How To Beat A Traffic Ticket in Toronto
Before you get all excited, there is no real way to beat the system. But there are things that you can do to help yourself from being completely shafted.
1. Never pay the fine outright.
If you pay your ticket without going to court, your conviction will register immediately and you’re pretty much screwed with your insurance. So even if you get a ticket for 10 over, don’t pay it. Take it to court. Why you ask? Because your conviction will only register after you have been found guilty. With the state of the court system today, that can be up to a year or more before you go in front of a judge.
So let’s say you got charged with not stopping at a stop sign even though you did stop. You can’t fight it because they’ll always believe the cop in court but you can limit the insurance penalty.
Even if you’re found guilty in court, the points will go on your record only after the conviction so they may only stay on your record for 6 – 8 months if the courts are jammed enough. This is because the points are based on the offence date and not the conviction date.
2. Go to court and look and listen for the cop.
The prosecutor will check in with all the cops. It helps if you can memorize the cops face when he stops you but he’ll say his Officer Number to the prosecutor to check in so listen carefully. If he’s not in court, your charges will be dismissed. This has worked for me 7 times in the past. Cops don’t always come to court. Sometimes they are busy or have to work and so on. If you’re really polite when they stop you, they may note it down and not bother to come if it’s just the one case.
3. When in doubt, bargain.
The prosecutors are lazy. They just want the conviction for their stats so they’d rather not sit there actually doing their job. They want to bargain with you and go to lunch early. You can usually get minor secondary offences dismissed and reduce your charge if you agree to plead guilty.
4. Stay away from those ticket services.
If you hire one of those “We’ll get you off for any violation” people, they really won’t do much for you but take your money for doing what you could basically do yourself.
5. If you have time and friends, stall.
If you have an agent that is willing to go in for you, you can try stalling by having them tell the JP that you are really sick with diarrhoea or something else disgusting and believable then ask for a new date. Stalling not only adds more time from your offence date to the conviction but it also increases the chance that the officer won’t show up. But don’t have your agent talk to the prosecutor in this case or he/she will know what’s going on. There is always the chance that the JP won’t believe your agent in which case he’ll have to say that he is not prepared to proceed and you may get convicted anyway. In that case, take the time it took to get to court as a bonus and be happy with that.
6. It’s your Worship not your Honour.
Apparently they get very testy about this. The traffic court has a Justice of the Peace (JP) and you refer to them as Your Worship. The criminal courts have judges and they are Your Honour. Holy crap talk about an ego trip. In any case, you won’t get a fair shake from either because in my experience, they always believe the cop over you. So no point in pissing them off further. Just remember to call him Your Worship and you’ll be fine.
7. An excuse is not the law.
If you have an excuse for doing what you did, it won’t matter so don’t waste your breath. They just go by the law like some kind of idiot robot. There is no room for humanity in the court so even if your baby was dying, they’ll convict you because you technically broke the law when speeding to the hospital. It’s best to try to prepare based on the actual law if you plan to fight the charge.
To sum it up. Basically, just go to court for any offence. The $20 extra for court fees and so on are well worth the insurance premium over a year with points on your record.
If you have a serious conviction like DUI or something, go talk to a lawyer right after your AA meeting. I only intend this advice for minor traffic offences. Good luck.
February 20th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
i recived three tickets togather at same time.
1. fail to surrender driving licence. Actually i forgot it in the other car which i drive occassionally.
2. fail to show insurance card which i also forgot in our other car.
3. driving without validated permitt.
actually we bought the car from dealer and was of opinion that permitt should be valid for one year and shall renew it on receipt of notice at the date of birth.
i got my temporary g licence which had expired 10 days before and i was of the opinion that other licence will follow automatically.
the cop gave me three individual tickets and stopped me to drive. i got my driving licence and sticker renewed on same day and drove my car back.
there was no bad intention to violate the law but it happened due to over sight. my insurance was valid.
i want to avoid any demeritt points which could effect my auto insurance.i am thinking to have paralegal service. please advise
March 7th, 2012 at 11:58 am
Can police cruiser park on the shoulder of the road with his Emergency lights on if there is no Emergency or he has no one pulled over? Could this be classed as entrapment?
April 3rd, 2012 at 1:49 pm
I was recently given a speeding ticket here in ontario. The cop said he caught be doing 24km over the speed limit, and gave me a ticket for 10km over and said he was doing me a favor. If i take this to court could he change the charge and say I was actually doing 24 over, and would kind of defense could should i build up if he shows up?
