Speeding ticket fighting technique needed - Help Please | GTAMotorcycle.com

Speeding ticket fighting technique needed - Help Please

black_CG2

Well-known member
I got a speeding ticket at Chatham last night. The cop was ahead of me. I wasn't really speeding cuz the weather was bad. As I was passing him, I was doing 105-108 on 100 zone. He followed me for a bit and turned on the lights. He told me that he noticed that I was coming from behind pretty fast. I didn't argue. Handed my license. Keep in mind, I got pulled over last time 10 years ago for a busted license plate light.

He comes back and tells me I was doing 130. However, my record is clean and he is dropping it to 115, so 15 kms over the limit. He set fine at $52.
That's a very small fine. But I like to keep my record clean. I don't understand how can an officer clock me from behind lol. He never said nor showed me the radar.

I want to fight it. But what are the steps? Disclosure? Then what?
Ticket also has code R for "reduced", I suspect.
 
Patrol cars for traffic enforcement do have rear facing radar and it does operate in moving mode.

It may have clocked a bigger radar signal coming up from behind, but good luck with that in court.

About all you can do is request disclosure and go through the motions.

Chatham OPP have nothing better to do than patrol the 401.
 
Most police cars have front and rear facing radar so he could have tagged you. The officer is not required to show you the radar reading (and afaik the radar is hard-mounted so it is much harder to show you than the tripod mounted laser).

The radar doesn't tell the officer which vehicle it tagged, just the direction it was going. So presumably the officer got a speed reading from a vehicle going in your direction. Were there other vehicles that it could have been? Did the officer say he had you on radar or did they pace you (which is acceptable in court). Was there precipitation? I don't know if falling snow and/or road spray is a possible vector to question the speed reading.
 
Request a trial date.

At best. Cop doesn't attend and the charge is dismissed.
At worst. Cop attends and the Crown offers you a further fine reduction in exchange for a guilty plea.
 
Request a trial date.

At best. Cop doesn't attend and the charge is dismissed.
At worst. Cop attends and the Crown offers you a further fine reduction in exchange for a guilty plea.

Well, I wouldn't call that the worst case. Quite often, the original charge is prosecuted in court so OP is up against 30 over + court costs.
 
disclosure is first step if you want a trial

no point in trying to deal with the Crown
they will see the R on your ticket and tell you it's going to be a trial
or pay the fine

at trial LE will have his notes, that's prolly all you'll get in disclosure
they will testify that the radar was calibrated that day, there was no conflicting traffic....blah blah

you will have an opportunity to question LE
be prepared to ask very specific questions
you need to show to the JP that there is significant reasoning to discount LE's evidence

this is very difficult to do, the JP is not a lawyer
they depend on LE and Crown for legal decisions

the worst that can happen is the JP doesn't like you
and decides to convict and you pay the fine for what was on the radar
your radar indicated speed will be on LE's notes

you can appeal that conviction and get in front of a judge on appeal
where you may have a better chance to introduce evidence in your favour

but get the disclosure first and see what's there
if it looks solid, you can just go pay the fine and there will be no trial
 
There's a common saying with court - "it's not about what you know, it's about what you can prove."

if you`re going to fight it on principal, just keep the above in mind.

That being said, i've fought some and won. I think traffic court is something everyone should experience, if you`re lucky you'll see a bunch of people pleading out to driving with no insurance. Those are always entertaining.
 
but get the disclosure first and see what's there
if it looks solid, you can just go pay the fine and there will be no trial

So lets say the disclosure is vague, I stand a chance, right?

My concern is if I plead guilty after getting disclosure, would they bring the charge back to 130?? Thats what scares me.
 
So lets say the disclosure is vague, I stand a chance, right?

My concern is if I plead guilty after getting disclosure, would they bring the charge back to 130?? Thats what scares me.

