caught speeding, anyone used x-copper, pointts; stories? tips? friends? anything?

[buzzinhornets]

I know, I'm stupid, I got caught last night at 121km/h in a 50km/h zone... I need stories of you or your friends getting off tickets, what was the speed, how did you get off?
if you've used pointts, x-copper, how do they swing it? I got an ulcer the size of Texas forming here, so any insights would be helpful

 

[torex]

Well sounds like your screwed! did you just get the speeding ticket by itself??suprised they did'nt charge you with dangerous driving !!

 

[Philanthropist]

I personally hope you get what is comming to you. It is drivers like you that kill innocent people, and for what? To save a few seconds? To look "cool" in your pseudo sports car?


Trent

 

[jack]

I personally hope you get what is comming to you. It is drivers like you that kill innocent people, and for what? To save a few seconds? To look "cool" in your pseudo sports car?


Trent

I agree!! Why would you be let off, it's actions like that that end in tragic accidents. Take your medicine like a man and behave better, this town has more than its share of totally incompetent and stupid drivers anyway.

 

[gassman]

speeding

There is no defence for speeding !!!! there are many excuses, but legally it is non-defencable. You WILL I say WILL get convicted. Unless the officer made a screw up of you ticket which is unlikely and even then most JP's who hear traffic will convict anyway. They have no patience for speeders, and your charge is high enough you will have to go to court. You can have representation but nonetheless you or a rep will have to be present. my advice and the best case senario for you is go find the Crown who will be trying the case and get a paralegal to try to plead it down to a lesser speed. You'll still get a huge fine (which you deserve) but maybe you won't lose as many demerit points.

 

[johnny]

i have used two paralegals for two different driving infractions, though not as serious as yours, so here is my advice.
stay away from the corporations like pointts. what they do is quote you a set price for the defence, what they do is go to the prosectuter and simply try to get the speed reduced, if you were caught doing 121 in a 50 pointts would try to get it as 100 in a 50 and tell you to be happy with it. they deal with many clients and the fastest way to deal with anything is settle it before it goes to court. I hired pointts for a ticket where i was caught doing 124 in a 100 zone and the pointts guy did not get it reduced at all, and i was convicted in court. i paid $350 for nothing. for another incident i hired a local paralegal who charges by the hour. he went through my case and tried to find a way to win, instead of just getting a reduced charge. since he was charging by the hour, he didnt mind doing lots of work on my case as he was getting paid for it. i ended up getting off that charge all together. be prepared to spend about $650 for your representation, but it is probably worth it. write down right now everything you can remember from the incident, no matter how small a detail it is. ex. was there a construction site near by? any high tension wires? stuff like that.
if you go to court to try and fight the ticket, you are looking at an all or nothing situation. you either get off or get nailed for the 121. you have to decide if you would be better pleading guilty to a 100 in a 50, or risking get nailed for the 121 but having a chance to get off all together.
one other quick thing. after you set a trial date, if the date is a long ways away like more than a year, your constitutional rights may be infringed, the right to a speedy trial. there is a form you can fill out and send in claiming this, but if you have representation, they will do this for you.
good luck with this, keep us updated.

 

[2sexxxy]

PM me I will tell you the lawyer who will get you off scot free. He is a bit expensive but well worth it.

P.S to all those who see this as a serious crime. Money talks so live with it. Everybody has a price for that million dollar man.

 

[Monte Cristo]

Fight it!

Been there, done that. All of these services that fight on your behalf are useless. More often than not, you can accomplish just as much on your own.

I used to spend an inordinant amount of time on the road. Aprox. 500 km/day. I used to go through leased vehicles the way a crack addict burns through Bic's.

Even if you are not required to show up for a court proceedng, go and contest it anyway. Chances are the cop won't be there due to schedule conflicts, etc.

Out of maybe 20 or so tickets that I've contested, a cop showed up twice.

Bottom line: No cop/no conviction...

 

[johnny]

while it is true that there is a chance that the cop will not show up, this is certainley not something to rely upon. If you were caught doing 20 or 30 over than fine take your chance and see if the cop shows up or not. but for 71 over the limit, the cop is going to make more of an effort to show up and i would be suprised if he didnt. if you are looking for a plea bargain, monte cristo is right, you can do this yourself and save the money of a paralegal. If you want to get off the charge, hire the best defence possible, not these money grubbing traffic ticket franchise places.

 

[WhaWhaWha]

When choosing a Lawyer do not go with Xcops. Go with Xcrowns. They advertise too. They have a bit more cameraderie with the existing crowns and can often get reductions that Xcops can't. Though in your case 121 in 50 leaves a lot of room for argument and/or reduction. I know of an Xcrown who is famous for beating 70 percent of the DWIs he represents. That's awesome.

The best defense for 121 in a 50 is to dispute the charge using the terrain as evidence. Its too risky trying to argue the validity of the radar equipment or operator.

So when you were pulled over were you in the city or the suburbs or the country? Was the area signed or unsigned?

If Unsigned:
Often there are country roads which are classified as Urban but appear Rural and are unsigned. The judge will throw away the ticket if your lawyer can get the officer to state that these three conditions existed (1. appeared Rural, 2. Unsigned, 3. No visible residences). Lawyers are good at that. I beat a 73 in 50 in Guelph on route 6 in 1990 for that reason. I really thought I was supposed to be doing 80 and did not want to obstruct traffic.

