A traffic ticket may include more than just the fine amount listed on the ticket. Most traffic tickets come with demerit points against your licence. If you accumulate too many demerit points, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) may suspend your driver’s licence.

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Our traffic ticket team delivers excellent results in areas of:

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SPEEDING

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Before you act on any traffic ticket you might get, please be aware that the moment you pay any speeding ticket you are instantly pleading guilty to that speeding charge. Not only do speeding tickets carry a fine amount, but any speeding ticket 15 km/h over the posted speed limit will carry demerit points that may drastically increase your insurance rates. Some speeding tickets and speeding summons can even carry an automatic licence suspensions if you are found guilty.

There are two main types of speeding tickets: speeding tickets less than 50 km/hr over the speed limit and speeding tickets greater than 50 km/hr over the speed limit.

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SPEEDING LESS THAN 50 KM/H OVER THE SPEEDING LIMITS

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Speeding tickets less than 50 km/h over the posted speed limit will have the total payable fine written on the ticket. You have 3 options when you receive these speeding tickets:

• Pleading guilty

• Pleading guilty with an explanation

• Trial / not guilty

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A plea of guilt with an explanation is not a trial and your speeding ticket will not be eliminated off of your record with this option. At most, the speeding ticket may be slightly reduced, but this usually only includes the fine amount and not the demerit points. The trial option is the only way to fight for dismissal of a speeding ticket or for a drastic reduction in the fine or demerit points.

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SPEEDING MORE THAN 50 KM OVER THE SPEEDING LIMIT

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Speeding tickets 50 km/hr and over the speeding limit do not have a fine amount listed on them and are an automatic summons to court. This means that you do not have the option of pleading guilty by paying the fine and must go to the court to answer to your charges. These speeding tickets have an automatic 30+ day licence suspension if convicted of the charge.

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DEMERIT POINTS FOR SPEEDING TICKETS

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0 – 15 km/h over = 0 points (minor infraction)

16 – 29 km/h over = 3 points (minor infraction)

30 – 49 km/h over = 4 points (major infraction)

50+ km/hr over = 6 points + 30 day license suspension

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FINES FOR SPEEDING TICKETS

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Speeding ticket fines are based on km/h over the posted speeding limit.

1-19 km/h The amount of km over times $2.50 = fine

20-29 km/h The amount of km over times $3.75 = fine

30-49 km/h The amount of km over times $6.00 = fine

50 km/h+ The amount over times 9.75 times 1.25 = fine

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CARELESS DRIVING

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Careless driving is a common offence with quite serious consequences if you are convicted. Like speeding tickets, the fine amount is not the only penalty you can receive with a careless driving charge. There are two types of careless driving tickets, careless driving with a fine and careless driving without a fine.

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CARELESS DRIVING WITH A FINE

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Careless driving tickets with a fine amount printed on it will carry 6 demerit points and a minimum fine of $325. You have 3 options when you receive these tickets:

• Pleading guilty

• Pleading guilty with an explanation

• Trial / not guilty

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If you pay a careless driving ticket you are automatically pleading guilty to the charge and will have to pay the fine along with receiving 6 demerit points on your record that will increase your insurance rates. A plea of guilty with an explanation is not a trial and your careless driving ticket will not be eliminated off of your record with this option. At most the careless driving ticket may be slightly reduced by the prosecutor, but this usually only includes the fine amount and not the demerit points.

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CARELESS DRIVING WITHOUT A FINE ATTACHED

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Careless Driving tickets that do not have a fine amount listed on them are an automatic summons to court. This means that you do not have the option of pleading guilty by paying the fine and must go to the court to answer to your charges. If you are convicted of careless driving you could face fines of up to $1000.00, jail time of up to 6 months, and a driver’s licence suspension of up to 2 years.

A guilty plea of a careless driving charge will likely increase your insurance rates by thousands of dollars a year and may raise you to a high risk bracket for auto insurance. Some insurance companies will even refuse to insure you, even if your record is completely clean other than that one careless driving ticket.

Careless driving is one of the more serious and complicated offences you can receive a ticket for. There is good news though! With proper sound research and court skills, a careless driving ticket can more often then not be argued to elimination.

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RED LICHT OFFENCES

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Before you pay a red light ticket, make sure you know exactly what the penalties against you are. Not only do red light infractions carry a fine amount, but also will likely carry 3 demerit points and can increase your insurance rates. There are two types of red light infractions: red light ticket given by a police officer and red light camera tickets.

RED LIGHT INFRACTIONS GIVEN BY A POLICE OFFICER

Red light infractions given by a police officer have both a fine amount to be paid along with 3 demerit points. When you receive a red light ticket from an officer you will have three options:

• Pleading guilty

• Pleading guilty with an explanation

• Trial / not guilty

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If you pay a red light ticket you are automatically pleading guilty to the charge and will have to pay the fine along with receiving 3 demerit points on your record which will likely increase your insurance. A plea of guilt with an explanation is not a trial and your ticket will not be eliminated off of your record with this option. The trial option is the only way to fight for dismissal of the ticket or for a drastic reduction in the fine or demerit points.

