winter tire ticket

[greensparrow21]

Hey guys,


I’m from Montreal, but this is my first ticket that I’m considering contesting, so any advice would be helpful.


There is a winter tire regulation in Montreal from December 15 - March 15. It was a nice and the roads were clean so I decided to go out for a quick ride, assuming the cops would be understanding that it’s only 3 days away and the roads have been clear of snow and ice for a while now. Unfortunately I improperly placed my trust with the cops and got pulled over. Tried to reason with the officer, but she wasn’t having it, always restating that it’s still not March 16.


The ticket was 270$ and no demerit points. After reading a couple of posts here some people would be laughing now because of the fact that no demerit points were taken and I should just pay it. The truth is I would prefer 5 demerit points and 0$ because right now 270$ is quite a lot.


I’ve been reading a lot about the process in which to fight a traffic ticket, and I found out that in toronto you guys have a plea-bargain option on the ticket itself. Unfortunaly here in montreal we don’t, it’s either you pay it and assume you’re guilty, or you plead not guilty and wait for the court date.


So here is where I need help. I know I was guilty, so I don’t mind paying the ticket but I know as a fact that in 30 days (the amount of time they give) I will not have enough money to pay it off. However in three months at most I will be able to pay in full. Is there somehow a way of not going through all this court stuff and just get an extension before a judgement is passed. I say “before” a judgement is passed because I found out that you can go to a municipal court customer service representative after a judgement is passed and they can either make you pay in installments, give you additional time to pay or a work option.

	Payment after judgement
	a.	Only your financial situation prevents you from paying your fine?
	If you would like to pay your fine, but your financial situation prevents you from doing so in a single payment, you can negotiate terms of payment with a Municipal Court customer service representative, once you have entered a plea in your case and a judgement has been rendered. Depending on your personal situation, the customer service representative may give you additional time to pay, allow you to enter into an agreement to make instalment payments or permit you to undertake a commitment to perform a work option.

The other option is to go along with the not guilty option and contest the ticket. So the officer was at least nice enough to give me the chance of riding my bike back home without the need of calling a towing service. When I got home I did some research, and realized that the SAAQ (the automobile society in Quebec) offers up to 4 “7-day certificates” for exempting vehicles from the winter tire regulation. There are 3 ways of receiving this certificate and the one I chose was “leaving or returning to the province”. This certificate is free and is valid right away, as soon as you finish printing it out. Had I known before I would have done this before setting out!! So here’s the thing, I got the exemption after I received my ticket but the certificate says from March 12 - March 18. I forgot to mention I got the ticket on March 12. There is no specific time on the certificate that says when I requested it, it only says March 12 - March 18.


Do you guys think this is enough evidence to show a judge to dismiss the ticket. This is assuming he doesn’t go on his computer and investigates that I had got the ticket at noon, but only requested the certificate at 1:20pm. Also keeping mind that before printing out the certificate it says:


“keep it in the vehicle. Without the certificate, you could receive a statement of offense.”


The real question is would I be wasting my time, by thinking I can get away with this because of the lack of a time-stamp?


In conclusion, I don’t mind paying the ticket if I had more time or had installments, but this is only possible, after a judgement has been passed, and I’m assuming that means after having seen a judge. If you guys can help me understand that clause or if you have any advice on what to do and who to call concerning more time, it would greatly be appreciated. Also if the certificate option is actually viable let me know that you think so.


Thanks,
Eric

[frekeyguy]

They sell winter tires for motorcycles?!!?!

[greensparrow21]

They sell winter tires for motorcycles?!!?!

No they don't, but that's the thing. Or government basically prohibits the operation of a motorcycle during the winter season, even when it could be sunny and clear roads.

I got an exemption ( no need to have winter tire) after I got the ticket, but the exemption paper says march 12-18. I got the ticket on March 12. Should I go to court and contest it showing the judge I have the exemption certificate.

[eastcoast_gsx]

Are you saying that you got a winter tire ticket for a motorcycle??? That can't be right. That would effectively BAN bikes from the road for that period, there is no way that should be right.

