ticketed !

[mazzawi]

I was going about 140 KPH on Toronto 401 E highway, the limit is 100 KPH.
passed a few minivans.
saw the cop car. it was night, and they had those black crusers.
slowed down to 100KPH.
then the cop came up behind me, he was waiting for me to speed up again.
so he was driving behind me for about 2 minutes. then he realized I know he is there and I'm not going to speed.
still the sirens went off. pulled over.
he gave me a ticket for 110KPH, and turns out my lisence plate sticker was expired.
I doubt he actually got me at 110KPH. but whatever.

[mazzawi]

reminds me of another incident.

I was driving to Niagra falls from Toronto, about 180 KM drive.

it was a 3 lane highway. left lane had a motorcycle. and a car in the middle lane. they were both going at 100 KPM.

I was on the left lane and wanted to pass. the bike stayed there and wouldn't move. so I went to the right most lane to pass them. floored it... loud engine noise for 2 seconds, then heard sirens, slammed the brakes back down to 100. looked around, turns out the bike was a cop.

he drove next to me and shook his head. I was thinking haha you sounded your siren too soon. he couldn't clock me. then he cought someone else.

[veryhuman]

He gave you a ticket for 110 km/h on the 401?? What an ass. If i drive 100km/h on the 401, I get honked at.

As long as its under 16km/h, no demerit points is affected
http://www.xcopper.com/Traffic_Offen...s_Ontario.aspx

Should take it to court.

[155MPH]

I was passing a car and two trucks last summer in a 50MPH zone. I hit 120MPH before I got around them and just as I pulled back into the right lane I see a cop coming in the other direction. I quickly looked in my rear view mirror and saw his brake lights come on and he turned around. Long story short... he told me he clocked me at 70MPH...which is a lie 'cause if he actually clocked me it would be been way more that 100MPH. He gave me a warning only. Guess my wife being with me mellowed him.

[Hawkeye]

lol... I got clocked at 74 mph in a 55 zone on a twisty highway in Iowa on my motorcycle last summer. He wrote me for 10 over cause of my good driving record.

If he had passed me 5 minutes earlier I was doing about 115 on the same highway :s

[coolusername]

Originally Posted by 155MPH

Guess my wife being with me mellowed him.

[takedown8]

Can't stand cops. 140km/h on the 401 is a bit fast, though I do admit going that speed sometimes on the 401.

It sounds like he didn't actually clock you though so he has no proof that you were speeding. I'd take that to court. In fact, I'd take every ticket to court, and I do!

My theory is that if we all fight our tickets, then the courts will get so backed up that they have to throw them out. Happens every few years or so.

[CAN 217]

the only problem with fighting that ticket is the fact that u were on the 401. unless u were close to home, u will have to go to the area where u got the ticket and fight it at a local courthouse there. my time is a too valuable to me to spend a whole day fighting a zero point, $100 speeding ticket.

[BlackSapphireZ]

if i saw a cop goign other direction and saw the brake light come on, I'd run. I have and I will

[155MPH]

Originally Posted by coolusername

yeah, right.

[155MPH]

Originally Posted by BlackSapphireZ

if i saw a cop goign other direction and saw the brake light come on, I'd run. I have and I will

You know what they say, you can't out run their radio...

[takedown8]

Originally Posted by CAN 217

the only problem with fighting that ticket is the fact that u were on the 401. unless u were close to home, u will have to go to the area where u got the ticket and fight it at a local courthouse there. my time is a too valuable to me to spend a whole day fighting a zero point, $100 speeding ticket.

Well, I'm assuming he was on the 401 around Toronto area, so it wouldn't be that difficult to fight. And anyways, you could always hire a paralegal or one of those companies to fight it for you.

Not worth fighting a zero point ticket? Points are only important to the MTO and you get your license suspended at 15 points. The points are cleared two years after the conviction, so unless you get so many tickets that you can get 15 points in two years, I wouldn't even worry about points.

ANY speeding ticket, points or no points, can be used against you by your insurance company. They don't care about points, but they do care if you were < or > 50km over the speed limit.

So if you get a speeding ticket, I say fight it yourself if it is a relatively cheap ticket. If it's an expensive ticket, get someone to fight it for you.

Even if you have no intention of going to court, ask for a court date anyways. Like I said, if we all do that, every few years, they'll get so backed up that they have to throw the tickets out.

