Speeding ticket advice needed

[danmand]

I got radared last night. The officer said the radar showed 30 over, and he gave me ticket for 30 over.
That puts me in the 30-49 level for fine and points.

Can I request information about accuracy of the radar, calibration etc.
if I decide to go to court?

I think I should have a good case for getting the ticket reduced to the 16-29
level.

 

[tboy]

I got radared last night. The officer said the radar showed 30 over, and he gave me ticket for 30 over.
That puts me in the 30-49 level for fine and points.

Can I request information about accuracy of the radar, calibration etc.
if I decide to go to court?

I think I should have a good case for getting the ticket reduced to the 16-29
level.

Yes, in preparation for your defence you can request the maintenance records of the gun but be prepared, they have them all checked regularly. You MAY find the one that slipped through the cracks but not likely. When the cop shows up in court he will have that document with him (or at least, whenever I fought the ticket they did).

When you finally get your court date the prosecutor will most likely approach you and offer to settle for a lesser charge anyways, at least that happens a LOT.

BTW: WERE you speeding 30 over? What will be your defence, that you weren't?

 

[danmand]

Yes, in preparation for your defence you can request the maintenance records of the gun but be prepared, they have them all checked regularly. You MAY find the one that slipped through the cracks but not likely. When the cop shows up in court he will have that document with him (or at least, whenever I fought the ticket they did).

When you finally get your court date the prosecutor will most likely approach you and offer to settle for a lesser charge anyways, at least that happens a LOT.

BTW: WERE you speeding 30 over? What will be your defence, that you weren't?

I was driving my old 4 cyl pickup, that don't go that fast. I was 20+ over, but likely not 30.

My defense will be, that if the gun shows 30 over, there is an
uncertainty interval +-x km/hr, such that the certain speed recorded
is only 29 or 29.5 or even 29.99 over. That puts me in the lesser level.

PS: did you use any of the x copper firms?

 

[tboy]

I was driving my old 4 cyl pickup, that don't go that fast.

My defense will be, that if the gun shows 30 over, there is an
uncertainty interval +-x km/hr, such that the certain speed recorded
is only 29 or 29.5 or even 29.99 over. That puts me in the lesser level.

PS: did you use any of the x copper firms?

I haven't needed to as they weren't around when I got my last speeding ticket (touching wood after saying THAT lol).

If it is true, and your truck cannot reach that speed then you can take it to a mechanic and get an affadavit stating as such.

As for the tolerances, I believe (but could be wrong) that they are more accurate than that......I know the new laser radar guns aren't affected by weather conditions and are accurate in rain or snow.....

 

[danmand]

If it is true, and your truck cannot reach that speed then you can take it to a mechanic and get an affadavit stating as such.

That would be hard to prove.

As for the tolerances, I believe (but could be wrong) that they are more accurate than that......I know the new laser radar guns aren't affected by weather conditions and are accurate in rain or snow.....

Any better ideas?

 

[big dogie]

what courthouse will you have to appear at?

b d

 

[tboy]

That would be hard to prove.

Actually, not really. There are many garages that have a platform that they do the clean air test on that allows the vehicle to "travel" (albeit only the rear wheels) at speed.

If you put your truck on there and try to get it to reach 130 kph and it can't on the platform, you have your proof. For eg: if the speedo reaches the speed you were charged at and it shakes so bad that it would be impossible to drive then the mechanic can attest to that. You could also do a closed course road test with the mechanic in the car......If you're serious, and you know your truck can't reach the speed, Cayuga Raceway has open days where anyone can take anything down the strip. I believe it was 20 bucks entrance or something and gives you a printout showing Elapsed time, top speed, average speed etc. That would prove it unequivocally (if you had a mechanic or reliable witness to show that you actually pushed it).

 

[tboy]

what courthouse will you have to appear at?

b d

All depends on where he was ticketed. If it was in durham, it'd be in durham, toronto, toronto, brampton brampton etc.....

 

[Lustology]

Don't show up, send someone on your behalf and hope the cop won't show up either.

 

[Hard Idle]

If all you're looking for is a reduction, the prosecutor will probably agree to it in exchange to your pleading guilty to the slower speed instead of going to trial.

 

[elmo]

I've used X-Copper - got the fine reduced from over 200 to 50 and no points. They do all the work and show up in court on your behalf. I think it cost me around 500, but the insurance for the first year would have been more than that with the points deduction. Well worth it.