Maybe it is...

http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/portal/pag...us_hiver#types

F*** Quebec.

http://www.montrealmotorcycles.com/m...cle.php?rid=21

http://www.caaquebec.com/Automobile/...c-325c6a343acf

http://lostmotorcycles.blogspot.com/...quebec-in.html

You guys need a sit in this summer... man that province is SO backwards...

[matt123]

I would call around and see if any shops due in fact sell winter tires for motorcycles.I would also get a hold of the traffic act and read i carefully and also call a ticket defense business and see how stunned they are at the charge. Either the cop has you dead to rights or she was clueless,not all officers know the actual law.It sounds very sketchy to me and I would not pay anything until I found out for sure.

[Venom01]

Wow, unbelievable . Considering winter tires are a bit of snake oil to begin with (due to the way most drivers use them) I'd be fuming. I felt so bad for the residents of Quebec when they passed this law years ago. I really thought it would only be a matter of time before Ontario was slapped for that too. Good luck with everything!

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

[boarder360]

No help here just a question. Do you still have to pay for insurance year round?

[greensparrow21]

No help here just a question. Do you still have to pay for insurance year round?

Ya we still pay for registration year round, because the SAAQ tells us that the months of december to march only account for 1% of the total that we pay, and we just buy into it because even if we were to take out that class from our license we would only save like 3$ or whatever.

As for insurance we pay monthly based on a premium that's for the whole year. We're told that we can quit our insurance at any time, even during the "winter tire" months, but we risk our premium going up higher when we call back to re-insure our bikes.

[greensparrow21]

I would call around and see if any shops due in fact sell winter tires for motorcycles.I would also get a hold of the traffic act and read i carefully and also call a ticket defense business and see how stunned they are at the charge. Either the cop has you dead to rights or she was clueless,not all officers know the actual law.It sounds very sketchy to me and I would not pay anything until I found out for sure.

in your opinion, would a judge verify through his computer for a date stamp to make sure that the exemption certificate i have was indeed procured before i got the ticket??

Do you think he would only check the certificate to see it says march 12 - 18, and i got the ticket on march 12, and then dismiss the ticket
OR
Would he verfiy that the ticket was given at noon on march 12, and i requested and obtained an exemption certificate at 1:30pm

[OpenGambit]

Judges do not do any kind of fact finding whatsoever.

[eastcoast_gsx]

Do others not see the stupidity in this??

[imnothng]

Do others not see the stupidity in this??

Of course, though that doesn't really change anything...

[Barneycanoe]

sorry

[knightswraith]

take a look at the laws governing this and if they sell winter tire's if not I would go to the cop shop he works at and speak to the desk Sargent and speak to him and show him the exemption or just go to court if no snow tires are made for you make and model of motorcycle and fight the ticket then go file a complaint on this cop at no points you really have nothing to loose if you roll the dice

[imnothng]

I do recall hearing about this happening last year on the news.

[silverbullet132]

Winter tires are made, but so far only for maxi-scooters like the Burgman 650:
http://www.parts-unlimited.com/produ...roductId=75774

[jeffjones]

Does your exemtion have a time on it? If not it is valid 12am that day. The ticket should be thrown out instantly.

[AF4iK]

wow had no idea that's how the winter tire law was enforced. I imagined it would be based on weather conditions or something. Banning non-winter tires until March 15 is just plain stupid.

[toysareforboys]

What tire were you running on your bike!? I have a TON of e-mails from manufacturers asking specifically which tire would be best in the winter here! Might help your argument that you were using "the best 'winter' tire available" ...

-Jamie M.

[Rob MacLennan]

Are you saying that you got a winter tire ticket for a motorcycle??? That can't be right. That would effectively BAN bikes from the road for that period, there is no way that should be right.

Maybe it is...

http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/portal/pag...us_hiver#types

F*** Quebec.

http://www.montrealmotorcycles.com/m...cle.php?rid=21

http://www.caaquebec.com/Automobile/...c-325c6a343acf

http://lostmotorcycles.blogspot.com/2010/01/illegal-motorcyce-riding-quebec-in.html#!/2010/01/illegal-motorcyce-riding-quebec-in.html

You guys need a sit in this summer... man that province is SO backwards...

Unfortunately, it is.