OHTA.ca

Good Afternoon,

Just wanted to get an opinion on a recent charge a received. (not seeking legal advise, just some educated opinions).

Background:

My wife and i live in the GTA and recently were down in the Windsor area (lakeshore, ontario just outside of Windsor) We are in the process of moving down there. Ticket was received in the Windsor area issued by the OPP

Circumstances:

On Jan 20th around noon, through my own "stupidity" i didn't notice a speed change area on the local expressway. Speed limit decreased from 100km/hr to 80km/hr. I was speeding. initially i thought I was getting a ticket for 36km over the limit. My assumption i was going 136 in a 100 zone. Turns out to my shock i was doing so in an 80 zone. (yes i accept responsibility of my wrong doing, as i should of seen the sign and noticed the transition). My question is more so regarding what is the best course of action to mitigate the damages and what are the precedents in court for this time of infraction?

Formal Charge:

I was charged with going 136km/hr in a 80km/hr zone. Charge was "stunt driving/excessive speed" My Land Rover was impounded for 7 days and driving license suspended for 7 days (I get both back on Jan 27th)

My background:

I'm a professional Engineer (with PhD).

My driving record:

One infraction of 15 over on the 401 (in a different jurisdiction), ticket was $55 no points from about 6 months ago)

Outside of that, my driving record is clean.

I have retained an attorney to represent me on this matter, i'm just looking for some educated opinions on what people have seen as outcomes or any other advise. My court date isn't till Feb 27/2012 so the wait is killing me (my own impatient nature i guess) lol

Thank you

Paul

No experience with Windsor, but I've seen many Crowns willing to drop the stunt driving charge if you agree to plead guilty to the speeding offence.

Now while speeding is better then stunt driving, 56 over would still probably be considered a major conviction by insurance providers. You'd need to get the speeding dropped down to 49 over (or possibly less) to avoid a major insurance hit. I'm guessing the Crown probably wouldn't be keen to offer that much of a deal though.

I understand in all likelihood I will have to pay some sort of fine (presumably the speeding 56 over, is less of a fine that stunt driving). Also regardless there will be insurance implications and I'm willing to accept those.

My biggest concern is a further suspension of my license. As I travel all over the country for work and flying into airports and getting rental cars to travel to sites is the norm on a weekly basis. Not being able to drive for an extended period of time after whatever the impending conviction works out to will be a more serious concern.

Is it "normal" to issue another suspension with a first offense conviction?

I don't believe so. Again, the Crown usually offers a plea deal in my experience and suspensions are tied to a stunt driving conviction, not speeding by itself. So if you accept a plea to speeding, suspensions are off the table (unless you have a lot of points from prior convictions). Obviously talk to your representative because they'll know best.

I would just show up at first attendance,be remorseful and most likely the prosecutor will let you plea it down.Welcome to the speed trap capital of Canada and second in North America,you will be well advised to watch your step from here on out as the area is well known for terrible signage and police who take advantage of the fact.Windsor has a habit of placing speed limit signs at the end of the roads and setting up speed trap at the beginning which is legal.

Here's a few articles to drive the point home,on a side note the Windsor police are currently under national scrutiny for public beatings,theft,cover ups,intimidation and general corruption and probably why the crime rate is so low.Most officers however are in fact honorable and fair but you never know what to expect.The city is working to fix the current police culture.Compared to Detroit Windsor is a jewel.

In my case it wasn't the Windsor Police that issued the ticket. It was the OPP as they have jurisdiction in the areas surrounding Windsor.

My court date is scheduled in the Windsor court.

I'm hoping the prosecutors are reasonable, but that's what I'm paying my lawyer for. It's his job to negotiate.

matt123 wrote: http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/08/31 ... canada-is/

Just read the article and it is flawed right from the start...it is based on "anoymous" posts on the internet, all that means is more ppl from those cities use the internet! However, hugely works in favour of the police with that report being out too...people will know they should slow down in that city.

matt123 wrote:Compared to Detroit Windsor is a jewel.

Lived in both places... and that's an understatement.

Those are the only type of statistics available for the papers to use and it isn't the same cities year after year on the list.What ever the numbers are Windsor defiantly has a higher than average amount of speed traps.We still have lots of Americans coming over that don't know what a km is and think they can get just hop back across the boarder unscathed so the city has a point to make in that respect.

Windsor Is actually considered in some statistics as part of metro Detroit in fact both cities consider Windsor a suburb with large economic ties yet Windsor has a very low crime rate for it's size and location.Thousands commute across the boarder daily for work and school alone.Over 5000 Windsor nurses are employed in Detroit and our hospitals have also partnered.An example of this is Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital and Detroit Reaceving/ Belmont hospitals.