OHTA.ca

Hey everyone,

I was heading northbound on my bike downtown on friday. After the east/westbound lights went red and after a long pause I decided to get a head start and proceed before the light changed to green. About a block north of me an officer stepped out of an unmarked cruiser and pulled me over and gave me a $180 ticket. Now I see on this site that I should have been given points for it..but nowhere on the ticket does it say anything about points and the officer didn't mention anything about it.

Also, it's worth noting that the officer did not write my address correctly on the ticket.

Is there anything I can do here? I really can't afford this ticket..

ndrw wrote:but nowhere on the ticket does it say anything about points and the officer didn't mention anything about it.

Does not have to.

ndrw wrote:Also, it's worth noting that the officer did not write my address correctly on the ticket.

This can be fixed in court.

A block is a fair distance, you could try that angle.....However, with what you already wrote, you might be best to plea bargain.

I'm pretty sure somewhere on your ticket there is a note that the offense was on a bicycle and you shouldn't receive any points from it/it won't go on your actual driving record. Bicycle related offenses just carry the fines unless I've been getting incorrect information from people I know who have gotten tickets on bikes.

I'd still advise you to try to plea bargain at the very least since it still is no small fine. If you take it to court you at the very least buy yourself some time to get money to pay the ticket itself.

Just be careful about it - in Toronto they've mistakenly been applying demerit points from bicycle offences to driver licences. Don't let them do it! If they do, call MTO and get it fixed. So yes, Plenderzoosh is right.

A plea-bargain to a municipal by-law infraction would be a good choice: Usually cheaper, no chance of any paperwork snafu with demerit points down the line, etc.

I want to clarify a couple of points. Demerit points are for motor vehicles which bicycles are not. There should be no demerit points for your charge, UNLESS the ticket was issued in the City of Toronto. They WILL screw it up and issue you demerit points which you will have to get removed.

Also you mentioned the officer "stepped out" of a cruiser. Does that mean he passed you and then pulled you over or was he watching the intersection and stopped you as you approached him?

If he was north of you facing south, he could not see the light you were looking at. How does he know you were looking at a red light?

thanks for your replys.

From what I gather, the officer was stopped at the intersection, he was travelling westbound, saw me pass by, drove past me a block and waited for me to approach..

I am planning on going to the court tomorrow to set up a court date - if I choose to go plea bargain, do I have to do that then or does that have to wait until the actual date?

wait for the date. You can ask the JP to lower the fine or extend the payment time if say you are a student etc. Just a thought.