Careless Driving/ No insurance ticket- HELP!

[s1000rrr]

Long story short, I was hit with a careless driving and no insurance ticket on my motorcycle ( I was not insured). I know I shouldn't have been riding without insurance but I was an idiot and got dinged for it.

When the officer pulled me over, he did not identify himself and was aggressive in the nature he stopped me (grabbed me by my collar and started dragging my bike, bike nearly tipped over). He also Did not tell me what I was being charged with (also didn't ask for ownership or proof of insurance at the time). He asked for my driver's license and asked for my phone number and told me to come pick up my tickets at the station. He then left the scene (officer was on his way to tend to an emergency) without impounding my bike , forcing me to ride home without my license.

Two days later he called me and told me to come to the station to pick up my tickets (he had checked and found that the bike was not insured).

I know that these are some serious tickets and I have learned my lesson. What are the chances of getting them dropped? Also, any recommendations on good lawyers?

 

[Joe Bass]

So he let you go and you didn't immediately call and get yourself insured?
Sorry. Just thinking out loud.
Just my opinion, but I think you're effed.
Good luck.
Check some old threads, there's some legal representation that keeps getting mentioned. The name escapes me right now. Sorry.

Sent from the Purple Zone

 

[s1000rrr]

I didn't know what to do at that moment. Thinking back, I could've avoided the ticket a couple different ways but thats in the past.

 

[TwistedKestrel]

I think no insurance is an absolute liability thing, so there may not be much of a defence. Careless driving might be something you can fight, but I think being convicted of no insurance makes actually getting insurance difficult/extremely expensive, so there may not be a point in fighting. IANATL, sorry about your $3000+ bro

 

[nakkers]

Don't remember seeing anyone posting successful beating the charge but, it could be possible. Best seek legal advice. Hopefully the legal cost benefit from reduced fine, lessor charges and improve the outlook.

As it stands now, long lasting scars that will cost you to insure any kind of vehicle.

Best of luck to the op.

 

[hedo2002]

In the event you haven't called and gotten insured, you BETTER do it BEFORE these convictions are registered. Once your convicted of riding without insurance, (you tell us you weren't insured at the time, but didn't say how many times or how long you had been riding dirty), You will likely be looking at the facility market, (especially if your convicted of both). Either way if your convicted of the no insurance you will be paying very high rates for the next 5 - 6 years. Given you have a 1000RR your in for a real ride, (best start looking for a decent 250 -300 if you plan to continue to ride.

If the officer was on his way to an emergency and still felt he needed to pull you over you must have been doing something pretty outrageous to draw his attention. You already caught a HUGE break that he didn't impound the bike and have you walk from there.

You already have been given the best advice, look for a GOOD traffic court lawyer, these are serious offences, I personally wouldn't be leaving these to a paralegal. Yes a lawyer is going to cost ALOT, but if you somehow get these charges dropped it will be less than the increased premiums over 5 - 6 years.

The officer's actions may have been harsh, but they won't matter when it comes to court, especially if he states he was on his way to an emergency and didn't "have time to play nice" with you. Not saying that excuses the behaviour, but it will be considered a "mitigating factor" by the JP, (remember JP's are NOT judges), and rarely have any formal legal training.

 

[bigpoppa]

Out of curiosity....what were you doing that got you pulled over?

if he was on his way to an emergency and still pulled you over it must have been for something 'epic'

 

[hedo2002]

Out of curiosity....what were you doing that got you pulled over?

if he was on his way to an emergency and still pulled you over it must have been for something 'epic'

Good rule of thumb, if you have:

No insurance;
Suspended licence;
warrants;
etc etc etc.

Drive like a "model citizen", People would be surprised how many I caught with the above, simply by doing radar, and stopping them for speeding. Many times if they had driven properly I never had a reason to stop them...

 

[Bagman]

Many times if they had driven properly I never had a reason to stop them...

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!! Whaaaaa?

 

[samurai]

I think no insurance is an absolute liability thing, so there may not be much of a defence. Careless driving might be something you can fight, but I think being convicted of no insurance makes actually getting insurance difficult/extremely expensive, so there may not be a point in fighting. IANATL, sorry about your $3000+ bro

What he said, nothing much left to fight if you didn't have insurance. Bike and car insurance for you in future will most likely be expensive.may want to check with a lawyer (not paralegal) what you can do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[s1000rrr]

I think no insurance is an absolute liability thing, so there may not be much of a defence. Careless driving might be something you can fight, but I think being convicted of no insurance makes actually getting insurance difficult/extremely expensive, so there may not be a point in fighting. IANATL, sorry about your $3000+ bro

That is what I've heard from most paralegals I've called. They said I'll have to take a hit on the no insurance but they can get the careless dropped.

 

[s1000rrr]

In the event you haven't called and gotten insured, you BETTER do it BEFORE these convictions are registered. Once your convicted of riding without insurance, (you tell us you weren't insured at the time, but didn't say how many times or how long you had been riding dirty), You will likely be looking at the facility market, (especially if your convicted of both). Either way if your convicted of the no insurance you will be paying very high rates for the next 5 - 6 years. Given you have a 1000RR your in for a real ride, (best start looking for a decent 250 -300 if you plan to continue to ride.

If the officer was on his way to an emergency and still felt he needed to pull you over you must have been doing something pretty outrageous to draw his attention. You already caught a HUGE break that he didn't impound the bike and have you walk from there.

