“First Ticket - 131km/h On 401”

Received my first ever Badge of (Dis)honour from a trip to Montreal from Toronto, a speeding ticket for "131km/h in posted 100 km/h". The ticket is for $226.

A part of me wants to just pay it and get it over with, but after doing some research, I might as well fight it. Even if I lose in court, I won't end up paying more than what's on the ticket, correct? And yes, I am aware of the possibility of my insurance going up.

Summary of events:

- Drove out of the Mallorytown OnRoute, I merged onto the right lane of the 401. There were a few cars around me, there were cars on the left lane that were passing me. I don't know how fast I was going for sure, but my wife said I was doing 130km/h. Wives are always right, right?

- (the following all happened, I'd say, within a minute) I noticed a car drive out of the middle divider section (where cop cars wait) in my side-view mirror. Stupid me, I didn't slow down. I then noticed in my rear-view that there was a car tailing me briefly (like a few seconds). Stupid me, I didn't slow down. Shortly after, the flashing lights go on. I pull over and begin freaking out on the inside, trying to remain calm on the outside. Being the ripe old age of 28, and having driven for almost a decade, this was the first time I've ever been pulled over.

- The officer came to the passenger side window, introduced himself and said I was doing 130km/h. I gave him my license and registration, he walked away, and some minutes later, he handed me the ticket.

- He said I had 15 days to pay the ticket and asked me if I have any questions. While I was nervous about getting a ticket, I was equally, if not more so, nervous about merging back. There wasn't much shoulder for me to drive on to pick up speed and merge. I asked him how he would suggest I merge back. He looked at the road and said, "If you leave right now, the road is clear. Like right now." "Go, now! Go! Go, go, go!" he yelled.

- In a panic, I started the car, put it in drive, hit the gas and...that was it. Merged on safely and off we went with the rest of our trip. I stayed around 110km/h the rest of the way and watched dozens of cars pass us. I was definitely "scared slow".

After looking through the ticket I noticed that the license plate he typed in is wrong (it's a printed ticket, not handwritten). The officer put an extra letter in. Also, under "Witness" it says "No" but my wife was present. Was this another mistake on the officer's part or does my wife not count as a witness? Either way, I don't think these errors count for much in court anyways. Are they even worth mentioning in court?

Anything else I wrote above that can help me? I will ask for the disclosure once I receive my court date. What should I be looking for on the disclosure?

The wrong plate number is a non issue. The witness box is for the prosecution side, it lets the prosecutor know how many witnesses he will have should this matter go to trial (it has to do with the amount of time the prosecutor requests for trial).

You have nothing to lose but time and everything to gain by requesting a trial. If the court house is far away you might want to hire a local paralegal to represent you and let them deal with it.

For now I would plead Not Guilty and request a trial with the officer present.

Once you get your notice of trial, then you can request disclosure (officers notes and copy of speed measuring device manual).

You can pay it anytime before the trial with no extra costs, but in order to decide how to fight you need to see the disclosure first anyways, so nothing to lose by doing this.