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Hi,

A little background: I received my license more than 10 years ago and I have been driving consistently since 1997. No tickets, no at-fault accidents, nothing.

Yesterday, I got pulled over for speeding, 75km/h in a 50km/h zone. 3 points and a wad of cash.

I truly do not believe I was speeding (as I was driving among a slow pack of cars) and I want to fight the ticket. Should I hire pros to do the job for me, or should I do it myself?

Money is of great concern to me, that's why I'm debating whether to do it myself.

Thanks!

 
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Well, the points means nothing to insurance. keep that in mind. If the cop shows up in court, the best you can do is get the speeding ticket reduced to 15km/h and over which the fine will be also reduced. For a ticket like this, i wouldn't bother going with those traffic ticket paralegal thieves becuase chances are, they will reduce the ticket aswell and you still end up with a ticket at the end along with the paralegal fees

I've used those thieves before but let's jsut say that my ticket was way over 50mh/k where I didn't even get a speeding ticket, it was just a summons to court and those thieves got my ticket reduced to a regular speeding ticket qwhich i could of done on my own too.

Since it's your first ticket, insurance won't even care. I would jsut fight it on my own and if cop does show, either you have proof that you were not going over the speed limit or get the ticekt reduced.

 
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Are you kidding?

Yes insurance will care.

Getting a lawyer? No.

Go in person pray to god the cop doesnt show, and the ticket will get thrown

Any ticket whether it involes points or not insurance will rape your poopchute!

 
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Sucks to hear about stuff like this.
Where did this happen?

 
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Most Insurance companies doesn't give a dam about a single minor ticket in a 3 year span. I'm living proof . It's your next ticket that will raise your insurance but a lot of insurance companies allow for 3 minor tickets before they raise it 10% or whatever percentage they use.

 
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Really?? I don't know, it's just common view that insurance companies will increase your rate 10% off the bat, and so on and so forth...

This happened in Scarborough, RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. I was on my way to a grocery store to buy some vegetables for dinner... that whole thing ruined my appetite for the entire night... oh well... I went to file the notice of intention to appear in court yesterday... really kinda intimidating...

 
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Hey, if you are willing to speed, then you should be willing to pay the fines Driving is a priveledge, not a right

Don't sweat it, the whole process is not intiminating once you've been through it a few times.... Did you get night court?

 
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That's the thing! I *wasn't* speeding! I was passing someone, but I was far from speeding! It's not one of those times where I was actually stepping hard on the gas pedal... that's the thing that pissed me off the most! I don't know HOW I could have been going that fast, just seems impossible and like a mistake to me (I was pulled over within 5-8 seconds of the traffic light turning green, with a car in front of me... as I changed lane to pass the guy, I got pulled over... but I was NOT going fast... this is NOT an excuse).

Oh well. We'll see. Apparently I'll get a notice within 6 months... hehe, so I don't know if I got night court or not...

 
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in a 50km/h zone even passing someone could be speeding.

but regardless....any ticket will increase your insurance.

having lost my insurance 3 times when i was younger i've learned a few things.

There are 2 types of tickets in insurance terms.
- major
- minor

a 40km/h ticket is the same as a 15km/h over ticket.

it is still considered a minor ticket.

for a ticket like this a ticket fighter will probably guarantee you that they can reduce it to 15 over and no points. Its not worth it to get one ticket fighter for minor tickets.

two things to realize:
-tickets are on your insurance record for 3 years from the year of your conviction.
-demerit points and tickets are on your driving record for 2 years from the date of the offence.

hope this information helps.

 
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Chances are the Cop won't show.

 
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Since its a first offence, it will likely get pled down to a lesser charge with a reduced fine and points (or even no points). You can set-up a first attendance meeting and see what they offer you, or take it to court where you will also likely be offered a lesser charge.

 
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u can take it to a trial if u really think u were not speeding, it all depends on what u told the officer when he stopped u tho. Did u tell him that u weren't speeding when he stopped u?

 
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As far as I know the onus is on the court to prove you are guilty, not for you to prove you are innocent. If they got you on radar ask for the calibratio date, if they got you on laser ask for a picture and say that maybe the cop got the car that was pasing you <grin> I would also argue that you have a better reccolection of the incident that the police officer as you only need to remember one....the popo has to remember how many a day. So the longer it takes to get to court the better.

 
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Yep, it's true, many insurance companies will offer forgiveness on a ticket if you haven't had one in the last 3-5 years (depending on the company). One company I know of actually specifically states to its employees that a 5-star driver's first ticket, if below a certain demerit or fine level, will do absolutely nothing to the driver's premiums, but the next one will knock him down to a 1-star plus his premiums shoot up.

 
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if you have time.. stall as long as you can.
dont hire a lawyer

if the cop shows up for the court date... ask the prosecutor that you would like to request more time to seek legal advice. more often.. they should agree and give you more time, then when the next court date arrives... hope the cop doesnt show up this time.. if he does show up again.. try to get more time again.. if you dont... then just try and cut a deal w/the prosecutor