Is failure to have insurance card a moving violation? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Is failure to have insurance card a moving violation?

DOHC1

Well-known member
I just ran my driver's abstract report from the ministry, and this

SHALL NOT DRV HOLDING OR USING A HAND-HELD COM DEVOFFENCE DATE

SPEEDING 87 KMH IN 60 KMH ZONEOFFENCE

FAIL TO HAVE INSURANCE CARD - C.A.I.A.OFFENCE


Is this considered a moving violation? I had an expired temp slip, but was insured at the time..
 
I beieve so - it's your burden to prove valid insurance upon request, and the officer can lay a charge if you can't prove it - "Valid" is the key word - an expired slip proves nothing.

However it's at the officer's discretion..and they do have tools at their disposal now to verify insurance coverage, so chances are you got nailed because you have a track record. You could fight it based on the fact you did have valid insurance at the time so long as you can get a letter or something to prove the policy was in effect, but it would be at the discretion of the crown to toss the charge - YMMV. I've heard some were successful in getting the charge dropped if it was an honest mistake.

I did the exact same thing (gave the officer an expired card without realizing it) when I got pulled over this spring and she came back and informed me of my error but said she'd checked and saw the policy was still valid, so no charge. I had the up-to-date card in my hand when she returned to my door, but it was unnecessary. I guess you didn't get the same treatment.
 
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I beieve so - it's your burden to prove valid insurance upon request, and the officer and lay a charge if you can't prove it - "Valid" is the key word - an expired slip proves nothing.

However it's at the officer's discretion..and they do have tools at their disposal now to verify insurance coverage, so chances are you got nailed because you have a track record. You could fight it based on the fact you did have valid insurance at the time so long as you can get a letter or something to prove the policy was in effect, but it would be at the discretion of the crown to toss the charge - YMMV. I've heard some were successful in getting the charge dropped if it was an honest mistake.

I did the exact same thing (gave the officer an expired card without realizing it) when I got pulled over this spring and she came back and informed me of my error but said she'd checked and saw the policy was still valid, so no charge. I had the up-to-date card in my hand when she returned to my door, but it was unnecessary. I guess you didn't get the same treatment.

Yes, I definitely deserved that one, I have quite a record. I should have taken it to court initially, but this was back in Jan 2014; One more year until my record is 100% clean so I'll just wait the tickets out. They are already paid for.
 
You got the insurance one in 2014? Most tickets stay on your record for 3 years FWIW.
 
I've heard of getting a ticket for multiple ins. slips too (a valid one and an expired one).

Though it's probably :
167 (8) A person driving a motor vehicle is guilty of an offence and liable to the penalty and any other sanction provided for under section 54(4) to (7) if, when requested to produce a financial responsibility card under subsection (1), the person produces

(a) a document that purports to be a financial responsibility card but that was not issued pursuant to Part 7 of the Insurance Act, or

(b) a financial responsibility card relating to an insurance policy that is not in force or is otherwise invalid at the time of production.

i.e. an ins. slip for an old/cancelled policy as opposed to an expired one for a valid policy.
 
So what's the best way to get these charges dropped?

I got two tickets

No insurance and no ownership

I have both but were mistakenly at home

Should i go got early resolution? Or is there another way to resolve this

And what wording should i use? So as not to incriminate myself

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

So they're going to be on your record until January 2017.

So what's the best way to get these charges dropped?

I got two tickets

No insurance and no ownership

I have both but were mistakenly at home

Should i go got early resolution? Or is there another way to resolve this

And what wording should i use? So as not to incriminate myself

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

You're basically already "incriminated" as there's no debate about the fact you didn't have them, so don't worry too much about that honestly. Unlike a speeding ticket or something open to error or interpretation (AKA, your radar gun was reading someone else's car, not mine), you're going to have a hard time trying to convince a judge that you really did pass the officer your paperwork but they somehow wrote you a ticket for it anyways.

Best thing to do is attend the courthouse on the back of your ticket and speak to the clerk about them. Obviously, BRING YOUR PAPERWORK including a letter from your insurance company confirming coverage was indeed in place during the period of time you received the ticket. Be polite and friendly - honestly, it's not a big thing to ask...and these people deal with angry rude idiots all day long, so you could be a refreshing change for them, and it could be the difference between a positive and negative outcome. See if they'll do anything right there and then which is doubtful, but I've heard of it happening - heck, sometimes the police writing the tickets will say "bring your paperwork to the court later today and it'll be dropped"

If they won't do anything at that moment in time you have a choice to make - plead guilty, guilty with an explanation, or not guilty. As mentioned the latter is likely to result in you getting hammered with the full charge (as you can NOT prove you were not guilty of the charge in a technical form), guilty is not the route you want to go obviously, so I'd plea guilty with an explanation and then go to early resoltuion and talk to the prosecutor. Again, pleasant, polite, friendly - it's worked for me.

I think your odds of having the insurance ticket tossed are decent, it seems to be a one that they have a lot of leeway to drop so long as you can prove you had insurance in place..which honestly, they already knew when you GOT the ticket otherwise you would have received the much larger and more serious "no insurance" charge. I'm assuming your charge is "fail to provide proof of insurance", not the actual "no insurance" charge that has a minimum $5K fine? Please clarify.

The no ownership one might be hard to get tossed but you can certainly try at the same time....but it's a pretty minor thing that your insurance company probably won't care about unless you have a string of other things already on your record.
 
The handheld device charge is likely (OP, confirm?) a cellphone distracted driving charge?

Yes, surprisingly, the insurance industry still considers it a minor charge with a 5% surcharge, but I'd expect that to change in the coming years considering how many accidents have it at the root cause. Being caught would seem to be a major red flag to insurance companies you'd think.
 
The handheld device charge is likely (OP, confirm?) a cellphone distracted driving charge?

Yes, surprisingly, the insurance industry still considers it a minor charge with a 5% surcharge, but I'd expect that to change in the coming years considering how many accidents have it at the root cause. Being caught would seem to be a major red flag to insurance companies you'd think.

Yes, it is for using a cell phone while driving. It's not the insurance I'm worried about; I'm ineligible to be an uber driver with more than 2 moving violations, so I have to wait until jan 2017 for them to fall off.
 
Triple check with your insurance company before making that step - most non-commercial insurance companies will NOT insure drivers using their cars for Uber, with some going so far as cancelling policies on drivers they discover doing so without having declared it. An insurance cancellation is a major (MAJOR!) black flag on your record and will cause you grief for a long, long time with future insurers. In other words, get cozy with the facility association.

Commercial insurance is the way to go.
 
Damn, So no Uber for me till 2017

You need to notify your insurer if you use your vehicle for anything beyond the usual. So if you operate it as a taxi or even if you car pool to work, you need to tell them that. It means the risk has changed from the expected loss frequency and the premium will be different. Same as if you retire, or use the vehicle only for pleasure (no commuting to work); the loss frequency drops and the premium reduces.

Insurance is priced and based on perceived risk; real or imagined.
 

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