I've done this 3 times
2 convictions one was tossed

the one I beat was with vague disclosure
LE gave very detailed evidence of the stop that occurred around a year earlier
during his testimony he looked at some written information in front of him
appeared to be reading from it

the disclosure I was provided had almost nothing on it
when I questioned this, the JP looked at the Crown and asked about disclosure
Crown winced and shrugged, really had no idea I guess what LE was reading from

JP tossed it, i never did see what LE had in front of him
I considered this a very lucky outcome

to answer your question
you can check the trial option on ticket
return it to courthouse and request disclosure

if disclosure does not look favorable, just pay the ticket
a conviction will be registered, trial will be removed from the docket
you will not have to pay a larger fine
but this needs to be dealt before first appearance
or the Crown can be a prick and insist on a trial
 
So lets say the disclosure is vague, I stand a chance, right?

My concern is if I plead guilty after getting disclosure, would they bring the charge back to 130?? Thats what scares me.

There is a way to avoid this that worked in the past. Before you try it, confirm it still works. You would pay the fine prior to speaking to the JP and the crown would consider the matter closed and not proceed with trial. Depending on your level of acceptable risk, some would wait until they had spoken with the prosecutor in court and determined that the officer was present before running to the kiosk to pay the original fine. You then bring the receipt to the prosecutor and it's over.
 
How much is your time worth (time not at work) going back to Chatham to fight it? No points for 15 over and an easy $52.Chatham is a long drive from East York,lots of gas money!Pay it and move along.
 
Last edited:
Chatham OPP have nothing better to do than patrol the 401.

And they're all eh holes.

How much is your time worth (time not at work) going back to Chatham to fight it? No points for 15 over and an easy $52.Chatham is a long drive from East York,lots of gas money!Pay it and move along.

Which is exactly what the eh holes in Chatham count on.
 
And they're all eh holes.



Which is exactly what the eh holes in Chatham count on.

Ive always had great experiences with the opp near haliburton. They seem genuinely concerned about safety as opposed to fundraising.
I wouldnt figt a ticket in chatham either, but OP wanted to know what his options were.
 
Chatham OPP have nothing better to do than patrol the 401.

If you spent as much time on the highways as I do you'd consider that a GOOD thing. The 401 is a bloody free for all, it NEEDS more enforcement.

How much is your time worth (time not at work) going back to Chatham to fight it? No points for 15 over and an easy $52.Chatham is a long drive from East York,lots of gas money!Pay it and move along.

100000% this.

You're going to spend more time and money trying to fight a 15 over ticket than you are ever likely going to win, and yes, as soon as you request a trial date the crown almost always reverts the ticket back up to it's original speed, so you're probably fighting a losing battle on a 30 over ticket vs just paying the 15 over and moving on. Unless you have a rock solid case against the officer (of you luck out and they don't show, as others mentioned), you're probably going to eat it anyways.

If your record is otherwise clean insurance companies don't really penalize a whole lot (if any) for a single minor ticket either. Just don't get more.
 
Personally I would not fight this one, either. It's not worth having to travel back and forth for a significant chance of ending up no further ahead than where you are now. You will just have to be good for the next couple of years so as to not get any more.

I don't think radar is officially calibrated for rain/snow. Good luck demonstrating that in court.

I have a trip to Windsor coming up soon. Memo to self, never be visibly the fastest moving vehicle within sight ... and don't pass any cops!
 
I have a trip to Windsor coming up soon. Memo to self, never be visibly the fastest moving vehicle within sight

Doesn't matter. It's a cash grab by a group of square heads with chips on their shoulders. Last time I was going through Chatam I was running with 2 others in the right lane all at the same speed. A Pontiac something, some SUV, and an Audi. Guess who got pulled over?
 
Oh, and on the way home I kept it at 110 through Chatham, only to have a Taurus wagon with a donut on the front blow by me at 130+. So much for "patrolling the highway for safety".
 
Doesn't matter. It's a cash grab by a group of square heads with chips on their shoulders. Last time I was going through Chatam I was running with 2 others in the right lane all at the same speed. A Pontiac something, some SUV, and an Audi. Guess who got pulled over?

The Audi.

My last couple of cars have been ticket-proof ... so far.
 
The Audi.

My last couple of cars have been ticket-proof ... so far.
My silver honda minivan doesn't seem to attract much attention. From the police or the ladies.

Sent from my SM-A530W using Tapatalk
 

Back
Top Bottom