is a ticket to the insurance company, even though there is no demerit point, the insurance company might increase your premium if it considers appropriate.

I recommend to take a chance to go to court and hope the cop does not show up and you can have a clean record with the insurance. Even the cop shows up, you still can ask the judge to reduce the fine.

[BM3]

to have a better chance of getting your ticket thrown out, get a court date, then change it after, usually, the first time you get a court date, it's when the officer is free. they mash a lot of his tickets together on that day so the chances of him showing up is high. if you change the court date, you might get a date when hes on-duty and he won't show up, i think you're allowed to have one court date change. it doesnt guarantee anything but it doesnt hurt to change it. and also the longer you wait, the higher chance you have of fighting it off because you are entitled to have a trial in a reasonable time. if you need to wait "who knows how long" just to fight it off, you can argue that you werent entitled to a trial within a reasonable time.

but one thing i also heard out of the blue, officers have to attend court for all their tickets now, is that true or is it just a rumour?

insurance companies will usually keep it on record for 3 years, the ministry of transportation will keep it on record for 5 years. and yes, a conviction of anything while driving will result in an increase, or at least the insurance companies will take notice. my friend got his ticket 5 years ago but insurance company never found out about it. so it should be off the records now =)

let me know if im wrong about anything i just posted. thanx

good luck

[Jeff-TheBiz]

^ The idea of making a change to the date to avoid the cop showing up, makes sense but keep in mind if you lose and a conviction is the outcome, the ticket stays on your abstract from the conviction date not the date of the offence.

[majic]

and also the longer you wait, the higher chance you have of fighting it off because you are entitled to have a trial in a reasonable time. if you need to wait "who knows how long" just to fight it off, you can argue that you werent entitled to a trial within a reasonable time.

i don't think if YOU postpone the court date, you can claim that.. but then again i've never tried but it's YOU asking for an extension due to whatever reason..

but one thing i also heard out of the blue, officers have to attend court for all their tickets now, is that true or is it just a rumour?

not that they HAVE to but they get paid OT so it's very favourable for them to go when not on duty

[majic]

^ The idea of making a change to the date to avoid the cop showing up, makes sense but keep in mind if you lose and a conviction is the outcome, the ticket stays on your abstract from the conviction date not the date of the offence.

which might work for someone whose ticket is to fall off the record within a year or so.. then he/she would only have 1 ticket at a time

[vlee]

wow thanks for all the guys i will do my best to get this thrown out!

[BM3]

you gotta understand that a lot of times, its the government's fault for delaying the court dates. they're so jammed packed with tickets because EVERYONE wants to fight it off and not have it on their records given the crazy insurance companies out there. my dad got a speeding ticket just under a year ago and still no word from them. when we get the court date, its probably gonna b a couple of months later so that makes it more than a year. that is a reason to throw it out because the court is backed up with tickets and therefore not giving you a fair trial under a reasonable time.

you could try and give your ticket to the ticket fighters and have them do the worrying for you but what they try to do to fight it off, u can do the same thing if you research and ask more knowledgeable ppl (aka NOT me) lol but ask around first, and see when your court date is. there really isn't anyway to fight off a speeding ticket if the officer shows up and has it on his records, caught u on radar etc.

i went to court myself for a blue license plate protector ticket. it was an obstruction of the plate offense and the officer showed up, he had paper work, notepads from when he gave me the tickets, told the judge in detail about my infraction which left me hanging, to cut it short, i won the case in the end which is irrelevant but what im trying to say is that the ticket you have is basically a conviction since there is no honest way to fight it except to look for errors to pounce on. ie: my uncle got lucky with his two tickets because BOTH of his tickets, the officer copied his driver's license wrong and the license plate number was wrong too

[Triplebogey]

^ The idea of making a change to the date to avoid the cop showing up, makes sense but keep in mind if you lose and a conviction is the outcome, the ticket stays on your abstract from the conviction date not the date of the offence.

That is a good point. I have seen many people disclose they have had a speeding ticket over three years ago and when we pull their abstract and it is 2 years old. I would ask if they fought the ticket and the answer was always yes---it was reduced not thrown out so the conviction still stands and it ends up being on your record longer than if you had just paid it and went on your way. It really is a gamble and depends on the type of ticket. If you get caught doing 20-30kms over the limit, if you are lucky, the cop may reduce it to 10-15kms/over. I would just pay it and move on. However if you were charged with 50+kms over or careless driving, then definately fight it as these are serious convictions which will really hurt your pocket book and insurability.

[majic]

you gotta understand that a lot of times, its the government's fault for delaying the court dates. they're so jammed packed with tickets because EVERYONE wants to fight it off and not have it on their records given the crazy insurance companies out there. my dad got a speeding ticket just under a year ago and still no word from them. when we get the court date, its probably gonna b a couple of months later so that makes it more than a year. that is a reason to throw it out because the court is backed up with tickets and therefore not giving you a fair trial under a reasonable time.

i understand that completely BUT say you get a ticket 01/07 and court date is 02/08 and then you say "oh oh.. can you reschedule it?" and they say sure.. 08/08 .. YOU effectively are asking for the extension and if you say something like 'it's been so long' they might just laugh at you and say "you wanted it to be this long" meanwhile if you just went on 02/08 the chances would be good that you'd get off on 11b

you could try and give your ticket to the ticket fighters and have them do the worrying for you but what they try to do to fight it off, u can do the same thing if you research and ask more knowledgeable ppl (aka NOT me) lol but ask around first, and see when your court date is. there really isn't anyway to fight off a speeding ticket if the officer shows up and has it on his records, caught u on radar etc.

