White_GTS

Hi,

I'm from the Toronto area and went on a business trip over to Thunderbay and received a speeding ticket in the country roads near Dryden as I was going 115 on a 90 zone and a police going the opposite way apparently caught me speeding. (Not sure how they can radar me when he is going the other way?)

I would like to know what I can do about this. I will have 3 demerit points if I plea guilty but how can I fight this as Thunderbay\dryden is 13 hours away from Toronto? Does anyone know if there are agencies that will deal with your ticket for you even if it is way out of town? Its not worth it for me to fly back to thunderbay and then rent a car and drive several hours to fight it.

Please help and give me advice on what I should do. I'm 30 years old and this is my first speeding ticket. If this was in Toronto there would be no way I would get a ticket going 115 on a 90 zone highway.

Suggestions and comments are appreciated...

klown78

I suggest you were speeding, just pay the ticket Much cheaper and easier, If you don't like the idea of having the speeding ticket, DONT SPEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! simple as that! I know that is a crappy way of looking at it, but thats the reality of it

White_GTS

Your not much of a help at all. Why dont you try driving for 4 hours at a speed of 90 in the backroads where its all tree's and open fields. I think going 115 is fairly slow and resonable.

Regardless I'm looking to hear from others that got tickets from outside of the city such as from Barrie or from cottage county areas as it would basically be the same for me.

klown78

Im sorry im not much help, but I have done that drive from Kitchener, to grand bend quite a few times, 90 on cruise for me is worth it,I am never in a rush!! lol. Have you tried to contact POINTS(I think there might by 2 "t"s in the name) they specialize in tickets etc.!!

White_GTS

Now we are getting somewhere. I'll try to check out POINTTS and give them a call up. Is that a G35 that you drive? If so I drive a IP M6 05 coupe.

Anyone else fought off cases from far out of town or got tickets from far away from home?

klown78

haha No its not a G35(I freakin wish) its an 06' lancer ralliart.

voltar

Sadly Im pretty sure Ontario says you must deal with your options in the jurisiction the offence occured. There is out of town stipulation for criminal cases but I don't think theres one for HTA.

However ignore klown78 he's obviously just a tard, I recommend you make every effort to fight this ticket, if it helps at all the only company I know of that doesn't charge out of town fees is H.E.L.P. Network of Ontario, that's all I know about them however service and availability is for you find out if intrested. Good luck and fight till the bitter end I say

Jnyce

u can call up redline legal servies it seems u have a case seing the officer was going in the opposite direction hes been fighting a summons for me for the last year i was going 80km over the limit you dont even have to show up for court or anything he takes care of it for u

1.8teezy

you can use a company such as pointts for example, and they will battle the ticket for you and do not have to show up in court. One of their agents simply go and represent you. I am from Toronto and had to fight a ticket in Belleville.

Kuztom Freak

Oh ya - cop cars have all sorts of gadgets - and opposite direction radar is one of em [a computer calculates the cop cars speed and subtracts that from the radar reading. EX:- yer doing 115 and the cop is doing 90, the radar sees it as 205 then subtracts the cop cars known speed of 90 to get 115 which is yer speed]

Out of town means nada. Michigan and other state side areas have a reciprical points/lisence thingie with Ontario. You loose 2 points there for doing something and it will apply to yer Ontario lisence and insurance. Americans fukking around here will also get demerit points on their American lisences (depending where in the states they live tho).

FIGHT EVERY SINGLE TICKET YOU EVER GET.

White_GTS

Thanks for all the names of each company that deals with these cases.
I have already called up POINTTS and they quoted me $670 to take the case on and they also said they dont promiss a win at all.

Would you guys still pay $670CAD if they are no promisses at all? i dont mind paying for my ticket I just dont want the 3 points.

I'll give HELP Network of Ontario and Redline legal service a call and ask them for a quote.

Thanks guys. :thumbsup:

Bookm

The Provincial Offences Act lists an option whereby you can have your case heard via a written declaration. It is noted in the Act that this option is available in "prescribed parts of Ontario". It turns out, however, there are NO prescribed parts of Ontario! Welcome to Ontario... what a crooked Province. The only way to fight this ticket is to attend, or have a representative attend. I would recommend contacting a few lawyers in the Thuderbay area and specify that you intend to accept a plea down to a lesser charge (shoot for improper muffler). A lawyer friendly with the local Prosecutor would have a better chance than a parallegal (ticket-fighter).

