OHTA.ca

Hey everyone.

So last night I was coming home from Haliburton (SB 404 before Stouffville road).

I was in the left lane and realized that my exit was coming up. To my right were a line of vehicles so I sped up to overtake them.

As I was coming down a hill I noticed the officers headlights come on in the shoulder, looked down at my speed and saw I was around 145.

I began slowing down and moved over to the right lane to get off the highway at my exit. The officer followed me off and pulled me over.

She came up to the car and said she clocked me at 146. I was very apologetic and explained the situation and that I haven't received any sort of ticket in over 6 years.

She took my information back to her car and came back with a ticket for 35 over.

She even took the time to explain to me the new option on the ticket (option 2) and said it was a new option so that "no ones time gets wasted".

Now, being this is my first ticket what are my chances of it getting thrown out or at least reduced further?

From what I've heard, 35 over is considered a "Major" violation and will most definitely increase my insurance. I know I made a mistake, and am willing to pay for it, it's just that it will affect my grandparents insurance as well since we are all insured on the vehicles in our household.

I definitely would like to get it dropped if possible, even if it means i have to spend money on a paralegal service.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Here's a copy of the ticket I received, just in case someone can find a fatal error

All of the information I looked at seems correct

Ticket looks good and no errors there. You can always choose option two and see if the speed will be reduced further but since it was at roadside it may not be reduced more by the prosecutor.

capz wrote:From what I've heard, 35 over is considered a "Major" violation and will most definitely increase my insurance. I know I made a mistake, and am willing to pay for it, it's just that it will affect my grandparents insurance as well since we are all insured on the vehicles in our household.

I'd check with your insurance provider on that. Some consider 35 over a major violation, but I believe most are 50+.

So I really shouldn't even bother fighting it?

Really uneducated in this area since the only ticket I've had was for 12 over and I never bothered fighting it (6 or so years ago)

Would the prosecutors know if it was reduced already? I'm just really not sure how this works.

capz wrote:So I really shouldn't even bother fighting it?

I'm not saying that, but it might not have the impact on your insurance that you first thought. All tickets can impact your insurance rates, but a major conviction is much more drastic.

And yes, the prosecutor will likely know your ticket has already been reduced. Although the officer didn't mark the fact on your ticket (typically they put an "R" int the code box), the prosecutor will likely obtain a copy of the officer's notes which would note the reduction.