OHTA.ca

I got TWO tickets last weekend:

1) Offroad Vehicle - no permit

Regulation 316 section 16(1)

110 dollars

2) Unlawfully drive offroad vehicle on a highway

316 / 03 Section 2

My dirt bike is Green plated (has plates clearly on front of bike)

I have current insurance and I am the owner

Unfortunately, I did not have my documents with me and the officer wouldn't let me go to my car (250 yards away) to get them and show him. As an aside, after the ticket I went and got my documents, and met the same officer again as he was checking all other offroad vehicles that same day - this time I joked with him and showed him my documents and he just let me go (but wouldn't cancel the first ticket!)

This event took place at horseshoe valley on Nursery Road, which cuts between TWO areas of the same legal offroad track area. I was genuinely lost and was turning around on the road to go back to the track area and find my way back to my car / trailer.

QUESTIONS

1) I get no points on my licence, so is it worth fighting the tickets for 220 buck?

I live in Richmond Hill, about 2 hours drive from the Orillia courthouse where the ticket is issued from!

2) Would I even stand a chance of winning - I didn't have my documents with me, and I was on the SIDE of the road looking for the track when I was stopped.

3) Someone told me that if I turn up and see a Justice of The Peace at the Orillia courthouse with my documents and first ticket, he will probably cancel the first ticket, but I will have to go to court to fight the second.

Is this true?

4) Can I pay someone to handle the tickets for me, will such agencies even take offroad non demerit point offences, and will it cost me more than the 220 I have to pay?

Answers, Suggestions?

Sounds like a big hassle to fight the tickets. You could hire someone to do it for you, in which case you'll pay them their fee plus the fines for any offences you end up convicted of. You might be able to may a plea with the crown and get one of the two dropped in exchange for sparing them the burden of a trial.

One thing though, if you want to bring your documents and try to make a plea you will be speaking with the prosecutor about having them withdraw the charges, not the JP.

If you have the time, I would do it.

It seems unreasonable for the police officer to not allow you to produce your documents, especially if they were nearby. And if you were on the side of the road, just trying to find the trail, some would argue that you were not on the highway.