OHTA.ca

Hi there,

I have received the disclosure and noticed that it doesn't indicate the volume of traffic on the disclosure.

Basically, I was driving on 401 west bound toward Kitchener and along the way there is a construction zone where speed limit is 80 km/h. I was driving 120 KM/H following multiple cars. Through pacing of my car, I was pulled over and was handed a reduced ticket stating 95 km/h in a 80 zone. This officer continued to gesture his hands to pull over couple of other cars which were travelling at the same speed.

I was wondering if perhaps it is worth taking this to court.

I have attached the disclosure.

Any insightful/recommendation will be highly appreciated.

Thank you,

The bad news is that officer says he maintained 20meters behind you for 1km at a steady 120km/h.

The other bad news is that if you take it to court and lose, it will be raised back up to the 40 over instead of the 15 over. So this means 4 demerits instead of 0 demerits and probably a significantly larger fine. For insurance purposes though, there is probably no difference as insurance does not care about demerits and sees 1 over speeding the same as 49 over speeding.

The one defense that I see you could use is challenge the accuracy of the speedometer. Did the officer ever verify that the speedometer is accurate somehow? The problem with this defense is that it is JP dependent on whether they think the officer needs to prove it was accurate or not. Somebody experienced in court with good cross examination skills MIGHT beat this ticket. Somebody with no experience in court will most likely lose.

Thank you for your insight. The constable was in a black cruiser thus it was not a standard opp vehicle. When I was driving it seemed like this individual was tailgating me. I drove faster to change lanes later did I know he was pacing me. This was during a rush hour when going to work. Is there a law for tailgating?

If you feel someone is too close to you then the correct response is to gradually slow down and change lanes where possible.

Your opinion about being tailgated by a cruiser will not be a successful defence.

jsherk wrote:The bad news is that officer says he maintained 20meters behind you for 1km at a steady 120km/h.

The other bad news is that if you take it to court and lose, it will be raised back up to the 40 over instead of the 15 over. So this means 4 demerits instead of 0 demerits and probably a significantly larger fine. For insurance purposes though, there is probably no difference as insurance does not care about demerits and sees 1 over speeding the same as 49 over speeding.

The one defense that I see you could use is challenge the accuracy of the speedometer. Did the officer ever verify that the speedometer is accurate somehow? The problem with this defense is that it is JP dependent on whether they think the officer needs to prove it was accurate or not. Somebody experienced in court with good cross examination skills MIGHT beat this ticket. Somebody with no experience in court will most likely lose.

One other note of caution on Jsherk's posting. If your licence was a novice driver's licence (ie. G1, G2) by offence date, a conviction for 4 demerit points would result in a mandatory suspension or cancellation of your driver's licence as outlined here.

Reduced Speeding offences (especially at 15 km/h over the posted speed limit) will almost always be all-or-nothing defences. Years ago there was a greater degree of Officer non-attendance at court for trial dates. Currently that probability is very low due to changes in court date scheduling. There could always be the hope of the officer not being in attendance for the trial, or for the trial to be won. However, given the concern of the offence being amended back to the original rate of speed at trial, you may wish to retain a licenced paralegal if you wish to pursue that course of action.