OHTA.ca

First off, i'm glad i found this website. lots of helpful things not found on google searches

Hope someone who had a similiar experience could lend me hand. Been driving for 5 years and this is the first ticket i ever got.

I was caught holding a cellphone while on a traffic stop in Montreal. Officer gave a me $115 ticket and 3 demerit points.

I'm hoping to submit a not-guilty plea for the following reasons:

-I was on traffic stop (more like heavy traffic because of an ongoing protest/rally that was happening that day) Speed recorded on ticket is zero.

-Being from Ontario, i took a lot of pictures and i was checking the photos i took (hence the reason why i was holding the phone)

-My carrier is Wind Mobile and they do not have a signal in Quebec. So it was not possible for me to call/text/use data. (Can provide proof using phone records.) I tried to tell this to the officer but he does not have any idea what the heck is Wind Mobile.

Do you guys think i have a valid case or should i just go ahead and pay the fine and accept the demerits?

Thanks in advance

Vibrantwind wrote:Do you guys think i have a valid case or should i just go ahead and pay the fine and accept the demerits?

you could start by looking up the appropriate "act" and "section" (probably on face of ticket) and read same to find out the law in Qc.

If it was Ontario, it would be an offence.

Vibrantwind wrote:Do you guys think i have a valid case or should i just go ahead and pay the fine and accept the demerits?

Thanks in advance

As Bear said, under Ontario law that would still be sufficient for a conviction. In Ontario, you have to be legally parked, not just stopped on the roadway to use your phone. Futhermore, police simply need to show that you were holding a device capable of being used as a phone, not that you were actually using it as such at the time. But again, Quebec might be totally different.

In regards to demerit points however, they shouldn't carry over to Ontario. While the conviction will show, demerit points are calculated based on what the offence carries in Ontario. Cell phone tickets in Ontario carry zero demerit points, so no points should be applied to your licence.

Thank you guys. I'll just go ahead and pay the ticket.