OHTA.ca

Hi,

I have a problem and not sure what the hell to do about it. Few days ago I was stopped on a street going westbound against blinding afternoon sun following the flow of traffic. I drive a taxi for living in Toronto and have ACZ driver's license. I have a perfect record both for professional as well regular demerit points. I haven't been pulled over as a matter of fact in some 15 years for anything. Not even a 'check' of documents etc. I don't do stupid stunts, weaving in and out of traffic etc.

This time I was following as I said flow of moderate traffic coming downhill under a bridge and up the hill when ( and I was in a middle of group of cars ) noticed cop entering a street on top hill ( sun blinding as I said ) and basically creating a firkin total and complete confusion on the road with his behavior and then pointing at me and telling me to pull over. I was in a left lane so I had to cross right lane and then get to shoulder. He was beside me in a seconds asking Do you know why I pulled you over? I haven't even had a chance to open my mouth he said speeding70 in a 50 zone. I was with passengers ( clients ) at the time who looked confused to say the least. How the hell could I be driving 20 km/h faster then others when I was following the bloody flow of traffic. I was not passing anyone..zero..just some 3 car lengths behind a black car in front of me. the car wasn't pulled over no one else was aside my taxi. He promptly asked me for papers and blablabla all the stuff needed and went to his cruiser. Came back with a huge ars printout of a paper ( WHAT THE HELL HAPPEND TO SMALL TICKETS ) and said I should go to court to fight it so save points. He didn't show me the radar gun. nothing...zero..didn't say how he spotted me middle of a traffic..how far etc...

I suspect I was singled out because I drive a taxi - an easy target...kicker is I"M WHITE speak fluent English and don't look the 'taxi' look:) ( lol..He mentioned while chewing gum and blowing bubbles ( YEA I KNOW talk about behavior) that catching 'speeders' is lot more fun then answering radio calls. I didn't even try to ask a thing or talk since I was with clients but this firkin BS is annoying me. 50 bucks I don't care about but a ticket on my record could potentially cause problems with the professional insurance I need. You know how the bastards from insurance companies want money. To drive 20 km/h faster then others would mean I'd not only be faster 40 % then other cars around me but I'd drive into the back of car in front of me in 5 seconds flat. I said that I was following the flow of traffic and since car is automatic not standard it's harder to determine speed without constantly looking at the speedometer. I follow the rules and told him I wasn't even pulled over in some 15 years......wtf should I do with this? I suspect that the '70 in 50 ' is a BS excuse all get there...just issue the ticket to be 'productive' and not answer radio calls as he said since that is more fun. and it was rush hour traffic I might add.

Anyone has any ideas? ...i will fight it of course. 15 over is given but i don't believe i was speeding at all. Why wasn't the car in front of me pulled over if i was pacing it? aka driving same speed ...what a fkin utter BS...meanwhile there are child molesters and rapists running around free. Calls about BnE go unanswered, people getting shot at York University , old ladies robbed, few blocks away crackdealers selling sht to kids and they hide to catch 'criminals' who actually WORK for living for horrid offenses of imaginary speeding...disgusting...

I know my driving and question is HOW the hell do i prove that he is lying and that this is all a firkin shakedown...or his bloody gun is not calibrated or something if it's showing that ONE car out of 10 driving same pace is SPEEDING..

Somewhere in that rant is there a question?

All I can tell you is that there is almost no defense to speeding if you were indeed speeding even 1 kph over the limit.

If you are going to fight it and win you need either a technicality or have to create reasonable doubt at trial. Blinding sun or following the flow of traffic is not going to help you.

If the officer lost sight of you is another story if you can prove that sun was blinding the officer and mistook your cab for someone else's.

The officers notes will tell you everything you need to know about how he came to stop you for speeding so start there.

+1 to ynotp

I don't answer radio calls. I don't catch "Criminals" every day. If you ask me whether I have anything better to do than give out tickets, I'll answer "No". I'm a Traffic Officer. This is what I do while on duty. My other duty is as a Collision Reconstructionist. I'd much rather be giving you a ticket than seeing you at a collision. Hopefully just by being out there I can slow people down and improve their driving habits.

If you honestly want to fight your ticket, don't rant. It won't help you in court.

