OHTA.ca

I am 19 years old, and unfortunately this will be my 3rd ticket. However one was NPP, so it is a completely different offence. I used my only 'free ticket' with my insurance, so this one will surely affect my rates.

I want to get all of this down while it is fresh in my mind.

On October 27th, I was driving on the QEW. It was raining. I hate driving behind cars in the rain because of the reduced visibility. I was in the middle of passing a vehicle and noticed an OPP in my rear-view. I quickly looked down at my speedo and saw 115. By the time he caught up, I was moving over into the right lane, and had reduced my speed to 100. I thought I was okay, as when I moved over the cop had sped up and appeared to be passing me. As he pulled up along side of me, he looked into my car, we made eye contact, and he immediately slowed and proceeded to pull me over. I was doing 15 over.. my fault. I would have gladly paid any ticket the officer was given to me if the following hadn't taken place:

He approaches my window.

Officer: I stopped you for speeding and a tinted license plate cover. License please. Is this your car?

Me: Mother's name, I pay for it - so yes, this is my car.

I quickly grabbed my license from my wallet and handed it to him. I then started to look for my registration and insurance but he left. He walked back to his car with my license only. Which I thought was extremely odd. When he approached me, he didn't say how fast I was going. I didn't have a chance to even ask him for what speed he was pulling me over. (Do I have no right to know?) After about a minute he steps out of his car, and I thought I was getting off, because it was so quick.

Officer: I'm giving you a ticket for speed. Read it over, mail it in.

Thats it!! These were the only words said by this officer. He did not ask me if I had any questions. He did not ask me if I understood.. nothing. He went back to his SUV and peeled out. He was gone before I even had a chance to see how much my fine was for. The offence was 120km/h in 100km/h zone - when I saw this, I wanted to ask him if this was a monetary fine only, or if it had points with it, but he had left. Once I got home and searched the HTA to see the fines for this, I found it was a 3 point offence. As I read the ticket over in my car, I also saw that he had recorded my address down incorrectly. I would have had him change this on the spot for me, but he was gone.

I had never fought a ticket before. I decided to go with the third option and went to the court house only yesterday to file my Notice of Intention to appear document. What I didn't know, is that they take the ticket when you file it. So now I have no copy of this ticket. (Stupid me) I do not know the offense number, or anything else. In the least, I am hoping to plea bargain to get a reduced 15 over, and only a monetary fine. But the grounds that I would like to go on, is that the officer was in such a hurry that he might have improperly recorded my speed. His haste was can be apparently shown in the mistake of the recording of my address.

Also, I was searching for a procedure as to what officers must do on a traffic stop, but did not find anything (where can I find this!?) I did not give him my insurance, or registration. He did not tell me how fast I was going, or allow me any time for questions at all. Am I not supposed to "understand" what is going on?

When my court date arrives in 3-6 months, I am going to file a disclosure request. What I hope to find are incomplete notes. This officer was in such a hurry that he had to have missed something. This will be a long process, but I would like to get my defense ready. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Gator

Hi there.

After reading over your post, it doesn't look like the officer did anything obvious that would warrant the withdrawal of the ticket.

I don't know the specific OPP policies and procedures- but these policies and procedures tend to govern the actions of the officers themselves and generally the courts are not interested in that when a trial is taking place for this kind of offense.

You may be able to apply for a Freedom of Information Act to obtain the policies and procedures of the OPP in writing.

Now, for your specific questions...

Gator wrote: I didn't have a chance to even ask him for what speed he was pulling me over. (Do I have no right to know?)

He explained the reason for the stop. He does not have to specify what speed you were clocked at. So, this is not a right afforded to you as governed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Gator wrote: But the grounds that I would like to go on, is that the officer was in such a hurry that he might have improperly recorded my speed. His haste was can be apparently shown in the mistake of the recording of my address.

That is not a defence that will be successful, in my opinion, from my experience.

Gator wrote:

Am I not supposed to "understand" what is going on?

He explained to you in plain English the reason for the stop- any further information, while obviously appreciated, is not required by law.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply.. from what you've told me, I guess my only shot at winning this is through improper/incomplete disclosure, or the off-chance that he doesn't bother to show up. I'd be happy with a plea bargain to reduce the points though!