OHTA.ca

There seems to be excellent advice on this forum. Here's my tale of woe:

On tuesday morning I was driving a rental car (my van died last week) from Midland to Ottawa, with my 11 and 8 year-old daughters. I was stopped on Highway 12 in Tay Township. The unmarked police car was in the opposite shoulder facing me, and he pulled out (U-Turn) with lights blazing to block me and force me to pull over (I thought they just waved you over!).

When the officer came up to the car, he told me to give him my license and said (shouted actually in a very nasty tone) "You were going 110 in an 80 zone! 30 over! And you have kids in the car! Think about if $225, 5 demerit points and your children's lives were worth it." Then he went to the back of the car, wrote out the ticket, returned and said angrily: "Is it worth the lives of your kids, $225 and 5 points?". Then he gave me the ticket and went back to his car. That was the whole of our conversation, except when I said "I'm sorry" when he first approached the car.

I was so shocked that he didn't even talk with me - he didn't even give me a chance to ask to see the speedgun, or explain anything. He made out the ticket for 111km in a 80km zone, and he didn't reduce it at all.

Hey, I now know I was going way too fast on that highway, but the 5 points (I think he was wrong and it's 4 points by what I read here - the ticket doesn't mention points) is pretty harsh. I'd like to try to at least get a reduction (I can't see any fatal errors on the ticket).

I have a clean driving record, I'm a 49-year old woman, and I wasn't used to the rental car accelerator and acceleration - I've had it on cruise control most of my trip because of that, but had just got onto that highway so hadn't set it yet.

Any advice?

If I decide to fight it, I'll have to use a paralegal - I live in Ottawa, and it's not likely I'd travel to Orillia to appear in court.

Thanks all.

I was so shocked that he didn't even talk with me - he didn't even give me a chance to ask to see the speedgun

The officer doesn't have to do either one.

If you would like to use anything that the officer said then you should write it all down. If you want to use a paralegal, there is a form at the bottom of every page on this website.

And last time I checked, 110 on HWY 12 around Orillia is not that fast. It's wide open and the sight lines are good. Squishy, correct me if I'm wrong.

I think she's been watching "Jacked" too much, what with the blockade style takedown and all!

Just so you know, my most recent ticket was for 32 over and the cop said nothing but "here's your ticket for speeding. There's options on the back". You were just unfortunate enough to get one on a power trip (or other biological anomaly).

Don't let it bug you. Your kids were so NOT in immanent danger. The metric system put the word "hundred" in to most speed related issues, which makes it sound much worse than it is. Heck, you were only doing 68mph. There, that's a much smaller number!

Bookm wrote:The metric system put the word "hundred" in to most speed related issues, which makes it sound much worse than it is. Heck, you were only doing 68mph. There, that's a much smaller number! Wink

Paralegal would be a good idea. It may cost more than the actual ticket, but it's not just the $$$$ on the ticket, it's the insurance costs. In the end, hiring a paralegal usually ends up costing less overall than just paying it. They should be able to get it reduced or dropped. That's my suggestion, anyway. X-Copper sponsors this website so might be worthwhile to get in touch with them, think there's a bit of an extra fee for them to travel to Midland but shouldn't be a big deal. See what they say.

Good luck with it.

Reflections wrote:And last time I checked, 110 on HWY 12 around Orillia is not that fast. It's wide open and the sight lines are good. Squishy, correct me if I'm wrong.

HWY12 actually tends to drop below the limit of 80 around Orillia. Don't know why.

HWY11 tends to flow at around 120, 30 above the limit.

Thanks for all your comments. I've contacted both Xcopper and Pointts. I have an appointment with Pointts tomorrow. They seem to be more expensive than Xcopper, but seem to know what they're talking about. They told me I have 45 days to send the ticket back, not the 15 it says on the ticket (there's a 30-day grace period). So I have time.

They figure they might get me to 15 over, but not likely to get rid of the ticket altogether. As long as the points are reduced, I'll be very happy!

I've got my new car now (no more rental!).