First ticket - 26 over in car

[marktwothousand]

Dammit. I got my first ticket, 76 in a 50 driving in my car. I am going to, of course, do everything I can to avoid a conviction. This comes just as I got my first motorcycle insurance. I am actually licensed 20 years conviction-free. As I understand it, if I get convicted of the full 26 over, it's considered a minor violation by most insurance companies.

Will my motorcycle insurer look at the infraction differently than my car insurer? I.e. Are they more strict or more likely to increase my rate on the motorcycle for one infraction?

i am going to request disclosure from the prosecutor. It's a $110 ticket. Has anyone requested disclosure and never received it?

If it looks like it's not going to work out for me, I'll try getting a couple of adjournments, and hope that by the 2nd or 3rd one, the officer won't show up. That is really all I can do I guess. So angry! And I was in a pile of cars driving really close together too, I almost feel like it wasn't me, because when I went back to that spot and looked at my speedometer, I honestly can't imagine going 76 in that stretch, that would have been crazy fast and it just wasn't happening!

other than that, I'm hoping I can keep the same car and motorbike for the next 3 years, renew with the same company, and that maybe the insurer won't check my driver abstract for awhile...

 

[Joe Bass]

Go see the jp and see if they will drop it to 10 over? No points and doesn't affect some insurance companies.
Unless you really believe that you were wrongly ticketed.

 

[ve3nsv]

+1 to request an early resolution to where they'll likely drop it to 15 over, no points and $45 fine. Also request disclosure in case you do decide to go to trial.

 

[Akad3m1kz]

Regardless of what your speeding ticket is it'll impact you. Some very few insurance companies may waive your first minor conviction. To my knowledge auto or motorcycle it's still a conviction and surcharge should be the same although it could differ also

 

[TwistedKestrel]

If it's your first ticket and you don't think you're going to get it dropped, it is in your best interest to get convicted as quickly as possible. This starts the clock on the 3 year countdown for insurance not to care about it, and reduces the likelihood of stacking tickets

 

[油井緋色]

Get the disclosure and figure out. I still don't understand how the **** cops figure out who's speeding radars are apparently cone based. A friend was pulled over for 80 in a 50 zone when the car in front of her was doing 80. Cop let the car in front go, then told my friend she was speeding.

Make sure you request the manual for the speed measuring device too.

 

[kiwi]

Go see the jp and see if they will drop it to 10 over? No points and doesn't affect some insurance companies.
Unless you really believe that you were wrongly ticketed.

Joe, you can't just see the the JP. He's the person who overseas the court when it gets to trial . OP must seek to meet with the crown, the prosecutor.

 

[Joe Bass]

Joe, you can't just see the the JP. He's the person who overseas the court when it gets to trial . OP must seek to meet with the crown, the prosecutor.

My bad...although I thought that's who I was sent to speak to when I got a ticket. Plead guilty to a lesser charge, speed through court, etc.

 

[hedo2002]

Get the disclosure and figure out. I still don't understand how the **** cops figure out who's speeding radars are apparently cone based. A friend was pulled over for 80 in a 50 zone when the car in front of her was doing 80. Cop let the cop in front go, then told my friend she was speeding.

Make sure you request the manual for the speed measuring device too.

Was that a typo or are you asserting the vehicle in front was a police cruiser thqt wasn't stopped? If it was it could have been proceddign to a call, (although they don't activate their lights all the time), at 30 Km over the limit at the very least the lights should have been activated or the speed reduced. Was your friend tagged with radar or laser? Laser can pinpoint a specific vehicle even a group of vehicles.

regardless of the circumstances hope it worked out for your friend.

For those saying insurance doesn't worry about 15 km and under tickets. A couple of years ago I was considering changing companies a "friend" though they were doing me a favor by paying a 10 km over ticket, (I had already decided to fight the ticket). I had gotten a quote from SF a few days before the ticket the actual day came to meet with agent. They said they had just pulled my abstract. The original quote of $890 had just gone to $1350 due to the surcharge for that single ticket. So yes it will matter to insurance and to be clear the ticket was issued in my cage and the policy was stnd alone bike policy so yes it will also affect your bike premium.

 

[油井緋色]

Whoops typo, too early in the morning!

Not sure if it was laser or radar yet but yes I know laser is pinpoint based. Will have to wait till I get the disclosure.

 

[griff2]

The original quote of $890 had just gone to $1350 due to the surcharge for that single ticket. So yes it will matter to insurance and to be clear the ticket was issued in my cage and the policy was stnd alone bike policy so yes it will also affect your bike premium.

