Speeding Ticket FAQ’s
Q: The speed of my ticket was reduced by the officer. Can he bring it back up to the original speed if I fight the ticket?
A: Only the prosecutor can request that a speed be brought back up to the original speed, not the officer. It is, however, fully within the officer’s rights to reduce a rate of speed at the roadside to compensate for any mistakes or at his discretion to give you a break.
Q: If my speeding ticket was reduced by the officer, should I bother to fight the ticket?
A: In our opinion, you should request a court date for any speeding ticket that you receive. This postpones the amount of time the demerit points and conviction is registered on your record, and there is always a chance that the officer will not show up for the trial. Also, if you do not request a trial date, you will not be able to see the evidence against you (officer’s disclosure) and therefore will not know if there are any fatal errors or technicalities that could help you get the ticket eliminated. When a ticket is reduced at the roadside, it can make it more difficult to fight as the prosecutor could ask for it to be brought back up to the original speed at trial, but the best thing to do is to consult with a professional at Traffic Ticket Solutions for advice on your case. We know what to look for to help increase the chances of having your ticket reduced further or even eliminated completely from your record.
Q: I don’t think I was going as fast as the officer gave me the speeding ticket for. Can I use this as a defence?
A: Stating that you don’t think you were going as fast as the officer clocked you at is not a valid defence for your case. Actually, on the contrary, this sort of statement would help convict you of the speeding ticket. If you feel that you were only speeding 10km over the limit but the officer gave you a ticket for 20 over the limit and you disclose this in court, you are still admitting to speeding. No matter what speed you were traveling at, the charge always remains the same...Speeding. The rate at which you were travelling at is purely used to determine the fine amount attached to the ticket. A speed of 1 km over the limit is the same charge as 45 over the limit, only the fine would change, but the charge is still speeding. When you go to trial, the prosecutor will ask, “were you speeding?” If the answer is, “yes, but not as fast as the officer says”, you will still be charged for speeding. The only way to fight and beat a speeding ticket such as this is to have a professional from Traffic Ticket Solutions review your case to see what legal errors or technicalities are available to help eliminate the speeding ticket from your record.
Q: The officer said he got my speed on RADAR. Can the radar be inaccurate?
A: Any mechanical device can have mechanical issues, but the reason that the radar and laser devices are used by officers is because of their reliability and accuracy. A radar has an accuracy reading rate of + or - 1 km. The bigger question to ask is if the office could have made any mistakes while clocking you with the radar device. There are specific tests and protocol an officer is required to follow to be able to properly clock any car’s speed, and they also are required to have detailed training to do so. Since the professionals at Traffic Ticket Solutions fight these sort of tickets every day, we know what the precise questions to ask at a trial and know what technicalities to look for in the officer’s disclosure to give you the best possible chance at winning your speeding ticket.
Q: I thought I was driving in 60 zone and didn’t realize the speed limit had dropped to 50. Since I didn’t mean to speed, I can get out of this ticket, right?
A: Absolutely not. Ignorance and explanations are not a valid defence for a speeding ticket. Speeding is an Absolute Liability offence. What this means is that all the officer has to do is prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that you were speeding. After that is complete, no excuse you could produce will have the ticket eliminated. The only way to fight a speeding ticket properly is to have a valid defence plan that consists of accurately questioning the officer to ensure that he cannot prove your guilt and to examine all possibilities of technical and legal errors. One thing to remember is that the officer that charged you has probably sat through hundreds of speeding ticket trials and knows how to correctly give evidence at trial. Your best defence is to hire the professionals at Traffic Ticket Solutions who know what questions are needed to be asked at a speeding ticket trial.
Q: The officer didn’t show me the radar reading even though I requested to see it. Can this be used against him in court?
A: No. Officers are not required by law to show a radar reading and this will not stand up in court as a valid defence for a speeding ticket. There are a few reasons that an officer may not be able to comply with your request to see the radar reading such as it may be unsafe for you to get out of the car to see the reading (if the radar is affixed inside the police car), or that the reading has been cleared for testing or to clock other speeders.
Q: Can an officer accurately clock my speed when he is in a moving vehicle also?
A: Yes. There are two types of radar guns: Stationary Radar and Moving Radar. The Moving Radar is used in a moving police car and is calibrated to be able to factor in the speed of the moving police car. This means that if the police car is moving at 50km/hr and the radar detects that the moving vehicle is moving away at 30km/hr, the speed of the moving vehicle will be 80km/hr. This is definitely an accurate form of speed detection and will hold up in court if the officer has his proper training and qualifications.
Q: I saw an officer doing radar while I was speeding, but he didn’t pull me over. Will he still issue me a ticket at a later date?
A: Highly unlikely. If the officer does not pull you over at the time that you are speeding, he would be required to go to your house or place of work to identify you as the driver of the vehicle that was speeding and issue you a ticket in person. They cannot mail a speeding ticket to you and it must be served to you in person and have proof that you were the one that was driving at the time. This is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to do which is why we have never heard of this happening. If you did not get pulled over for speeding, think of this as a lucky break and remember to slow down in the future!
Q: I was driving behind the officer on the highway. Since I was following an officer, I wasn’t paying attention to my speedometer. He started to speed so I did too, but then he pulled me over! If the officer was speeding too, why should I get a speeding ticket?
A: We have heard this situation many times and understand how frustrating this can be. Unfortunately, most people aren’t aware that officers, while on duty, are exempt from speeding laws. This is the same for fire department vehicles and ambulances. This means that even when there is no immediate emergency, any officer on duty in a police vehicle does not have to obey the speed limit and cannot get a speeding ticket. It is well within an officer’s right to give out a speeding ticket when he is speeding also, and this will not hold up as a valid defence for your case.
Q: I was speeding. Shouldn’t I just pay the speeding ticket?
A: That is completely up to you. But remember that paying any speeding ticket fine is an automatic plea of guilty to the speeding offence and a speeding conviction will be on your record. The only way to have a chance at getting the speeding ticket eliminated or reduced is to file for a court date. Without seeing the officer’s disclosure (evidence against you) there is no way to know if the officer made any fatal errors or left out important information that he would require to convict you of your speeding ticket charge. Also, if you file for a court date you delay having that speeding conviction on your record for however long it takes to receive a court date. If your insurance is up for review in a month or two, filing for a court date will ensure that this ticket will not be visible to the insurance company. You are innocent of speeding until proven guilty. If the trial date takes an unreasonable amount of time to happen, there is also an extra motion that we can file for to help increase the chances of having the speeding ticket completely eliminated also.