got a ticket today

fat_stan

Registered User
hey guys,

i need some of your wisdom/advice: today i got a ticket for going 15 km over the speed limit, a ticket for $52.50. i know that there are no demerit points for this, but i have a few questions. first, the officer didn't write down my drivers licence number down properly on the ticket (he made a mistake), does that mean my ticket is garbage? second, if i pay the fine will my insurance company find out about this ticket and increase my rate? third, how long does a ticket stay on your driving record? fourth, are there anyways to have this ticket beat in court?

thanks,



stan
 
1) 15 over won't do much to your insurance, it will do something but not too much
2) tickets stay on your record for 3 years
3) if the cop wrote the licsense # wrong then you may have something, i'm not sure though.
 
fat_stan said:
hey guys,

i need some of your wisdom/advice: today i got a ticket for going 15 km over the speed limit, a ticket for $52.50. i know that there are no demerit points for this, but i have a few questions. first, the officer didn't write down my drivers licence number down properly on the ticket (he made a mistake), does that mean my ticket is garbage? second, if i pay the fine will my insurance company find out about this ticket and increase my rate? third, how long does a ticket stay on your driving record? fourth, are there anyways to have this ticket beat in court?

thanks,
stan

Hey Stan,

It might be best to fight it depending on how many tickets you have. If it's your first, I'd just pay it. You might have a slight insurance increase.

Your chances are good if the drivers license number is off. How badly is it off? 1 number/1 letter?

If you're interested, I have a guy that fought my tickets and has helped a lot of people I know. He's an ex-Justice of the Peace and is pretty good. PM me if you want his information.

Steve
 
ticket

i have no prior tickets and the driver licence number on the ticket is off by one digit. i don't think i'll be hiring somebody to fight this for me, i'm just looking at my options. if i decide to fight it i might as well do it myself instead of hiring somebody and save some cash. thanks for the suggestion BlueThunder90.
 
With it being off by one digit, it's unlikely they'll just throw it out. But, you could always fight it and if the cop doesn't show then even better :)
 
With insurance a speeding ticket is a speeding ticket. If you are going <49km the ticket gets classified all the same.
So if your doing 15 over, or 48. I would definitly fight it....
Take it to court, and say I was only going 15 over. Claim you thought the speed limit was 10 more then what you thought, if they give you a hard time... just mention how everyone makes mistakes, including the officer who wrote the ticket. Just don't be a dick about it and you should be fine.

But I would definitly fight it, also mention how it's your 1st ticket (if it is) that always helps. And insurance will hold it on your record for 3 years (I believe someone already mentioned that though)

Good Luck,
-Sam.
 
man

didn't know.. they write tickets that small... you would be playing a game of chance in court ..I got a nailed several years ago in Toronto @ 135 in a 100 klm on the 401 ..took it to court.. cause I was Pi$$ed ..that the cop pulled me over ..on the left hand side of the road ..inches from the hammer lane ..and made me get out of the car ...anyways I lost in court...but he had written my liecense down wrong ...and that is what the court processed my conviction ..under ...I have never payed the 300 dollar plus fine ..and is no record of it on my COR report ...and the ministry keeps giving me stickers for my plates .. :D dave
 
Go to court and say that you were not speeding .I don't know how it works i the Great White North but, here in mass you are allowed to question the officer,a lot of times the police down here send a "representative" for all the speeding tickets written so they don't have to send 20 different cops. Maybe you'll get lucky and it will not be your cop. Just ask if he was the officer on the scene if he says no,rest your case and say you WERE NOT GOING ANY FASTER THAN THE POSTED LIMIT and that you were sure of this and you will win!


Good Luck!!
 
..my 2 cents worth

Stan, you really didn't explain the circumstances surrounding this ticket so it's hard to judge what the outcome would be if you fight it in court. I would strongly urge you to get some sort of representation though. Try Pointts, they're very reasonable, and if its possible, most of these guys can get this type of minor ticket reduced or squashed without you having to appear in court at all.

One mistake on a ticket like that in no way guarantees they will throw it out, however additional mistakes made on top of this would go a long way to getting it quashed... did you carefully scan the rest of it? Is the time correct? Date correct? Intersection correct? Plate # correct? (you get the idea).

Other things to look for: did the road actually have speed signs posted? Were they clearly visible to traffic? Were there other cars right beside you at the time?
-------------

As far as your driving record is concerned, the infraction will stay visible for 5 years (*from date of conviction) on a "driver abstract", which the insurance companies all now get regularly on their drivers at policy renewal time.

Insurance companies claim they will hold infractions against you for three years *from the date of conviction. (What this means is, if it takes a year to get through the courts and you still lose, you have delayed the length it will appear on your abstract by that amount).

Demerit points are a bit different: they start running from the date of offense, last for only two years, but aren't applied until a conviction has been registered.

One last comment: Most insurance companies in the past would often overlook one ticket if it's minor (like this one is), however times are 'a changin' so I don't know for sure if you'll see any increase or not. I believe your record with them will be a factor in their decision (if you've been good, your abstract has been clean up 'till now, and you haven't filed any claims in the last 5 years, I doubt you'll see any increase).

Good luck with it, whatever you decide to do...
 
I would get in contact with the court and let them know that the licence number is wrong and they may want to see it .I almost positive it will get thrown out!:D
 
been there

Greg ... they will fix it right there ...in the court room ...if you tell them ..best to fight it ..and see what the sumons ..list for a driver liecence # ... if it's not the correct # ..don't show up for court and let it go through ...and it should get processed under the wrong # ..which will leave you ... with no record of it ...and you can check it @ one of those ministry instant teller machines ..in the malls ...once you know.. it's been through the courts ...15 over is nothing to worrie about ...no seat belt is worse ..since it takes points ...time for work ....dave
 
My opinion would be to fight it. Try to keep your record clean. Sometimes insurance companies give you a "first ticket is free". But what happens when (if) you get another one....maybe a larger one. Then the insurance company looks and say..."hmmmm, 2 tickets....." cha-ching.
The odds of the ticket getting thown out or reduced are better if you fight it than if you don't!:)

My wife got a speeding ticket, paid it right away, then the next week got another one. Finally convinced her to fight it and at least it got the second one reduced. Now she uses cruise control ;)

Good Luck.
 
My sister use to work for the Crown Attourney, when I got a speeding ticket the cop wrote dowm my year of birth completely wrong, he wrote like 1954 or something (mine is 1976) but my sister said it doesn't matter its still me on the ticket. The license plate number may be a way out though not sure. You can take your chances takign it to court though, depending on what type of officer gave you the ticket, if they do not show up for court its thrown out, but if it were an OOP officer then they have specific days for court each month and you will be assigned to theri day in court.

When I got my ticket it did not effect my insurance to my knowledge, I never said nothing about it and the insurance never question me either, my wife got one too,same thing. If its small I say just pay it and keep you mouth shut about it :)
 
Mistake on a ticket

Take it from a master of mistakes on tickets. The wrong D/L number is not that big of an issue. Is your full name and birth date correct? When they run that number in the computer they'll get a differnt name. Then they will run you by name and DOB and ta da the right D/L number.
I once wrote a ticket to a young man for 100 mph and his only complaint was the mistake I made on the ticket. I put an "F" instead of an "M" in the gender box for physical description. It got a few chuckles in court.
 
already done

i spoke with points and x-copper already and they both said the same thing, "just pay the ticket."

according to them, major insurance companies give you up to two minor traffic tickets within a three year period (some only one) and after that bend over and prepare to get raped.
 
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