April 7th, 2012 at 8:00 am
Hi, What a great thread…I am going to court this week to fight a “failure to yield to emergency vehicle”. A motorcycle cop, was in a right hand turn lane, and i passed him in the right lane. The definition of the offence says i have to “slow down” and “move into the left lane if safe to do so”. I think it is fair to say that we both agree the left lane was too busy for me. But, he had no radar on me, and has no proof that i did not slow down other than his “eyes”. I plan to fight him on that basis….any other advice? If i can prove that he has no proof that i did not slow down, and the left hand lane was unsafe for me to turn into…i should be able to beat this right? He was wrong all the way….what happened was the entire right lane of traffic went by him and what he thought was too fast, I only got pulled over because i turned into a gas station….he told me that! Thanks for any help.
May 1st, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Hi, I was recently charged as a passenger not “properly” wearing a seat belt. I was working a landscaping job driving from site to site. We had three people in the front of the truck and I was in the middle. We were pulled over and I received a $240 ticket without any demerit points taken off. I do not even have $200 in my bank as I am struggling to pay off bills. I’m in serious need of getting this ticket reduced or even thrown out. I would appreciate any sort of advice. I am also wondering what the ticket colour means as I’ve had a yellow and now a green. I was told my friend used his father who is a mechanic to write up a receipt for a broken seat belt and a fake payment made. He showed this in court and got his ticket thrown out.
May 1st, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Dear Editor,
I am still waiting to hear any suggestions you have as I am thinking of going into the courthouse tomorrow morning to get things sorted out.
Please get back soon
May 6th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Hi , I got a ticket for talking on the cell phone while driving last year. I have a court date in a couple of weeks….I have a spotless record for over 10 years.PLEASE what do you or anyone suggest to help me beat this one??Any help would really be appreciated. Thanks
May 14th, 2012 at 10:18 am
I got a ticket this morning for (trespassing..enter prohibited primeses) avoiding a left turn sign by turning left into (passing through) a gas station and then turning left onto the said street…there is no sign in the gas station nor oppsite its driveway… on what grounds can i win this
May 17th, 2012 at 9:35 am
I just got ticket for pedestrian fail to use crosswalk 144(22). Should I fight for this ticket?
May 25th, 2012 at 2:32 am
Hi Editor,
Thanks for this thread! We were entering the city the other day and I got pulled over for going supposedly 72 in a 50 zone. This was silly as I hadn’t been speeding and there were a lot of cars beside us and a head of us coming into the city as well. Anyways, i got 132 for speeding and 580 for driving my friends car as we found out her car plates had expired days earlier. However she had signed up for the continuous renewal program but she hadn’t received any notice regarding expiration, maybe partially due to the reason that she’d moved a new place too (we’re not sure). I plan on going to court over this but was wondering if you or anyone else had any experience or suggestions. Thanks, for the thread and any help again.
May 25th, 2012 at 2:39 am
Hi, I also noticed the tickets are for the exact same court date and time, is that helpful?
June 18th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
hi.. got a disobey sign ticket for a no stop area between 9am and 5pm. cop gave me a ticket with time of 9.01am. is there a defence i can put up just in case the cop shows up on the date of trial. Is there a chance of judge giving the benefit of doubt to me. Thanks
June 27th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
hi,
today cop gave me ticket (disobey stop sign and fail to stop) I have to leave out side canada for 4 months ?my wife was with me in the car during the event, can i send her instead of me to the court.
July 27th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Hi There, I got a Stop Sign ticket recently and am looking for the better way to tackle the issue. I have found there is an error on the ticket (the street number is different from what on my driver licence ; incorrect address?). Could I just do nothing to force it into fatal error so the justice must quash the traffic ticket? How to appeal if ticket not being quashed? any advise?
July 29th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Hey i got a 30 over on the highway when i know i was doing about 15-20 over. There are two times on the ticket one being kinda scribbled out. Can this charge possibly b dropped?
August 13th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Aug 13.2012.
I have been caught 2x’s with driving with no Car Insurance, along with a few other tickets, which prompted the 1st 2 charges, on 2 different dates, March 2012, and
Aug 2012. What do I do now. My Car Insuranse lasped on Nov 2011, and I didn’t have the money to get it again. I only drive when I have to. I know its not right, but I need to drive to a few places. I go to Court Sept and Nov. I have been almost sick with this happening. Any advice is gretly Appreciated.
Thank you
August 28th, 2012 at 9:03 am
Dear Shannon,
Thank you for your inquiry. Driving with no insurance can have devasting financial and driving implications. It is not a charge we would recommend you attempting to fight yourself. A Legal professional can assist you with fine reductions and if there is a way to get you off completely, they will find it.
There are many insurance companies out there, that may be able to assist you with getting insurance. Remember you have only been charged not convicted.
Please feel free to visit us online at nopointstraffictickets.com, if you require further information.
Good luck!!!
August 28th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Pat,
Thank you for your inquiry. First thing you need to know is speeding is an absolute liability. It only needs to be confirmed by the evidence that you were speeding to obtain a conviction against you.