If Signed:
Signed roads with 50KPH limits usually run through neighbourhoods that have a lot of intersections - i.e. stops. If you were not charged with any stop sign violations then you were likely driving stop n go. If thats the case was there enough uninterrupted road after your last stop to build to 120 and enough additional road after to stop before the next sign? The average family or personal luxury car will accelerate from 0 to 120 in about 8 seconds without squealing the tires but you need about 200m of unobstructed road to build up to 120Km and another 200m to stop. Was there at least a half Kilometer between stop signs where you were pulled over? Measure the distance between stops and see.


I also beat a Stop Sign infraction by a fluke. The officer didn't give me a chance to produce my insurance and he hit me up with 'failure to produce' in addition to the stop sign. The Sign was obstructed by foliage so it was easy to see why so many coasted through. Anyway, as I was searching the glove box for the insurance he wrote up two tickets. He handed them both to me as I handed him the insurance slip. He said "show up in court and I will withdraw it". If not for that screw up I would have paid the stop-sign ticket and not gone to court. But I won both tickets by a fluke -- the officer was a no show.

 

[tillithurts]

Plead Insanity

 

[gramage]

show up and defend yourself and you'll probably get it reduced a little, A teacher I once had went to traffic court and anyone who argued anything got a reduction, although this was in the country, not Toronto.
I am definately not a fan of speeding or dangerous driving. My sister used to drive like this, then she did a rolling stop through a stop sign, and someone else had their high beams up blinded her she went off the road and accordioned her car. Her and the passenger in the front seat were fine, but the two in the back seat not wearing seat belts each broke quite a few bones, one broke her leg very seriously so it's now shorter, and that girls parents were harassing my sister to the point we had to get an unlisted number. So from here on out DRIVE SAFE!!

 

[KBear]

I was told by my broker, that insurance companies base their rates on charges, not convictions, because they know that often you can get off on traffic charges. Might want to check out if this is true before spending a lot of money. Might be better to just get the fine reduced, so you can keep your licence. Then keep a low profile with your current insurance company for a few years.

The times I have been stopped, the cops ask me if I had previous tickets and if I fought them. When I tell them I paid the fine, they mostly have let me go. Never been caught doing 70+ over the limit though. Good Luck

 

[Goober Mcfly]

Holy sweet merciful crap!

I can see going 70 in a 50 zone. Even 80, although I personally wouldn't. But 120?

50 kph zones are usually in residential areas. What would you have done if some kid had run in front of you?

I hope they yank your license. People like you have no regard for anyone else but themselves, and shouldn't have the priveledge of driving. I hope you don't kill someone.

Jackass.

 

[Philanthropist]

P.S to all those who see this as a serious crime. Money talks so live with it. Everybody has a price for that million dollar man.

It is a serious crime because that is far from just "speeding" that is TOTAL disregard to anyone else. It is easy for some of us to say "live with it", but you explain that an old girlfriend and her family when her 11yr old niece was killed by some asshole going 95 in a 50. Everyone has a price, and her price was her life for wanting to ride her bike to the store down the street.

Be a man, suck it up and "pay the price"

Trent

 

[Astroboy]

Well unless you are pleading guilty and taking the charge, you may first want to request a first attendance meeting and speak with the prosecuter to see if he/she can offer you any reduction (unless the cop "disappears" your gonna get some sort of conviction) You should also request full disclosure so you can see all the evidence the officer has against you so if it does go to court you know what your up against since you will have a copy of the officers notes.
You most defintly need good legal representation, but if u truly cant afford it start studying the HTA and fight it yourself, the HTA is acutally quite interesting if your into that sorta thing, lol!

In response to a previous reply, 50km/h zones may mostly be residental here in Toronto, but just yesterday I was in wasaga beach and speed changes from an 80 to a 50 on a one highway with an OPP always sitting his ass there I guess to see how quick your brakes are working and since most people go like 110 on that highway, its not so easy to just slam on the brakes when you got a stream of cars behind you. Nevertheless there is no excuse for going 70+ over, but every situation is different and arguable.

Other factors that matter, are how old are you (actually only if your a young man/woman), did you piss off the officer or show him respect? (they always remember), etc...

 

[johnny]

i have never understood this. the guy who started this thread asked for advice about his situation. he recieved numerous responses, yet never posted any replies to them, even though some of the suggestions were very good. it almost seems like someone posts something just to get everyone else wound up. so i ask buzzinhornets what have you thought so far about the replies? have you decided what you are going to do?

 

[L'Chaim]

You can get some handy tips for fighting a speeding ticket at http://www.magma.ca/~fyst/ and http://www.angelfire.com/ok/neurofeedback/speedtic.html.

 

[Jade4u]

Proof that Terb has been around for at least 5 years.

But yeah that is ridiculous. 50 km/hr most likely a street where children could be out riding their bikes or walking across school crossings etc...

 

[21pro]

I got off on one speeding ticket when I got 'caught' doing 72km/h in a 50 zone. I mentioned that I just had brand new winter tires (the truth, had receipt to prove it) installed and they may have a deeper tread and bigger wheel circumference. Because I was close to the allowable limit, the JP understood and ripped up the ticket.