OHTA.ca

Hi guys,

Enjoyed my the long weekend in Blue Mountains and got speeding ticket on the way home

Here is what happened.

Went right onto HWY 26 from where our cottage was, pretty sure that limit was 80 there then limit quickly changes into 60 then into 50... to be honest i didn't notice the signs as i just started driving, merged into a highway - gained speed so people behind don't tailgate me and such...

Not much cars on the road, couple behind me at alright distance - in other words the speed felt fine i wasn't trying to speed - the area the is just any other HWY - just a forest both sides of the road but speedlimit is 50

Kids were crying at the back so it helped to miss those speed limit signs.

Within couple of minutes of driving OPP car from oncoming lane pulls me over - i was reducing the speed at moment too.

Had no idea what he is stopping me for at the moment as everything felt perfectly fine

Got the 35km over, $265 - going to court with it for sure.

Please give advise on my reasoning - would it be a good explanation or am i better of hiring a paralegal?

Looking at OntarioTicket.com vs X-Copper right now - anyone know who is better?

Last time i went to court saw bunch of paralegals simply doing a plea bargain without even trying to defend - which you can do yourself. After that I got an impression that this is pretty much what they try to do in court. Am i right or wrong? Is it worth dealing with those guys?

Please help,

Anton

Whether it's worth it to hire a paralegal depends on how much time you have to put into the matter yourself and what you're looking for as an outcome. The truth is that anyone can walk into a first attendance meeting with a prosecutor and get a plea deal if they've done a little research and look like they know what they're talking about.

If you want to conduct a trial, you might be better off going with a paralegal if you don't have the time for that.

Speeding tickets are particularly easy (vs. other tickets) to get a plea on, especially if they were not reduced at the roadside. Prosecutors will usually offer a 10 km reduction to start and then you can negotiate further. 10 km would bring you from 4 demerit points to 3, which is much better.

Obviously you'll have to decide if it's worth it for you.

Thanks for a reply Simon.

Time wise it should be a problem for me to spend a day on this at the court.

I wonder if there is a possibility of me showing up there and prosecutor being an *EDIT* and not giving me the plea dealio -

say i would just explain to the judge that even though i am guilty there are some reasons and the 50 zone wasn't in the city it was a regular highway just like any other, i got distracted by the kids crying, it was hot and was trying to get AC going and since I just started going a few minutes ago my attention to details wasn't great etc.

Basically just explaining that i'm not a madman and i wasn't trying to speed - it was just a coincidental set of crappy events.

Does explanations like this touch anyone in court at all?

Plea deals offers depend on a number of factors, but if you have a good record and there are no serious aggravating factors to your speeding, I can't see why you wouldn't be offered a plea of some kind.

You can plead you case with all of the factors you mentioned, but it's not really important with regards to the commission of the offence, since speeding is a strict liability offence, all they need to do is prove that you did speed. Unlike criminal offences, the intent to speed is irrelevant.

Factors like those might be considered mitigating factors with regards to sentencing, but they could just take the perspective that everybody faces those kind of distractions and they don't excuse inattentiveness.

since speeding is a strict liability offence

Respectfully diagree. Speeding is an "absolute liability offence". It is a well established fact and was ruled as such in accordance with Sault Ste. Marie test.

Or in Ontario...

Speeding is absolute liability unless the defendant is charged with stunt driving, speeding 50 km/h over the limit under s. 172 of the HTA. Then it is strict liability.

Indeed, you are correct. I am aware that speeding under 50 is an absolute liability offence and over is strict. I've even stated that in previous posts. This was a type-o.