You should definately file for a court date, and upon reciept of the date obtain disclosure. Disclosure is the evidence against you.
Unless the officer does not show up, you’d be looking for defects on the face of the ticket, the lenght of time it takes to go to trial and the evidence against you to obtain a withdrawal outside of that you would be looking at a reduction of point and fine.
A legal professional, would be able to handle the entire process for you at a minimum fee.
Visit us online at nopointstraffictickets.com for more information on speeding tickets.
August 28th, 2012 at 9:11 am
Hi Elyas,
You definately could. After discussion with the prosecutor, she should be able to achieve a reduction of point and fine. However, a reduction in demerit points will not assist you with your insurance rates.
Best outcome to any type of traffic tickets is the complete withdrawal of the charge.
A legal professional can acheive that for you. For more information on the type of ticket you received, visit us online at nopointstraffictickets.com.
August 28th, 2012 at 9:14 am
Hi Jimmy,
Not really. With these types of tickets, if you’re caught, you’re caught. Without a legal background it can be quite difficult to determine if the evidence against you is sufficient to prove the charge. A legal professional will also look at the lenght of time it takes to go to trial, the face of the ticket for defects and of course, your disclosure, the evidence against you.
August 28th, 2012 at 9:15 am
Hi David,
Tickets that are received at the same time usually have the same court dates.
March 26th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
I was stopped for turning right on a stop that does not allow right turns from 7-10.The cop stopped me exactly at 7 although the time on the ticket he issued was for 7:03. Can you please suggest what are my options ?
August 21st, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Hi,I got ticket of IMPROPER STOP TRF-SGN INTERSEC
section 144(5) fine $110. I will go to court I go guilty how many set points (or none)and Insurance go up? This case hang up how many years in my file.
Do I need to find lawer, please help me ………
October 5th, 2013 at 5:15 am
Hello ..Was needing some help. Received a fail to stop @ stop sign ticket and it was caught on ICC video. I believe officer didn’t see me stop before stop line and sign as he was on other corner. I requested disclosure, received notes but no video. I went to court as judge adjourned until prosecutor gives me ICC video, which was done last month. However ticket was issued at intersection that does not exist. And officers notes claim I slowly rolled over stop line at 15 km.. But does not include a radar report so how does officer surmise 15 km?
Judge tells me prosecutor does not give a by law as to why stop sign was in place. And seems to not care if my charter of rights have been infringed upon.
If anything I have a due diligence defense, I would think
Any ideas?
October 9th, 2013 at 5:10 pm
I got 2 separate tickets
1) for – failure to provide vehicle permit.
2) for – speeding over 36. 96 km in a 60 zone.
Since the ticket I have gotten a new Permit.
I requested disclosure and went to court once. I received the disclosure when i went to court the first time. The prosecutor offered me 2 demerit points less and told me i would have to pay my ticket for the fine. i would still be getting 2 demerit points. I told them i needed time to review disclosure so they scheduled the date until Nov. 25th 2013. The disclosure seems legit and all proof of me speeding is there.
What do I do? Do i take the deal next time i go to court? Do i hire a lawyer? What do you think my best options are? Will they throw it out if my cop doesn’t show up and I still take the deal?
Please advise.
Errol
[email protected]
March 14th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
I got pulled over driving in middle of a moderate/heavy traffic westbound on a XXX street in Toronto DOWNHILL against late afternoon blinding sun. We all were going the same speed aka I was following the flow of the traffic. I was told I was doing 70 in a 50 zone. Not shown the radar. Just asked for my papers. then cop came back gave me ticket and said to go to court fight it. All of that while chewing gum and blowing bubbles. WTF???????????????
How the hell could I be driving 20 kmh FASTER then others when we all were doing same speed pretty much. What a fkin joke. I’ve been driving for over 20 years and do like 100 000 km a year. I don’t even remember WHEN it was last time I got pulled over let alone given a ticket. ( had to be some 15 years ago at least ) ..
Its a fkin joke money grab since it hink he pulled me over because I drive a taxi.
Anyone has any idea how to win this sht? I think the cop pulled me over because taxis are easy target.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:29 pm
Shadow;
I have read many of the issues drivers have placed on this site. I am a retired Justice and presided in traffic court for some 18 years. Forget about your driving record. It will have no bearing on your trial. The officer had radar. Very difficult to dispute. Officer does NOT have to show you the radar reading. I would go to Court and speak to the Prosecutor and ask if they will accept a plea of 15 over the limit. That way there are no demerit points but it will register as a conviction and it will affect your insurance. Too many people on here have given excuses for committing the offences. Unfortunately an excuse will not assist you in Court. The only way you can be acquitted is if you did NOT in any way commit the alleged offence and the Court accepts your evidence. Answering cell phone for ANY reason you will be found guilty. The wrong time, wrong spelling of your name, wrong address etc.. are all amendable and will be amended in Court so do not rely on that. The Court is only interested as to whether or not the offence was committed. Period.
