“Two Questions - Suspended License And Failure To Report”

Hello, Just signed up for this forum... I have two issues:

In Feb I got pulled over by the RCMP with their video license plate scanner. I was going to my dad's funeral. The police said I was drinking, I said no I wasn't... so they issued me an alcohol test which I passed with flying colors. They then said my license was suspended for an unpaid fine which they stated i was given a notification of. I don't remember seeing that in the mail. I live in Quebec and they caught me in Ontario where the suspension is. I rarely drive in ontario, aside from attending the funeral for my dad.

So, they told me I couldn't drive anymore in Ontario only until I paid the fine I forgot to pay (for a dirty license plate 2 years back).

I paid the fine that day then waited 4 days to reinstate my Ontario license. I have a court summons to attend court in mid-March.

Any thoughts on this? I don't really want to plea guilty for I wasn't aware of the suspension or I would have remedied the situation once I knew...

Then I get a letter in the mail a week later from the local police stating I was in a collision in Decemember. This I can't recall. Maybe I backed into someone's gate or bumper. I can't see it being anything major for I can't recall hitting anything and I have no damage to my vehicle. Anyhow, I sent a mail/voice message to them stating I need more details/disclosure on the matter because I can't recall the collision. I get another mail back stating they want me to go down to the police station to get photos of the vehicle and to give a statement.

Am I obligated to do this? (give a statement and bring the car down to get photographed - there is no damage on it from what I can tell but it is an older vehicle 2009)

what if the damages are under 2k? does one really need to report a collision if its under 2k now a days (ie a bumper made of plastic is around 1500 bucks for most cars if that's what it was, I'm really not certain for they won't give me more details on the collision)

They stated it would be a violation of failure to report in the Ontario highway traffic act.

What fine is this? impact to insurance?

any impact to Quebec license?

Anyhow, as mentioned, I don't drive in ontario hardly... I now live in Quebec and spend most of my time there...

jac02010 wrote:Hello, Just signed up for this forum... I have two issues:

In Feb I got pulled over by the RCMP with their video license plate scanner. I was going to my dad's funeral. The police said I was drinking, I said no I wasn't... so they issued me an alcohol test which I passed with flying colors. They then said my license was suspended for an unpaid fine which they stated i was given a notification of. I don't remember seeing that in the mail. I live in Quebec and they caught me in Ontario where the suspension is. I rarely drive in ontario, aside from attending the funeral for my dad.

So, they told me I couldn't drive anymore in Ontario only until I paid the fine I forgot to pay (for a dirty license plate 2 years back).

I paid the fine that day then waited 4 days to reinstate my Ontario license. I have a court summons to attend court in mid-March.

Any thoughts on this? I don't really want to plea guilty for I wasn't aware of the suspension or I would have remedied the situation once I knew...

If you ignore a ticket, the expectation is that your license will be suspended. You can make the argument how you never received notice, but i'd imagine that to be more of a courtesy, not a requirement.

If you're easy to deal with, explain that you don't reside in Ontario, were unaware of a suspension, never received notice, and show you dealt with the fine immediately, there's a chance they might let the charge slide.

If you go in defensive, who knows where it can take you.

jac02010 wrote:Then I get a letter in the mail a week later from the local police stating I was in a collision in Decemember. This I can't recall. Maybe I backed into someone's gate or bumper. I can't see it being anything major for I can't recall hitting anything and I have no damage to my vehicle. Anyhow, I sent a mail/voice message to them stating I need more details/disclosure on the matter because I can't recall the collision. I get another mail back stating they want me to go down to the police station to get photos of the vehicle and to give a statement.

Am I obligated to do this? (give a statement and bring the car down to get photographed - there is no damage on it from what I can tell but it is an older vehicle 2009)

what if the damages are under 2k? does one really need to report a collision if its under 2k now a days (ie a bumper made of plastic is around 1500 bucks for most cars if that's what it was, I'm really not certain for they won't give me more details on the collision)

They stated it would be a violation of failure to report in the Ontario highway traffic act.

What fine is this? impact to insurance?

any impact to Quebec license?

The $2,000 threshold is a requirement for reporting the offense to an officer or a collision reporting centre. It doesn't mean you can leave a collision without notifying the other party of damages.

If you were not in any kind of accident then you have absolutely no obligation to go see the police or answer any questions. If they had enough evidence to charge you then they would have already done that. You can ignore the letters that they sent you.

But if you were in a collision (and from your post I suspect that you were) then you would be required to do so.