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RED LIGHT CAMERA TICKETS

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Red light camera tickets are not given by a police officer, but are mailed to the owner of the vehicle. These tickets have a larger fine amount attached to them, but no demerit points. Since the red light camera does not know who is driving the car and does not provide driver’s licence information, demerit points and a conviction against a specific person is not possible. The owner of the car is responsible for paying the fine, but the ticket will not appear on their driver’s record nor will they receive any demerit points for the offence. There is no point in fighting a red light camera ticket in court since it does not register on your record. However, the fine does need to be paid since the owner of the car may have their permit validation refused or may be refused a new permit if the fine is outstanding.

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STOP SIGN

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There is a myth that you must stop for a full three seconds at a stop sign before proceeding, and if you don’t stop for the complete three seconds, you are guilty of a crime and should be charged. This myth is simply not true. Unfortunately many police officers do not have a great deal of traffic training and believe this myth to be true and will hand out stop sign tickets to people that have not stopped for a full three seconds! The Highway Traffic Act states that you must stop and yield the right of way to all traffic and proceed once there is no hazard to do so:

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STOP AT THROUGH HIGHWAY

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136. (1) Every driver or street car operator approaching a stop sign at an intersection,

(a) shall stop his or her vehicle or street car at a marked stop line or, if none, then immediately before entering the nearest crosswalk or, if none, then immediately before entering the intersection; and

(b) shall yield the right of way to traffic in the intersection or approaching the intersection on another highway so closely that to proceed would constitute an immediate hazard and, having so yielded the right of way, may proceed. R.S.O.1990, c. H.8, s. 136(1).

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This means that if there is no hazard to proceed, as long as you came to a complete stop, you can legally continue on your way without stopping for a full three seconds! Many people receive unfair and unjust stop sign tickets when they have obeyed the law completely. Why pay an unfair ticket and have your insurance rates raise when you can fight it and keep your record clean?

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Before you pay a stop sign ticket, make sure you know exactly what the penalties against you are. Not only do stop sign infractions carry a fine amount, but they also carry 3 demerit points and can increase your insurance rates. When you receive a stop sign ticket you will have three options:

• Pleading guilty

• Pleading guilty with an explanation

• Trial / not guilty

If you pay a stop sign ticket you are automatically pleading guilty to the charge and will have to pay the fine along with receiving 3 demerit points on your record which will likely increase your insurance. A plea of guilt with an explanation is not a trial and your ticket will not be eliminated off of your record. The trial option is the only way to fight for dismissal of the ticket or for a drastic reduction in the fine or demerit points.

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DRIVING WHILE UNDER SUSPENSION

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Your licence can be suspended for any of the following reasons:

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HAVIG TOO MANY DEMERIT POINTS ON YOUR DRIVING RECORD

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When a fully licenced driver reaches 9 demerit points, a meeting will be scheduled for them to give reasons why their licence should not be suspended. If you do not have valid reasons or you fail to appear, your licence can be suspended. At 15 points your licence will be suspended for 30 days from the day you surrender it. Failing to surrender your licence when suspended will result in a suspension of up to 2 years.

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BEING CONVICTED OF A TICKET THAT CARRIES A LICENCE SUSPENSION

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There are many types of tickets that not only have a fine amount and demerit points, but carry a licence suspension along with them. Some of these include speeding tickets for 50 km/hr and up, Careless Driving summons, and Driving with No Insurance.

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UNPAID FINES

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If you are convicted of a traffic ticket and do not pay the full fine in a specific amount of time, your licence will be suspended. Even if you have paid part of the fine toward your ticket, if the full amount is not received by the courts in the amount of time you were given to pay, your licence will be suspended.

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FAILURE TO RESPOND TO A TICKET

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If you receive a ticket and do not choose one of the options on the back (pleading guilty, pleading guilty with an explanation, or trial/not guilty) within the specific amount of time, your licence will be suspended. Traffic tickets are not the same as parking tickets and require you to respond to them to avoid your licence being suspended.

If you have not responded to a ticket or your conviction letter for a trial that has been lost in the mail, you could be driving with your licence suspended without even knowing it! For most people, if they are aware that their licence has been suspended, they would take care of it right away, but if you are unaware you could receive a Driving While Under Suspension ticket without even deserving it!

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There are no demerit points attached to a Driving While Under Suspension offence, but a minimum fine of $1,000.00 and maximum fine of $5,000.00 with a mandatory 6 month licence suspension and possible jail sentence of up to 6 months to go along with the conviction, for first time offenders. Second time offenders face a maximum of $10,000.00 fine along with the licence suspension and possible jail time.

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NO INSURANCE

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There is a large difference between receiving a ticket for Failure to Show Insurance Card and Driving With No Insurance.

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FAILURE TO SHOW INSURANCE

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If you have received a ticket for failure to show insurance card there will be a minimal fine and it does not carry any demerit points but will show up as a conviction on your driving record. Many people pay these tickets thinking that it will not have any effect on their insurance. The truth is that some insurance companies don’t even look at the amount of points you have on your driving record and only consider the number of convictions you have. Insurance rates can double as a result of even a single conviction on your driving record.

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DRIVING WITH NO INSURANCE

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A conviction for driving with no insurance comes with far greater consequences. A ticket for this offence means an automatic summons to court. You do not have the option of pleading guilty by paying a fine and must go to the court to answer the charge. If you are convicted there are no demerit points but the conviction carries a minimum mandatory fine of $5000.00 and a minimum licence suspension of 30 days and a maximum of 6 months! In certain cases the conviction could even result in jail time.