April 15th, 2015 at 1:53 pm
This is what happened to me the the other day around the Victoria Park/401 area.
My teenage son and I had just picked up some food at the Chinese restaurant at Pharmacy/Sheppard and were driving back home.
I somehow could not get into the rightmost lane to take a west exit to 401 because there was construction on the bridge with lots of cars piling up so that I was unable to squeeze into the rightmost exit lane.
Since the Vic Park south of the bridge was very congested, and U-turns are not allowed there, I had to turn onto Terraview Blvd. with intention to turn round in one of the small deadend side streets, drive back to VicPark and then take the east side exit to the 401.
So, I turned onto Terraview Blvd. and then right onto a small deadend side street called Shandon Dr. I entered the street and while in the process of turning the car around a cop stormed in and ordered me to pull over.
I only noticed the guy just before I entered that side street. His cruizer stationed on Terraview Blvd. east of Shandon Dr. half way to the next small street called Alrita Crescent. But I made aturn because I assumed a man can make a left turn in places where it is allowed.
I could not have imagined the guy would chase me for just turning left were there were no signs prohibiting it. I have not violated any traffic rules because there were no traffic signs along the part of the road between VicPark and Shandon Dr.
When I asked him what did he stopped me for he aggressively replied it was because I was trying to evade him. He never said it was because I disobeyed a sign….
The guy was so rude and intimidating that he made my kid very nervous. Handled us like we were some criminals. I told him I had no reason to evade police because I am no criminal, and my driving record is clean.
But he would not listen. Asked me where I was headed. I said home. Told him it was my wife’s birthday and we got food for the family dinner from Chinese restaurant.
He demanded my car ownership and insurance. I gave him the ownership but in commotion could not find my car insurance in the valet where I keep my car documents.
I Asked him to wait a minute but he just took my driver’s license, and marched off to his cruiser to do a check on me.
When he came back he handed me with two fines. One for disobeying a sign (!?) and the other one for failing to present the insurance card.
I can understand him charging me for failing to present my insurance card, but the ticket for ‘Disobeying the sign’ does not make sense at all.
Apparently he did this to justify the reason for pulling me for nothing. Or maybe just because he was trying to meet the quota.
I did not argue with him and was polite to the end, because I did not want to aggravate it further.
I am 60, and have never had demerit points before. It’s very annoying and frustrating to get them just FOR NOTHING.
The worst thing is not about the money they want me to pay, but the fact that citizens are loosing trust in the Police.
They must stop targeting hard working people instead of going after real criminals.
I know there is not much I can do about the rotten system, and their motto to “serve a protect” sounds just like a joke.
But I am dismayed by the impunity of cops allowing them to use the powers of the state to make money.
All in all, do you think I have a chance of winning my case at the court?
Thanks.
April 17th, 2015 at 3:53 pm
Hi,
I got a speeding ticket, 60 on a 50 which the officer said he is being lenient… however its been a week and I checked the systems it said “Offence Not Found”…. does that mean I don’t have to pay and off the hook???
Thanks.
May 26th, 2015 at 3:25 pm
I have received a ticket for “Failed to Stop Schoolbus – Overtaking” in the amount of $490 plus
6 demerit points. What should I do. I have a court date coming up.
Please advise.
Thanks,
September 5th, 2015 at 6:44 am
Hi,
My car got towed for blocking a road. That side of the road has a parking meter and free at a certain time on the weekend so there is no way the spot I parked my car is blocking anything. Im fighting the ticket to the court. Can I also fight the towing and can I get back the amount I paid the towing company?
Thanks
September 25th, 2015 at 11:22 am
i got a stop sigh ticket and when i gave the officer all the papers needed i did not check the pink slip of inusrance which was an old i had the new one too but the officer did not tell me then but instead he issued a ticket for that saying failed to issue updated insurance can i go and show them the insurance slip and get rid of that ticket what is the proceedure for that can anyone tell me pl
September 25th, 2015 at 11:29 am
I am sure the traffic police officer are not perfect they should concern with the driver before issusing the ticket for the insurance slip because every one is not perfect and early morning we are all heading to go work with this bad traffic and road closures in Toronto.
They should also check the persons past history and a warning can be given not a ticket rather they should catch the criminals before the crimes take place save lifes and not waste time on the roads catching peopple for tickets which is not worth it.
January 23rd, 2017 at 8:01 pm
Hey i got a disobey sign ticket.
Because there is no left turn and right turn between 7am-7pm.
And i was very polite with cop when she caught me.
What should i do next to not to get it on my record?