Pulled out my insurance policy and looked at the driver rating criteria. My category with zero tickets had in the last ten years is:

"6 - Principle Driver Licensed and accident-free for 6 years; No criminal Code convictions or more than 2 traffic violations in the past three years.

Some companies will say "more than 2 tickets", some will say more than 1 ticket.

Maybe a single ticket on your record will affect quoted rates with some companies when applying for a new policy with them but it shouldn't affect rates much or even at all for the policy you are already covered under.

 

[griff2]

Get the disclosure and figure out. I still don't understand how the **** cops figure out who's speeding radars are apparently cone based. A friend was pulled over for 80 in a 50 zone when the car in front of her was doing 80. Cop let the car in front go, then told my friend she was speeding.

Make sure you request the manual for the speed measuring device too.

Radar is cone-shaped. Laser is a pin-point that can be targeted at one specific vehicle within a pack of vehicles with rifle-scope precision.

 

[ashkan]

Like many said, even 5km over will affect your insurance. Figth it. Often the cases get lost in the paper work and youll never hear from them again.


If you do, theres a chance the cop wont show up (automatic win).

And worst case, on your trial date, talk to the prosecutor (if the cop is actually there) and ask for a guilty plea with a lesser offense.

 

[TwistedKestrel]

Radar is cone-shaped. Laser is a pin-point that can be targeted at one specific vehicle within a pack of vehicles with rifle-scope precision.

LIDAR is actually not pin-point... I forget how big the coverage area is, but it is intentionally larger than a pin-point to increase the chances of getting a reflection.

 

[griff2]

LIDAR is actually not pin-point... I forget how big the coverage area is, but it is intentionally larger than a pin-point to increase the chances of getting a reflection.

A cone about 1 square metre in size at almost a km away is relatively pin-point by relative comparison to radar, and sufficient to fairly precisely pick out one vehicle from a crowd.

"The 3-4 milliradian cone presents an area of illumination of about 1 square meter at 300 meters distance. Therefore a single vehicle can be selected out of a group for speed measurement. Vehicles in the "shadow" of other vehicles cannot be speed measured."

 

[gptt916]

I will pitch in based on experience I have dealing with tickets- the amount of tickets I have received (double digits) vs convicted (one).

Lets get something out of the way first- Speeding infraction WILL affect your motorcycle insurance, it doesn't matter that you were in your car. Now some times insurance companies will over look a car related incident and not include it in your motorcycle quote (again, speaking from personal experience, my at fault accident in car didn't affect my motorcycle insurance, it actually dropped)

Some people have suggested talking to the prosecutor, which I believe is the 2nd option on the back of your ticket. DO NOT TALK TO THE PROSECUTOR. The prosecutor does not have the authority to withdraw your ticket. No matter how tear dropping your story may be, they simply cannot write off the ticket. They set up this option so people will plead to a lesser charge, thinking they walked away with a better deal (no points, less fine etc) and they avoid court costs- In the end they are still getting money.

When it comes to tickets, especially speeding tickets there are really only two outcomes- You win, or you lose. You may think you walked away with a lesser charge- reduced to 15 km/h over that carries a $52.25 fine with no points (minor speeding), the reality is, you now have a speeding infraction on your used-to-be clean record. Insurance companies don't care if the speeding ticket carried demerit points, they categorize them into minor/major, for example TD categorizes everything below 50km/h over to be minor.

If you are willing to, feel free to research into the topic and how to win a case in court- do not rely on the blind luck that the officer will no show. 5 years ago you could pull that off easily. I have heard somewhere that officers are getting a paid day off to attend courts- True or not, more officers tend to show up now a days.

Definitely request disclosure- and don't worry if it doesn't arrive early, I had mine ready for pick up 2 days before my scheduled court date, I then adjourned my court date- I was not given a reasonable amount of time to prepare my defense.

Or if you don't mind, find a paralegal, pay around $100-$150 and they will guarantee withdrawal of the ticket, look around, make some calls or send me a PM and I can refer you my paralegal.

Last thing- Most companies offer a first infraction forgiveness policy, with your 26 year clean record you may not even see any increase in your premiums from this one speeding ticket. Though I would advise against using your so called "chance" and save that for later- hopefully which you will never need.

Hope this helped a bit, feel free to pm me.


EDIT: http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...-you-want-to-fight-your-ticket-in-court-(new)
Very useful post if you want to fight it your self.

