You and Your Traffic Ticket: The Unwanted Partnership
In Ontario, there are almost 600,000 traffic tickets given out every year for various driving related charges such as; Speeding, Disobey Stop Sign – Fail to Stop, Drive While Suspended, and Careless Driving to name a few.
But of those charges handed out, only a small fraction are contested. Leading to nearly 40,000 traffic tickets a year being dismissed or withdrawn.
When you receive a traffic ticket, don’t think of it as merely a fine that needs to be paid off. Think of it as an unwanted partnership between you and your ticket that needs to be handled with care. Failing to contest your ticket and paying the fine is admitting your guilt to the offence, which is only the beginning of the traffic ticket repercussions.
Manny traffic tickets, after you are found guilty, could lead to licence suspension, demerit points, and increased insurance premiums. 50% of insurance companies will increase your insurance for ONE traffic ticket on your record. Over 90% will increase your rates for only TWO tickets on your record, regardless of points. And a majority of insurance companies may even drop you from coverage for THREE OR MORE tickets on your record.
Your traffic ticket is not something to be paid off and forgotten about. It always comes back to haunt you or negatively affect your life. Consider paying off your traffic ticket similar to a bad breakup. Your paid traffic ticket, and the offence on your driving record, will always be there to haunt you. Paying off the ticket makes your odds of having the charge dropped go from moderate to absolutely zero.
The first step is contesting your traffic ticket. Once that is done, your odds can only go up from there to get your traffic ticket dropped. Tickets could be miss filed, officers could forget to provide evidence, administrative issues do happen, and you can use them to your advantage. Your traffic ticket is merely a bill, until you contest it. When you contest it, your traffic ticket gets subject to a number of court and administrative procedures, that one small mistake could lead to having the charge dropped. You don’t get that chance when you pay off your traffic ticket.
Additionally, when looking at getting a traffic ticket dropped, there is also the avenue to get it dropped by a lack of evidence to support the charge. This is best discovered when you hire a lawyer or paralegal to handle your charge. There are so many statutory and case law rules applying to literally hundreds of different scenarios, and the best way to use them to your advantage is to allow a person who has all those rules memorized and stored handle your case. You’re not a lawyer or paralegal. You may be able to find the research, but the real issue is, can you apply it properly, and better then the prosecutor, to use it to your advantage and have your traffic ticket dropped?
I’m no mechanic, but I sure can find the parts. The question is, can I install them properly, and do I have the proper tools? Personally, the answer is no. The same goes when a non-lawyer or non-paralegal is facing a traffic ticket case.
So, my small piece of free legal advice for you is this: Do not pay that ticket. Hire a lawyer or paralegal to assist in the matter. And most of all FIGHT THAT TRAFFIC TICKET!
For more information on how M.G. Legal Service can help with your traffic ticket, please feel free to contact M.G. Legal Services at 1-877-448-0005.
