OHTA.ca

I have had a string of bad luck and I got four tickets in the past week so I would appreciate your help and advice.

Ticket 1

I was just leaving home in the AM and upon seeing the streetcar on my left, did a 1 sec stop (rolling stop) knowing the streetcar would not let any cars through and turned on a red light. There was an officer who followed me and wrote me a $325 (all in) ticket for failure to stop at the red light. This is my first ever ticket on a bicycle or a car so I am totally not sure how to deal with this situation. I filed for the second option which is Option B (Early Resolution) and my court date is Nov 16. I was also told by someone that if I dont agree to the person at the Early Resolution, I can still goto trial?

My question is, on my ticket, under the Motor Vehicle Involved, the N/N box has not been checked but a letter C is typed. Is this enough for me to avoid the demerit points. Would it be helpful to file for Disclosure even though I chose Option B (Early Resolution)?

Ticket 2, 3, 4

Two days later, I was driving westbound on Queen after visiting the grocery store and within 100 meters of the grocery store, I realised I didnt have my seatbelt on and a cop passing me East bound started making a U ...realizing this situation, I put my seat belt on and when he pulled me over, I had them on. However, since I was flustered, and he said I am being recorded, I told him I was just leaving the grocery store and that I was putting my seatbelt on. He said it was quite the distance and gave me three tickets....first for the seatbelt (the ticket doesnt say I wasnt wearing it but says I wasnt PROPERLY wearing a seatbelt), second and third for failure to produce insurance and registration....I have both but I did not have them in the car as I hadnt driven in a while and had taken both out after they had expired and forgot to put the new ones in...anyhow, I plan on taking them with me to court once my Early Resolution Date is sent to me (I chose Option B here as well). I know this ticket for seatbelt definitely has two demerit points so I want to try my best to contest this one.

For ticket 1, what can I do to reduce the fine (I hope there are no demerit points) and can I contest the following for the other tickets:

- Seatbelt: I had it on when the officer pulled me over and dispute that it was properly on vs. his statement on the ticket,

- License/Insurance: Show proof that I had both but did not have them in my car as I hardly drive and had taken them out for renewal

Lastly, is it too late to file for disclosure if my court date is Nov 16 for the first ticket. What a terrible terrible week!!

Thank You everyone.

Sal

So you admittedly didnt stop and got a ticket. The reason you feel like the officer gave you an ''all in'' ticket is because $325.00 is the fine for ''Red light - fail to stop s. 144(18) HTA''. This isn't a speeding fine where the officer can choose to lower the fine.

IF you were on a bicycle and its checked off on the ticket than the convicting court will not send the info to MTO to add demerit points to your licencing.

Your seatbelt ticket seems to be much to the same , you weren't wearing it, you got a ticket. I like to put mine on before setting my vehicle in motion EVERY time I'm in any vehicle. As for this, since you recieved 3 tickets ( I feel like this was a traffic cop ) the crown may agree to plea bargain with you in order to make things go more easily. Worse case scenario you don't like the offer by the crown and go to trial and the officer shows up and testifies. Its a very easy win for the officer , those tickets are fairly cut and dry.

I'm sure others will have different more info for you...

Thanks Nanuk. By all in, I mean including all the charges..I went through the "rate list" for fines and knew that is the correct fine..I have heard stories from friends that if you have the insurance and the registration (which the officer could see on his records and verified with me), they usually can give you a 24 hour period to present evidence an the fine is waived. Fair enough, I will take those docs with me to court.

Just remember that DEMERIT points have nothing to do with INSURANCE rates. You can get a 0 demerit point ticket and your insurance can still go up. Insurance does not look at demerit points. For example, Insurance sees speeding anywhere 1 over to 49 over as a MINOR convicting which can cause a small increase, even though 1-15 over is 0 demerits, 16-29 over is 3 demerits and 30-49 over is 4 demerits.

As far as FINE amount, even when convicted, you can always ask the JP to reduce the fine amount. Just tell them your sob story about financial situation, and hopefully they will give you a break. You can also ask for extended time to pay the fine, like 90 days, 6 months or even a year. Just remember to make monthly payments on the extended time to pay!