OHTA.ca

Hello everyone. I got the surprise of my life today in my mail box. I was reading some of the older posts on the subject before I registered here. I'm guessing I can forget about the "old forms" defence that helped a lot of you out a couple of years ago as the municipalities no doubt changed to the new forms so as to preserve their cash cow. The fine is a whopping $325! Too much for an infraction that is the result of being too slow clearing a yellow by 0.2 seconds. Do they expect me to stop on a dime? How ridiculous! Even if I'd slam on the brakes I still wouldn't be able to stop going over the line. Wouldn't that still count as running a red light? I'm not saying I did any of this or remember doing it. Just saying that while the pictures look pretty damning, when you read at what point I was to have allegedly crossed the intersection at the red, it basically implies guilty intent made in a 0.2 second time frame. Can they actually convict on such a basis? Who can make a decision in such a split second moment? Is it realistic to expect someone who's running a yellow stop in time within such a miniscule window?

Any ideas in how I can fight this and win?

Unfortunately these tickets are pretty hard to beat outright unless you can find an error on the ticket or can show that the camera was malfunctioning somehow. Failing to stop for a red light is an absolute liability offence which means they don't have to prove intent, all they have to do is show that you entered the intersection after the light turned red, even if the light was only red for a fraction of a second. However the upside is that these tickets do not appear on your driving record and won't effect your insurance rates. This means that it is often worth booking a first attendance meeting with the crown and seeing if you can plea bargain for a reduced fine, often the crown will cut the fine in half if you have an other wise clean driving record.

daggx wrote:Unfortunately these tickets are pretty hard to beat outright unless you can find an error on the ticket or can show that the camera was malfunctioning somehow. Failing to stop for a red light is an absolute liability offence which means they don't have to prove intent, all they have to do is show that you entered the intersection after the light turned red, even if the light was only red for a fraction of a second. However the upside is that these tickets do not appear on your driving record and won't effect your insurance rates. This means that it is often worth booking a first attendance meeting with the crown and seeing if you can plea bargain for a reduced fine, often the crown will cut the fine in half if you have an other wise clean driving record.

Thank you, daggx.