1) ticket fighter will charge you $200-300 depending on what court he's gonna go to.. this DEFINITELY pays off for i) taking a whole day off work to fight it (losing a vacation day) ii) worrying about the process and crossing the t's and dotting the i's iii) him/her knowing the ins and outs you might miss when preparing for the case

2) i fought one of my own tickets and it was a mistake.. lol.. it was a small ticket 77 in 50.. i was hoping i would win b/c there was no signature on the ticket or rather, my COPY had a CIRCLE written in black ink pen (not the carbon copy) where the signature was supposed to be. I *honestly* thought the clerk at city hall circled the signature area and that i would just get off the ticket w/o any worries (due to a major error on the ticket).. when the time came to 'negotiate' with the crown/prosecutor they said, "would you like to plead guilty to a reduced charge of 65 in 50 and no points?" i said "but there's no signature here so shouldn't this be thrown out?" she started accusing me of saying that the cop was lying and all that shit.. omg i almost crapped my pants.. after that experience, never again .. the ticket fighters are the experts in this field.. they know the cops.. they know the system and the little stuff here and there.. the $ is definitely worth not having to go through this experience yourself..

look what happened to WW when he tried the same argument himself..
http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/sh...ket#post152592

it was reduced not thrown out so the conviction still stands and it ends up being on your record longer than if you had just paid it and went on your way.

incorrect..

violation date 01/07 (innocent till proven guilty).. court date 09/07 (reduction - guilty).. so your ticket is on your record effective 09/07 for 3 years so it's the same unfortunately you end up paying for it through insurance and the ticket itself ... BUT even if you lose, still worth going to court b/c if you had ANOTHER ticket on the record falling off 06/07 then for that period of time you would have had 2 tickets and if your ins co adjusts your payments only once a year.. you're ****ed..

[Triplebogey]

incorrect..

violation date 01/07 (innocent till proven guilty).. court date 09/07 (reduction - guilty).. so your ticket is on your record effective 09/07 for 3 years so it's the same unfortunately you end up paying for it through insurance and the ticket itself ... BUT even if you lose, still worth going to court b/c if you had ANOTHER ticket on the record falling off 06/07 then for that period of time you would have had 2 tickets and if your ins co adjusts your payments only once a year.. you're ****ed..[/QUOTE]


What I was trying to capture was that if you decide to contest the ticket and ultimately fail, the conviction date is delayed and then your 3 years commences. By fighting the tkt , thus delaying the possible conviction date can work both for you and against you. It's a bit of a crap shoot. One never really knows when their insurance company will pull their driving abstract because it is not done every year so you could have a couple of tkts and your insurance company may never know about them. But if you delay the conviction date by trying to fight it then you might end up getting caught by your insurance company on the tail end.
IMO: if it is a small conviction...just pay it. If you don't have any claims and don't change insurance companies for the next three years there is a good chance your insurance company won't know about the ticket.

[06Touring3]

I have gotten 4 speeding tickets in my short 22 years (3 in canada 1 in the US) and one thing i know for a fact is that mistakes on your ticket USED to be cause for throwing out of a charge but are now AMENDABLE...meaning they could spell ur name wrong or not sign it but ur still ****ed....they spelt my name wrong on my first ticket and when i fought it and met with the prosecutor she told me that previously i would have been able to use that to get it thrown out but now-a-days they just amend it and the judge verifies the amendment of the mistake on the ticket....

and fighting a ticket leaves u with only 3 options...
1. Pay it and deal with it
2. Schedule and Early Resolution Date and get it reduced
3. Pray that a God exists and book a court date

Also i know that the most a ticket can be lowered is 15k's and fines double at 35 over...so boy u got lucky....2 away...i know i came 1 km away from doubled fine

From my experience with my tickets i would never suggest hiring a lawyer for JUST speeding...street racing definetly...wreckless definetly...u get the jist....but as far as speeding tickets they're pretty straight forward to deal with.

P.S. DON'T EVER GET 2 SPEEDING TICKETS BACK TO BACK BECUASE YOUR INSURANCE WILL SKYROCKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ecokenny]

I haven't had any speeding tickets for a while until I received two within the span of two weeks back in May 2005.

First one:
I waited only two months to schedule a trial in Bracebridge (that's where I got my ticket)...it was 4 points 32 over in a 100 zone. I got it off with no points and a fine of $50.

Second one:
I waited for a little over a year to schedule my trial in Toronto. Ticket was 3 points 20 over in a 60 zone. I got it off with no points and $65 fine.

They normally let you go easy if you don't have a thick book of driving history. I remember when I went to Bracebridge, the procecuter (happened to be a young Latina chick~~ ) she has my driving history all printed out and she made a comment saying I had a very clean driving record (at that time).

[06Touring3]

well i guess they just wanted to **** me over lol

[vlee]

ecokenny: but still you were convicted of both offense, did you insurance go up?

[ecokenny]

Knock on wood I am very lucky that my insurance remains the same for the last 2 years. I even had a not-at-fault accident last year couple months prior to my insurance renewal last year (I was rear-ended, and the guy fled the scene.) I don't know if they have pulled my driving record at renewal...but one thing I know was I purposedly called them and asked if there was any way to lower my insurance premium and asked them how was my record...they said my record looked perfect.....so that left me wonder if they have ever pulled my driving record.

[maumau]

let me know if you really got a speeding ticket, i know a ticket fighter that can kill the ticket but he charge at least $700 per ticket

he kill 4 tickets for me up to now, all 100% win
even one for speeding 107km/h on a 60km/h zone in between bayview / leslie on steeles.

dotn laugh, i was one of the one that got caught there

[vlee]

oh really what's his contact number and is he a ex cop? what company does he work for or is he freelance?

Thanks!

[mf5781]

let me know if you really got a speeding ticket, i know a ticket fighter that can kill the ticket but he charge at least $700 per ticket

Does he provide written guarantee?