If you don't show up to court, you just get a notice saying that you owe the money anyways. So there's no difference in what you pay. In fact, you get to wait a few months before paying (awaiting the court date).

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by 155MPH

You know what they say, you can't out run their radio...

Unless you are on a motorcycle.... then you can usually outrun the radio as well

I would never run from the cops (not even on my motorcycle unless I would lose my license anyway). Not worth the risk IMO. That and I own the only black Coupe in this entire area (and possibly state)

[pbdm4k]

Originally Posted by takedown8

Well, I'm assuming he was on the 401 around Toronto area, so it wouldn't be that difficult to fight. And anyways, you could always hire a paralegal or one of those companies to fight it for you.

Not worth fighting a zero point ticket? Points are only important to the MTO and you get your license suspended at 15 points. The points are cleared two years after the conviction, so unless you get so many tickets that you can get 15 points in two years, I wouldn't even worry about points.

ANY speeding ticket, points or no points, can be used against you by your insurance company. They don't care about points, but they do care if you were < or > 50km over the speed limit.

So if you get a speeding ticket, I say fight it yourself if it is a relatively cheap ticket. If it's an expensive ticket, get someone to fight it for you.

Even if you have no intention of going to court, ask for a court date anyways. Like I said, if we all do that, every few years, they'll get so backed up that they have to throw the tickets out.

If you don't show up to court, you just get a notice saying that you owe the money anyways. So there's no difference in what you pay. In fact, you get to wait a few months before paying (awaiting the court date).

I'm a professional ticket fighter as a part time job (j/k, but I have enough experience to be one). And demerit points are actually on your record for 3 years.
Keep in mind, insurance companies also get wind of these things every now and then when they renew your policy or random record checks. Some companies generally have the 3 strikes you're out rule. So even if its under 15kmh ticket, 3 of those you could get kicked into high risk.

The key to messing with the Ontario Traffic Court system is dragging it out as looooooooong as possible.

Book for first attendance and try to negotiate with the prosecutor, if that doesn't work, THEN take it to court. You can drag it on for at least half a year. I have and in some cases have managed to drag it on so long (over 1 year), that by the time they do get me a ticket, I can go to court and argue that they've waived my right to due process and as a result, the case should be thrown out. And by then, chances are the cop won't even show anyways.
The court system has 1 year to get you into court and pass judgement on your case.

However, keep in mind, that the 3 years on your record starts when they convict you, not when the ticket was written, so if you dragged it through court for 9 months and got convicted anyways, that's when it starts on your record for 3 years. So sometimes, these tickets can haunt you for well over the 3 years they remain on record.

I've had prosecutors throw out tickets because the Justice of the Peace wasn't around to convict us (The court system lacks JP's), as well as have had prosecutors withdraw charges because I complained that the police officer was a dick (yelled at me for speeding and wouldnt allow me to explain or talk). I have another ticket that I missed a meeting at first attendance and by default it gets put through the system to file for a court date. It's been 6 months and I'm still waiting for a court date and its making me quite confident that it will never arrive.

Fight the ticket. It's fun getting your tax money's worth out of the judicial system.

[coolusername]

Originally Posted by 155MPH

yeah, right.

dammmittt

[takedown8]

Originally Posted by pbdm4k

I'm a professional ticket fighter as a part time job (j/k, but I have enough experience to be one). And demerit points are actually on your record for 3 years.
Keep in mind, insurance companies also get wind of these things every now and then when they renew your policy or random record checks. Some companies generally have the 3 strikes you're out rule. So even if its under 15kmh ticket, 3 of those you could get kicked into high risk.

I'm glad you fight those tickets too! I like that attitude!

However, demerit points are only a Ministry thing and not an insurance thing. The ministry only counts points from the previous 2 years. Insurance companies on the other hand will keep a record of convictions (not demerit points) usually for 3 years. You can check the MTO website if you don't believe me.

And yes, insurance companies don't always check to see if you got any new tickets. It costs them money to do it, so they don't check everyone every year. I've also heard that it's better to be with an insurance broker rather than the insurance company itself 'cause brokers want to keep your business so they try not to raise your premiums. Companies/brokers will check though any time you change your policy or open a new policy with them, so if you have recent tickets, then it's probably not a good idea to switch companies.

[mazzawi]

yeah i could fight it, but I'd rather not.
I'm just gonna hope the insurance company doesn't check, they haven't been and my insurance just renewed.

also turns out the insurance on the M roadster is lower than the Z4 !
1,400 vs 1,500