All transactions can then be handled over the phone and mail.

A co-worker recently resolved a similar issue by calling the Crown directly. He agreed to lower the speed a few klik's to lower the points. A lawyer may have been able to have the charge changed completely, but he chose not to explore that route.

For a little info on plea bargaining, read this article: Article

Unless Pointts is willing to challenge the radar calibration, the speedometer calibration, the tuning fork callibration, etc., it is unlikely they will win your case for you. They would EASILY get your charge reduced before trial though. Anyone can do that.

BTW... 115 is slow in my opinion!! Klown has no business posting advice here.
Book

White_GTS

Ok today I spoke with Moe Buckle at POINTTS who is the main guy at the Markham Office and he seemed like a great guy. I faxed him my speeding ticket and had a chat with him over the phone. Basically he asked me what my intentions were. Basically he told me that no matter if you get a speeding ticket for going 10KM over with no demerit points or speeing going over 25KM with 3 demerit points my insurance will still take a hit if they wanted to do something about it. He told me as of Jan 2007 insurance company no longer looks at demerit points but basically focus on what the person has been charged of. So either way right now I am facing a speeding ticket and he mentioned to me that there is no point in fighting this cause the Courts out in Dryden/Thunder Bay area will not drop the charges but at best will only lower the speeding fine to no demerit points. In the end its still a speeding ticket and thats what the insurance looks at. (what I have been charged with) So he told me to save the $720 plus GST and just pay the fine cause if he represents me he can take the demerit points off but I'll still get a speeding ticket for going under 15KM instead of 25KM and my insurance company will still know about it. I guess he is trying to be honest and help me save money right? I have no speeding tickets so if thats the case then I guess I should just accept the charge?

Can anyone confirm if this is true that insurance company now looks at the charge and not the demerit points?

In his profile on POINTTS they have this about him...

"Moe Buckle is a former police officer: served on both Metro Toronto and York Regional Police Forces.
He has been actively defending traffic ticket matters in court for over 14 years, and is a long time member of the Institute of Agents and Court.
He is well known and respected for providing professional representation. "

Kuztom Freak

yup its true - insurance companies started looking at all tix a while back and not just at demerit points. This includes ANY HTA violation, and may include such things as breaklight/headlight out, not showing proof of insurance, etc..

Thats why I say fight every ticket.

They look for ANY excuse/reason to raise yer premiums, so even 1KM over limit means yer guilty of speeding = increased rates if they are nasty about it.

in yer case, I say save the $$$ that youd spend on POINTTS and apply that to yer premiums - hopefully they wont go up for you, but it all depends on yer ins co. as this saves you some headache and time.

3 points might make a diff in yer premiums over the next few yrs.

call yer ins co and pretend yer a new client looking for their co. policy info and tell them that yer shopping round for a new company, and tell em you just got a new tix (but dont specifically say for what - play stoopid and say you need to look at the tix to verify and its not handy right now) and ask if yer rates will go up on
1. tix alone
2. tix plus points
3. is there a premium difference between tix and tix with points

DO NOT TELL THEM WHO YOU ARE AND CALL FROM A NUMBER THEY DONT HAVE IN YER FILES

they know the tricks ppl use.

defeating the points and just getting speeding may save you 500 over the next few yrs
but call yer co. cuz age, record, car, house local all matter to them.

thats it from me

Bookm

There are many insurance companies that will ignore 1 minor ticket (speeding, stop-sign, etc.). I left my company of 25 years when they doubled my rates for a "fail to show insurance slip" charge (I was livid!). I am currently driving like a pansy because I got a stop-sign ticket 18 months ago, so my freebee is used up.

The state this Province is in (regarding Insurance premium hikes) has forced many of us to look to alternate methods of self-protection. VERY SOON, Beltronics will be releasing their "Remote Antena" version of their STI Driver Radar Detector. This detector can not be detected by ANY radar detector detector (ie, Spectre) that the cops have, and it can now be installed with an incredible level of stealth.

Keep in mind, most police forces are leaning toward Laser for speed enforcement which an RD won't detect until it's too late, but laser can't be operated from a moving cruiser, so moving radar is always going to be a threat. Of course Radar Detectors are illegal in Ontario, but for many, it's worth the risk. Speed limits are set too low and most drivers know it!

Post re. new STI: Radar detector jammer forum: View topic - STi Remote -- Photos and User Manual