" (and from your post I suspect that you were)" typical cop response, always thinking everyone is guilty until proven innocent. My dad was a cop, he was exactly the same way... saw everyone as the enemy out there... didn't give anyone a second chance etc... accidents do happen sometimes and sometimes people aren't aware of hitting something, esp during this nasty winter we just had with all the ice and snow buildup (some of the roads were just a complete mess, city didn't get to cleaning them for weeks... ). Plus, I asked the police officer investigating this for more details/disclosure on what I hit - was an object, vehicle, UFO? They wouldn't release this information, maybe I hit a UFO? who knows...

I don't think I received anything in the mail regarding the suspension. I completely forgot about the dirty license plate ticket for I was going through a nasty separation at the time etc... sure wish I could hand out tickets to dirty people that would make more sense chasing after bank robbers (including some ex partners) than chasing after those with a bit of oil after spray from spraying the vehicle for the winter... (ie dirty license plate).

Anyhow, thanks to those that provided information on this matter... Going to see a couple of professional lawyers etc.. this week to get some advice on the matter just to make sure. Who knows what cops will do now a days to get their golden stars... convictions build empires... don't want to be another statistic building the empires...

Actually if you knew anything about me the picture of how you see coppers and how I policed are completely at odds.

The reason I said I suspected was due to some simple elements of statement analysis that I am not going to get into here. I do disagree that you can hit something and not know it unless it was something very soft.

Bottom line is you got a ticket, ignored it, should have known that would lead to a suspension but ignored that fact as well.

I also suspect that the officer who pulled you over didn't stop chasing a bank robber to pull you over.

I'm sorry the police in Canada are such a disappointment to you.

yes contrary to what people think , you are in fact guilty and have to prove otherwise.

pity thinks nowadays are so much harder.

Was a time when criminals wore stripe suits a black mask and had a bag marked SWAG

so much more harder to target criminals

LOLZ

jac02010 wrote:"always thinking everyone is guilty until proven innocent.

bobajob - yep, it is a guilty until plea system now a days, most of the time people plea out a case because to take something to trail takes months and months, esp if people are held at a detention center... many just plea out a case to get it over with, even though they may be innocent. As for tickets and fines, good luck fighting them. Mostly a plea bargain system, not many take things to trial now a days.

The criminal justice system is just plagued with cases, luckily the supreme court put this 30 month period in place to take something to trial. People were waiting months to years for a trial

Thus, many would just plea out their case because it would take longer to take something to trial than it would to do the plea time.

argyll - I've also worked with cops for 10 years (not in traffic of course or I wouldn't be asking these questions)... Cops, mostly all A type personalities. Most had their head up their arse so far up it that they thought their sht didn't stink... they can pretty much get away with murder cops can. Plenty of examples of that... I've seen OICs yell at people and drive like manics... probably the worst drivers out there.

Statement analysis, that's a bunch of horsecrp if I've ever heard it... the best of bullshtrs can get out of anything... I've seen that many of times. Unless you have a polygraph, good luck telling if someone is a liar or telling the truth. Especially when you can't see their facial expressions nor movements while making a statement.

The ticket, forgot about it... sometimes life gets in the way bud. Sht happens....

Yet the justice system isn't very forgiving for its all about convictions and stats.

The officer that pulled me over for the suspension did so because the video license plate reader came up with my plate/license having a suspension, which I didn't know about.

"I'm sorry the police in Canada are such a disappointment to you" -- there are some good cops out there, but they get pushed down to the bottom, the sht bubbles to the top... seen my share of corruption in many areas from policing, to defence, etc... there's enough of it in canada, its just a smartly corrupt system. Yah don't see the corruption till yah step in it. Its like a pretty leaf but under that leaf is smelly sht... thus, the reason why I left after 10 years, had enough of dealing with the mindless piddly sht everyone was chasing after to increase the stats/build the empire... the small stuff was an easy catch, meanwhile the big stuff just went in one door and out the other (hard on the soft stuff, soft on the hard stuff).

We have some serious problems in this country bud, fetynal is a huge huge one... its killing a lot of our youth. I'd sooner see our 90k a year cops, which we pay for with our overburdened taxes, chasing after the big stuff... But, the big stuff doesn't build empires like the small stuff does... (its the low hanging fruit eh that builds the empires... the small stuff cause there is plenty of the small stuff out there to build the stats which builds the funding which builds the empires... ).

nuf said, I could go on and on about this sht...