OHTA.ca

So as the subject line indicates, I've had some pretty bad luck in the last few weeks.

I received my first ever moving violation notice while driving a brand new car for work. It was an event for a major car brand, and I was returning home after a crazy long day. I'm used to driving an older car with a less responsive gas pedal and less powerful engine, so I didn't realize that I was doing 113km/h in an 80 zone. I got caught in a downhill speed trap and got a full ticket for 33km/h over, $283 total payable and 4 demerit points. I have already applied for an early resolution.

One week later, I was driving my personal vehicle and simply wanted to maneuver around a vehicle going below the speed limit. As this requires some speed to do quickly and safely, I pushed on the gas. I should have remembered this part of town was another speed trap, and got a ticket for doing 70 in a 50 zone, $95 total payable and 3 demerit points. I also applied for an early resolution. At this point I swore off driving unless for work.

Another week passes and I have to drive a rental vehicle for the company I work for. It was a rainy day, so I was making sure to drive right at the speed limit, constantly looking around. I was on the Gardiner Expressway, and had noticed a police officer on the shoulder dealing with a small fender bender. As I looked away from this scene, traffic in front of me had stopped, while I hadn't. I slammed on the brakes and attempted to swerve away, but the road was wet and I couldn't get out of the way fast enough. My rental vehicle rear ended another, thankfully no one was seriously hurt. I ran to the officer that was already on site, who was so calm and helpful in such a stressful situation. My good manners and respect for authority didn't help me as he still issued a Careless Driving charge, $490 total payable with 6 demerit points. I haven't responded to the ticket yet.

I've been reading materials about fighting the tickets myself, but I also don't know how good at arguing I actually am, and think maybe I should just use X-Copper or another legal service to help me handle all of these. I feel very overwhelmed. I just want to eliminate the charges or at least reduce them as much as possible, the insurance rate hike I'm looking at will be immense otherwise. What is my best course of action?

(Aside: I will not be driving unless absolutely necessary, I don't need the headache anymore, or the risk involved)

You may be able to get the first one reduced, but probably not enough to eliminate the points (maybe bring it down to two). If the second one hasn't already been reduced, you may be able to get that one reduced as well to 65 to eliminate the points, especially if it comes up sufficiently quickly after the first one that the prosecutor doesn't "see" the first one. The second one could even come up first, making it easier to have it reduced. For the third one, you could catch a prosecutor who's in a good mood and is willing to plea it down to something like Follow Too Closely, which has a lower fine and only four points.

All of those would be considered minor offences for insurance purposes and you'd wind up with only six points instead of 13. You'll definitely feel an insurance pinch for three convictions, but at least you wouldn't risk having your licence suspended for the accumulation of points.