You already have been given the best advice, look for a GOOD traffic court lawyer, these are serious offences, I personally wouldn't be leaving these to a paralegal. Yes a lawyer is going to cost ALOT, but if you somehow get these charges dropped it will be less than the increased premiums over 5 - 6 years.

The officer's actions may have been harsh, but they won't matter when it comes to court, especially if he states he was on his way to an emergency and didn't "have time to play nice" with you. Not saying that excuses the behaviour, but it will be considered a "mitigating factor" by the JP, (remember JP's are NOT judges), and rarely have any formal legal training.

Thanks for the advice. I will be 25 Ina few months have so I might be able to get a break on insurance if these charges aren't on my record yet. My court date is next month so Ill call around for insurance quotes. Do you know any good traffic LAWYERS?

 

[s1000rrr]

things I shouldn't have been... lol

 

[hedo2002]

That is what I've heard from most paralegals I've called. They said I'll have to take a hit on the no insurance but they can get the careless dropped.

Just be "cautious" of ANYONE including a lawyer, saying they can get a charge "dropped" Unless, they already have disclosure, (which I doubt as I have to assume given your court date is next month, these charges were just laid), there is NO way for them to assure they can get it dropped. Also many will use the term "dropped" when what they actually mean is REDUCED. This means you will still be convicted of an offence, (unless they get it reduced to disobey traffic sign, bylaw charge), will still have a SIGNIFICANT insurance hit as you will have the no insurance conviction which will be considered a MAJOR, as well as a minor conviction, (unless you have had other tickets).

Sorry don't know any good traffic lawyers. If you decide to go the "cheap route" with a paralegal, I would suggest the one you talk to is Forch, (there are plenty threads with his contact info here on GTAM.

Next thing is TOMORROW file for disclosure, on these charges. You WILL need it, to properly permit anyone you hire to defend the charges. Once they have the disclosure then set a meeting with them and then and only then seek their informed advice based on the crown's disclosure, until then they are just guessing at best.

 

[yodude]

never heard of a cop grabbing you licence papers & taking off..

 

[bigpoppa]

OP you still havent told us what you were doing, im assuming its probably something so (for lack of a better word) idiotic that your embarrassed to tell us.

As others have said get a good traffic lawyer, and get a small cc bike, even then insurance is gonna be a pain in the ***, you said your still in your 20s that wont help your cause (Lets hope you dont live in brampton)

 

[conundrum]

Well I obviously wouldn't want to get dinged for something serious like this a second time.. so no i wouldnt do the same thing.. it's called learning from your mistakes

Good on you if that is the case. Unfortunately no matter what the outcome this will cost you a lot financially, but like you said, live and learn. Many more years of life and riding ahead of you, and if the end result of this is being more careful and less tickets, you might still come out financially ahead of some after x number of years on the road.

Also I guess on the bright side, if you didn't plan on converting the S1000RR to track only, then the money you get for it should easily buy a 250-300 and either cover the insurance for a year, or come close to. Not sure how long the insurance thing can stay on your record, but with standard tickets you should be clear of any extra charges after 3-4 years (depending on the conviction and insurance dates).

 

[s1000rrr]

Thanks for the insightful info. I will keep that in mind when I go to speak to a lawyer in person. I will speak to Forch tomorrow. Bu the way, next month is my trial date. I missed my first date due to a family emergency and it turns out it was just a meeting with the prosecutor to set a trial date if I chose to fight the charges (they picked a date for me as I was absent). So Feb. is my trial date.

With regards to the disclosure, I requested it and got a bunch of papers from the prosecutors office. However, I spoke to a paralegal today who said that this is not all of the disclosure. He said that there might be additional video evidence or something else that they may not have included with the documents they provided me and that they would only release it to a lawyer? Any idea what this is about? I was under the impression that when I request the disclosure they will provide me with everything I needed to build a defense.

Just be "cautious" of ANYONE including a lawyer, saying they can get a charge "dropped" Unless, they already have disclosure, (which I doubt as I have to assume given your court date is next month, these charges were just laid), there is NO way for them to assure they can get it dropped. Also many will use the term "dropped" when what they actually mean is REDUCED. This means you will still be convicted of an offence, (unless they get it reduced to disobey traffic sign, bylaw charge), will still have a SIGNIFICANT insurance hit as you will have the no insurance conviction which will be considered a MAJOR, as well as a minor conviction, (unless you have had other tickets).



Sorry don't know any good traffic lawyers. If you decide to go the "cheap route" with a paralegal, I would suggest the one you talk to is Forch, (there are plenty threads with his contact info here on GTAM.

Next thing is TOMORROW file for disclosure, on these charges. You WILL need it, to properly permit anyone you hire to defend the charges. Once they have the disclosure then set a meeting with them and then and only then seek their informed advice based on the crown's disclosure, until then they are just guessing at best.

 

[s1000rrr]

Im not sure if it would be a good idea to expose what I was doing on here lol.. but yeah something idiotic...

OP you still havent told us what you were doing, im assuming its probably something so (for lack of a better word) idiotic that your embarrassed to tell us.

As others have said get a good traffic lawyer, and get a small cc bike, even then insurance is gonna be a pain in the ***, you said your still in your 20s that wont help your cause (Lets hope you dont live in brampton)

 

[s1000rrr]

He didn't even tell me why he was stopping me, didint identify himself.. Didnt ask for proof of insurance or ownership.... He asked for my license and took off with it because he was already en route to another emergency

never heard of a cop grabbing you licence papers & taking off..