OHTA.ca

Hello,

I did an illegal U-Turn in Saskatchewan (U-Turns at traffic lights are illegal there).

I received $200 + 1 Demerit Point ticket. Will this show up on my Ontario Driver's Abstract?

Is it worth flying back to Saskatchewan to fight it? (I live in Ontario)

Thank you!

Most provinces and some neighboring U.S. states will have reciprocal agreements with each other in one way or another.

What that means is some offences will be treated no different than if they happened inside your home province.

It depends on the offense. There's a list of offenses that can translate over from province to province. Not everything will necessarily convert over from one province to another.

Demerit points would be added as if the incident occurred in Ontario. Example, if the offense translates over and carries 2 demerit points in Ontario, then you'd receive 2 demerit points and the points from the originating province are a non factor in Ontario.

Traffic offenses that translate over for demerits are:

- speeding

- failure to obey a stop sign

- failure to obey a signal light

- failure to stop for a school bus

- racing

- failing to remain at or return to the scene of a collision

- careless driving

There are also criminal driving offenses but they wouldn't apply to your situation.

It doesn't look like your particular offense would translate over for the sake of points. Not that it would matter anyways. Points are mostly useless. They disappear 2 years from the offense date and you'll likely never rack up enough in that time frame for it to matter. Insurance also doesn't care about points. They have their own system that determines rates based off of an offense, not by how many points you collect.

If you don't pay the ticket, the province that issued the ticket can go through Canada Revenue Agency and collect with interest. It can also cause problems next time you decide to drive in that province. Other than that, Ontario wouldn't have anything to do with collecting payment. That being said, it's best to not ignore any potential fines.

The most important issue is probably "how does this impact my insurance?"

Offenses can show up on your Ontario abstract as out of province convictions. So yes, it could very well impact your insurance as if it happened in Ontario. It depends on what the infraction is and if it translates over.

I don't know if your particular offense does or doesn't.

If you wish to fight your ticket, you can always find legal representation in that province to represent you on your behalf. If not, you can plead guilty and hope any insurance increase doesn't end up costing you more than it would have fighting the ticket in the first place.