 

[hedo2002]

I will pitch in based on experience I have dealing with tickets- the amount of tickets I have received (double digits) vs convicted (one).

Lets get something out of the way first- Speeding infraction WILL affect your motorcycle insurance, it doesn't matter that you were in your car. Now some times insurance companies will over look a car related incident and not include it in your motorcycle quote (again, speaking from personal experience, my at fault accident in car didn't affect my motorcycle insurance, it actually dropped)

Some people have suggested talking to the prosecutor, which I believe is the 2nd option on the back of your ticket. DO NOT TALK TO THE PROSECUTOR. The prosecutor does not have the authority to withdraw your ticket. No matter how tear dropping your story may be, they simply cannot write off the ticket. They set up this option so people will plead to a lesser charge, thinking they walked away with a better deal (no points, less fine etc) and they avoid court costs- In the end they are still getting money.

When it comes to tickets, especially speeding tickets there are really only two outcomes- You win, or you lose. You may think you walked away with a lesser charge- reduced to 15 km/h over that carries a $52.25 fine with no points (minor speeding), the reality is, you now have a speeding infraction on your used-to-be clean record. Insurance companies don't care if the speeding ticket carried demerit points, they categorize them into minor/major, for example TD categorizes everything below 50km/h over to be minor.

If you are willing to, feel free to research into the topic and how to win a case in court- do not rely on the blind luck that the officer will no show. 5 years ago you could pull that off easily. I have heard somewhere that officers are getting a paid day off to attend courts- True or not, more officers tend to show up now a days.

Definitely request disclosure- and don't worry if it doesn't arrive early, I had mine ready for pick up 2 days before my scheduled court date, I then adjourned my court date- I was not given a reasonable amount of time to prepare my defense.

Or if you don't mind, find a paralegal, pay around $100-$150 and they will guarantee withdrawal of the ticket, look around, make some calls or send me a PM and I can refer you my paralegal.

Last thing- Most companies offer a first infraction forgiveness policy, with your 26 year clean record you may not even see any increase in your premiums from this one speeding ticket. Though I would advise against using your so called "chance" and save that for later- hopefully which you will never need.

Hope this helped a bit, feel free to pm me.


EDIT: http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...-you-want-to-fight-your-ticket-in-court-(new)
Very useful post if you want to fight it your self.

Caution the portion I have highlighted in not the case.

Firstly "most" paralegals" used to offer a no win, no pay guarantee. The devil was in the details. If you read the fine print if they got your ticket reduced it was "considered" a win.

I spoke to Forch about a month ago for a friend who just got here first bike and was nailed last Oct on the 400 for 49 over. He advised that since paralegals became licenced and registered they are no longer permitted to make such a guarantee.

Why are you wanting OP to PM to get your pralegals info? If they are as good as you say then why not post their info? Then others can chime in with their experience with the paralegal. I mean many members have reviewed and suggested Forch, on this forum.

 

[gptt916]

Yes, obviously you have to pay attention to those that will walk away with a reduced charge- eg. xcopper is notorious for doing so.

Also, thanks for correcting me, what I had in mind was a "no win, no pay guarantee", I didn't phrase it correctly. I am not aware that they are no longer permitted to make such a guarantee, as my most recent ticket was in Feb, and was still given this guarantee. Said ticket was withdrawn.

The reason why I said pm for his details is because I don't currently have it on hand, and I don't know if he wants it or not. If he does I don't mind posting it here.

 

[hedo2002]

+1.

Yeah it was Mar I got the info from Forch, But I think he was phrasing it in a manner to suggest "some" still offer a garantee "under the table"..lol

No problem on the info jsut thought maybe other forum members might benefit from a referral

Yes, obviously you have to pay attention to those that will walk away with a reduced charge- eg. xcopper is notorious for doing so.

Also, thanks for correcting me, what I had in mind was a "no win, no pay guarantee", I didn't phrase it correctly. I am not aware that they are no longer permitted to make such a guarantee, as my most recent ticket was in Feb, and was still given this guarantee. Said ticket was withdrawn.

The reason why I said pm for his details is because I don't currently have it on hand, and I don't know if he wants it or not. If he does I don't mind posting it here.

 

[klr_guy]

LIDAR is actually not pin-point... I forget how big the coverage area is, but it is intentionally larger than a pin-point to increase the chances of getting a reflection.

Off-topic, but (granted no training) I sucked at using a radar laser unit A cop let me try to tag a couple cars a few years back and I missed as many as I 'hit'.