gofor28off

Caught speeding today in Cambridge. Clocked at 84 kph in a 50 zone .
On Hwy 24 south of town. A fairly rural section. 50kph is a rediculous speed limit there to begin with, and to make matters worse, he wrote me for the full amount.
Has been almost 2 years since I have received a ticket.
Anyone use one of those traffic ticket legal services to get the ticket thrown out? Did it work for you? If so, can you recommend someone?
Thanks.

Kirk930

I used POINTS (spelling?) for almost the exact ticket........cost me $300 but eventually the ticket was dropped......no fine and no demerit points. They kept pushing the court date forward and then I received a letter that said the ticket had been cancelled/dropped.

Worth it in my opinion just to avoid the insurance hike.

Kirk

Rally Guy

I've had great luck synthisizing the tips from http://www.magma.ca/~fyst/ with a pile of good luck. So far, zero convictions in 5-6 tickets.

My understanding is that the Pointts (poinnts?) guys give you a contract that states a "win" is any reduction in the fine or charge. Any PP will plea a ticket down for a quick win - you STILL get a ticket on your record and your insurance can skyrocket.

If it weren't for the insurance hit - I wouldn't fight any legit ticket I got. But a $100 fine can cost you THOUSANDS in insurance hikes - can't condone that at all.

RK

JimV8

#24 south of Cambridge has to be famous for a speed trap, sorry you got nicked. I think you have to fight every ticket simply because of the long term implications.

gofor28off

Thanks for the replies. I cannot get the link above to work; what is it for?
If the fee is $300 this is absolutely worth it (if and only if) they get it dropped. The ticket for 34kph over is for $259 (of course this includes the "victim fine surchage".
The taxpayer is the victim here. With all due respect to reasonable hard-working police officers it is rediculous that this officer has nothing better to do than set-up in a location that has a speed limit obviously set to maximize the size of a ticket, and ticket people on their way home from work. It is can only be in an effort to generate revenue.
I will absolutely fight it and pay a paralegal service if necessary to get it dropped.
Really not a good use of a police officer's time.

Rally Guy

Tickets are a cash grab - speed does not kill - lane changes without signalling kill!

That web site (google the term fyst) is all about fighing tickets in Ontario. Not everythign is useful, or necessartily accurate - beware - YMMV - but it's given me the guts to fight every ticket and through that and good luck - I've won every battle.

RK

skruggs964

I also used POINTSS about 2 years ago. As I remember, I got busted doing 55kms in a 30kms school zone. I was mostly concerned about the demerits....that ticket alone is like 4 of them...and a big no-no for your insurance. Anywho...it costed me $150 + GST for them to represent me....but they got it reduced so that there would be no demerits. I still had to pay the speeding ticket.....but it saved me at least $600 a year in increased insurance premiums.

I would recommend you speak to them....it doesn't cost anything for the initial consultation. In fact...I was told if they don't win, they refund the fee.

Good luck!

pongobaz

That's a good site with great advice. If you have the time go to court and make sure you plead not guilty; guilty with an explanation is bullsh*t because you're still admitting you broke the law! What will usually happen is that no judge wants to watch you do your best impression of Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny", so they will find a quick way to make you happy and send you on your way. If points were involved, I always take it to court and one of 2 things has happened: 1)cop didn't show so the case was dismissed
2)he did show up, pulled me aside and negotiated it down to 15 kph over/no points before we even approached the judge.
Other option is starting a group buy on one of these??!...

Turbo Cup

Most of us have little or no experience in this traffic court thing. I had an involvement a year or so ago, went to traffic court, and was surprised to see everybody who complained get their charge reduced! It seems that Police Officers are no longer allowed to reduce speeding charges. It's done by the court officials. What a huge waste of taxpayers money!
It seemed to me that the driver can do as well for himself as a points guy. I haven't had a speeding ticket since forever, but I will certainly attend at court if I do. My problem was an R.D. and I had to appear in court. Interesting experience. I would try to contact the prosecutor, and failing that, meet him at the court. That's the way the system seems to work.

pongobaz

I should also add that I try to make it as inconvienient as possible for the cop to want to be there. Being bilingual, I always request a French trial then (because I travel so much for work) I'll ask for a change of court date; I actually sent my wife once on the appointed date with proof that I had to go out of town for work and they changed the date. The funniest was when they assigned a French translator to me for my court appearance; now those of you who have met me know that while French might be my mother tongue, I speak English with absolutely no accent. So there I was pretending I couldn't understand english...yup that ticket went away pretty quick when the very anglo cop and prosecutor saw what a circus this was potentially going to be!

skruggs964

Turbo Cup....I once fought a speeding ticket by myself. What a complete waste of time! I showed up in court.....waited 3 hours for them to call my name. The judge asked how I plead....I told him "not guilty". He then said....court date set for September XX" This was in July. So then....I had to go back in September....waited another 3 hours until my name was called. I won my case....but it essentially wasted two of my days that I had to take off work. Plus I had to pay for parking! All that to save a $78 ticket. Would I do it again....probably not. It was a major pain in the ***! I'd rather pay POINTTS to fight it for me.

R6XTERRA

You picked the worst strecth to be speeding on.

So many popo's on that stretch of road.

My buddy was pulled over in my 911 and they through the book at him. Must be something in the Cambridge water.

jgdixon

Actually the Police can reduce the ticket, and there is a box right on the ticket that indicates that. So if you go to court now it's harder to get them to reduce your ticket because it is very evident if they already have.
Unfortunately I have lots of experience with tickets, demerit points, insurance increases etc. Things seem to go fine for a while and then, bam! a ticket when you thought you were OK for a while.
Funny enough I have never had one in my Porsche though.
My experience with people like Pointts is positive as well. Although it seems that they just cut a deal with the prosecuter before your appearance, they all seem very chummy and know each other because they're mostly ex cops, and are in court so much.

It's probably worth it if you have the time to go on your own and speak to them before the court goes into session.

JimV8

Doncha find folks who drive Porsches get very little pity from anyone?

skruggs964

You betcha!