OHTA.ca

Hi,

First off, I'd like to say that I'm not some crazy drunk driver. This is my first offense in 8+ years of driving (first ticket ever other than parking) and I guess I just wasn't thinking straight that day. My friend had finally landed a job so we celebrated and I had a couple of beers. I was coming home late at night. I was going against the cop car, while he was driving in the opposite direction, and as soon as he passed me, he made a U-turn and pulled me over. Being my first time, I freaked out. First I got the traffic ticket then he asked me repeatedly if I had drank. Being scared, I lied and said no (obviously not smart). He had me come out to his car and take the breathalizer, and before the result came out, he asked me again. At this point I figured there was no point, so i confessed to having a couple drinks. He got really mad that I had lied to him (altho I don't blame him), and immediately told me that my license was suspended for 3 days and told me to go back to my car, without showing me the result from the breathalizer. Soon he gave me the notice of suspension and my car was towed.

My questions are:

1. I've heard that there is no way to fight the 3 day suspension (for having over 50mg and under 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood). Is this true? I never got to see the result of the test and I really wasn't drunk at all. Shouldn't 2 beers be under 50mg? (I weight 165 lbs) How do I know that I got the suspension just because he was mad at me? Is there any way to challenge this?

2. I've read articles online some of which said the 3 day suspension does not have an effect on the insurance premium (since there is no fine (or points) other than the license reinstatement fee and it goes under "administration" suspension which is different from suspension due to demerit points) while others said it does affect the premium. Will this suspension, together with the speeding ticket, have a hit on my insurance? I had 0 demerit points and as I said this speeding ticket is my first.

3. Lastly, and most importantly, how should I go about the speeding ticket? Should I select option 3 and go to court? I've read many posts here saying that there is almost no case for speeding. I wouldn't even expect it to be completely thrown out but I'm hopeful that it may be reduced to speeding under 16km/h so that i don't get any demerit points. Would this be possible? Would the 3 day suspension for alcohol have an adversarial affect on me? Is there a chance that I might not even have a chance to cut a deal at the court because I had drank? Or should I play safe and select option 2 and hope for the best? Is there anything to lose by going to court?

Thank you for reading this long long post. Your help is greatly appreciated!!

While it may not affect your current premiums it is on your driving record. So if you change carriers they will see it. What would you do if you were the insurance company ad saw a 3 day alcohol suspension.

Only chance to fight it is at the roadside. You can demand a second test with a new alcotest.

I figure that while people are told it will not affect insurance it will. They will put you on a higher classification and charge you more.

Here from what I have seen if people get a Alcohol ticket( novice violation) they do not usually offer deal and will take it to court.

ops copper

OPS Copper wrote:

Only chance to fight it is at the roadside. You can demand a second test with a new alcotest.

However, the blood alcohol could still be on the rise and a person could go from a warn to a fail, they will then be arrested.

Read this article I wrote. It answers most of the questions you have.