 

[big dogie]

All depends on where he was ticketed. If it was in durham, it'd be in durham, toronto, toronto, brampton brampton etc.....

well that is true, but I have experience in Brampton and Guelph, and a friend in Orangeville, All that was done is go in act respectful, hopefully you have a good record, and tell them you would like to plead down the ticket. For me it has always been reduced to 15 km/hr so no points and a much reduced fine. At this time you cannot say that you are not guilty or they say they can not make the deal. So if you don't like the deal then go down the not guilty route...

b d

 

[squash500]

Can I request information about accuracy of the radar, calibration etc.
if I decide to go to court?

Of course you can as this is part of the officer's disclosure record. You can go to the court house and ask for all the officer's notes of the incident etc. I've done this a couple of times myself. For whatever reason after doing this the police officer didn't show up for court and my speeding ticket was cancelled. IMHO, firms such as Points are a waste of money. It is better to go to court yourself if you can take the time off work. A lot of times the officer doesn't show up anyway and then your ticket will automatically be withdrawn. Just my opinion .

 

[danmand]

what courthouse will you have to appear at?

b d

It is in Brantford.

If all you're looking for is a reduction, the prosecutor will probably agree to it in exchange to your pleading guilty to the slower speed instead of going to trial.

Can you go and talk to the prosecutor before the court date,
or is it done on the day of the court?

 

[tboy]

In my experience it is done the day you're scheduled to be heard.....

One thing about the cops not showing up. You have to remember they try to schedule as many tickets for the one officer as they can to minimize the time he's away from actually doing his job. If they don't show up for a ticket it is probably because yours is/was the only one scheduled that day.....

But I will bet any amount of money if one is caught racing or whatever, and the ticket/charge is a big one, the cop WILL be there, prosecution will make sure of it......

 

[big dogie]

It is in Brantford.



Can you go and talk to the prosecutor before the court date,
or is it done on the day of the court?

Ok I don't know for sure about Brantford, but I am sure if you phone the number on the back of the ticket that they will have something like 'early resoloution' or 'pretrial' that is where you schmooz your way out of it.....
good luck

b d

 

[TRX]

your best alibi is, "you are not aware that your running that fast and found out later after the ticket when you inquired with your mechanic and explain that your winter tire is too big (pretend that you have'nt changed your winter tire yet at that time) and when your speedometer reading is 100kph your actually running 110kph' but use this tire calculator to makeup your tire size. at least the judge will lower your speed and no points.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

[Perry Mason]

your best alibi is, "you are not aware that your running that fast and found out later after the ticket when you inquired with your mechanic and explain that your winter tire is too big (pretend that you have'nt changed your winter tire yet at that time) and when your speedometer reading is 100kph your actually running 110kph' but use this tire calculator to makeup your tire size. at least the judge will lower your speed and no points.

You must think the judge was born yesterday...

Those guys (and dolls!) have heard every excuse in the world... dozens of times each month!!!

The best bet -- unless you are certain you were not speeding at all -- is to go hat-in-hand an ask to plead to a lesser speed.

If refused, ask for an adjournment so you can get counsel to represent you. You are entitled to at least one adjournment. Ask for a day of the week other than the day of the week in which you are in court... that should be enough to move the Crown counsel to take your plea. If it isn't, prepare to eat shit!

Perry

 

[mac]

I've used X-Copper - got the fine reduced from over 200 to 50 and no points. They do all the work and show up in court on your behalf. I think it cost me around 500, but the insurance for the first year would have been more than that with the points deduction. Well worth it.

same here,,,,,,good investment and they know what they are doing. It is not worth the risk of you trying to figure out how to defend this yourself.

 

[The Houdini]

I can tell you that no prosecutor will redue your speed to the level of no points if you are 30 to 40 km over the speed limit. My experience.

Go to trial right away.

You are WRONG.

Just had a 30 over reduced to 10 over in a Barrie OPP Courthouse. No points.

Just sign the ticket for a court date. I a few weeks you will receive a notice that you can appear before a prosecutor to have your charges reduced.

When I was there, it was a joke literally. The prosecutor was cracking jokes, the gallery was laughing their heads off. In and out. It was beautiful.

Now let me tell you, I have extensive experience in fighting tickets. I've been doing this for over 20 years. it used to be where no haggling was available. i used to skip school some days and just go to court to listen to defendants plead their cases. I learne a lot from that.

I won 95% of cases for myself and my buddies by having them tossed due to cops not showing up. I used to be the go to guy in high school for tickets. Nowadays, it's not worth the aggravation. Just go have your ticket reduced.

BTW, you will never win a case in OPP court, unless you have credible witnesses, trust me. The prosecutors and the judges are buddies. York Regional, yes. Metro yes, OPP, forget it.