See other threads on speeding for some basic information on how to proceed with your particular offence.

Decatur wrote:+1 to ynotp

I don't answer radio calls. I don't catch "Criminals" every day. If you ask me whether I have anything better to do than give out tickets, I'll answer "No". I'm a Traffic Officer. This is what I do while on duty. My other duty is as a Collision Reconstructionist. I'd much rather be giving you a ticket than seeing you at a collision. Hopefully just by being out there I can slow people down and improve their driving habits.

If you honestly want to fight your ticket, don't rant. It won't help you in court.

See other threads on speeding for some basic information on how to proceed with your particular offence.

A 3 figure salary will help most justify just about any line of work =)

I'm so glad I make more than a 3 figure salary then!

Skylander2011 wrote:How the hell could I be driving 20 km/h faster then others when I was following the bloody flow of traffic. I was not passing anyone..zero..just some 3 car lengths behind a black car in front of me. the car wasn't pulled over no one else was aside my taxi.

You weren't charged with "driving 20km faster than others". You were charged with 70 in a 50. Who cares if you weren't passing anyone. It doesn't mean anything. As for your vehicle being the only one pulled over, they decided to work one car at a time. You just happened to be the one. "Other people were doing it" is not a defense. You got caught and that's all that matters.

Skylander2011 wrote:He didn't show me the radar gun. nothing...zero..didn't say how he spotted me middle of a traffic..how far etc...

He is under no obligation to conduct a trial at the side of the road. You have no right to demand to see a radar gun. You are simply being charged. If you have questions regarding how your speed was calculated, where your vehicle was positioned, where the officer was, etc, you can request a trial and go from there.

Skylander2011 wrote:I suspect I was singled out because I drive a taxi - an easy target...

I suspect you were pulled over because you were speeding in a 50 zone, which are typically more prone to speed enforcement than most areas. What makes you an easy target is going 20 over.

Skylander2011 wrote:kicker is I"M WHITE speak fluent English and don't look the 'taxi' look:)

Congratulations.

Skylander2011 wrote:To drive 20 km/h faster then others would mean I'd not only be faster 40 % then other cars around me but I'd drive into the back of car in front of me in 5 seconds flat.

Sorry to be blunt, but your formula is garbage. You were charged with 70 in a 50. Whether or not you were 20km faster than other vehicles is irrelevant. All it proves is others were also speeding and you were the one who got pulled over. Had you worried about yourself and not others, you wouldn't be in this position.

Skylander2011 wrote: I said that I was following the flow of traffic and since car is automatic not standard it's harder to determine speed without constantly looking at the speedometer. I follow the rules and told him I wasn't even pulled over in some 15 years......wtf should I do with this?

You followed the flow of traffic... and you caught were speeding while doing so. What's your point? As a driver of both standard and automatic vehicles, I have no clue what you're rambling about. If you find it difficult to keep track of your speed based on transmission, perhaps you shouldn't be driving till you learn how to do so. You haven't been pulled over in 15 years but now you have. It doesn't make you any less guilty.

Skylander2011 wrote:Anyone has any ideas? ...i will fight it of course. 15 over is given but i don't believe i was speeding at all. Why wasn't the car in front of me pulled over if i was pacing it? aka driving same speed ...what a fkin utter BS...

Because you got caught and the other driver didn't? Why is it that when a cop pulls over a single vehicle that every other speeding vehicle in the world suddenly doesn't pull over?

Skylander2011 wrote:meanwhile there are child molesters and rapists running around free. Calls about BnE go unanswered, people getting shot at York University , old ladies robbed, few blocks away crackdealers selling sht to kids and they hide to catch 'criminals' who actually WORK for living for horrid offenses of imaginary speeding...disgusting...

Skylander2011 wrote:I know my driving and question is HOW the hell do i prove that he is lying and that this is all a firkin shakedown...or his bloody gun is not calibrated or something if it's showing that ONE car out of 10 driving same pace is SPEEDING..

Sure, he's lying. You can't grasp the concept of speeding versus traveling blindly with the next driver, but he's lying.

Decatur wrote:I'm so glad I make more than a 3 figure salary then!

LOOOL, you know I meant six figure. It was late and I was tired =)