OHTA.ca

This is a great website you guys have here. Anyways, here is my story:

I was driving on Highway 17 North, just past Sault Ste. Marie. It was still an 80mph zone. I was speeding, I know, wrong thing to do, and I learned my lesson from now on (this is my second ticket in 3 years, first was minor, 14km over, back in April 2011, which I simply paid). Anyways, an OPP car pulls out of a road ahead of me and as he is coming towards me, he lights up, pulls a u-turn and pulls me over. He asked for my licence, registration and insurance, which I give him. He comes back and says he could have ticketed me for $300, but he is giving me a break using his discretion and reducing it in half. Ticket says 114kmh in an 80kmh zone. Set fine on ticket is $127.50, plus the victim surcharge. I did some research on the set fines and couldnt figure out how 34km over added up to $127.50. Then, I come across and realize that the cop put the set fine under schedule "C" for Photo Radar, which works out at $3.75 X 34km.

I always thought photo radar was taken from the street. The ticket says speeding under section 128. Maybe he had photo radar on his cruiser, I do not know, he never said.

Anyways, I read that if he made an error, it can be quashed when the JP looks it over, and for that to happen is do nothing. Worst case scenario, they convict me, I appeal showing the error and they throw it out.

Should I go this route?

The correct set fine for 34 over would be $204 ($259 total payable), so he may have been looking at the wrong fine table. He wouldn't have had photo radar as that's no longer in use in Ontario.

You therefor might be able to get your ticket quashed due to the incorrect set fine.

Yeah, he most definitely looked at the wrong table. So, should I just ignore it then? What happens after the 15 days elapse? And, if the JP doesnt realize the mistake, what does the appeal process consist of?

Check out this post for how to deal with this...

Thanks azdjedi, good info.

What are the chances of the JP finding the error? And how long would it take for me to know if it was quashed or not?

You should know within 45 days or so--at least, it was in my case.

To be honest, I'm not sure of the odds. I don't know the process well enough to know if the JP looks over everything or just glances at it. In my case I thought it would be quashed because the Total Payable was wrong, but I got convicted anyway. It may be different in your case because it was Set Fine.