Okay, for any reason you’ve got a traffic ticket. Now what? Now you have to consider the options you have. According to the circumstances involved and the information on your traffic ticket, consider which option to choose.
3 Solutions for your traffic ticket
You have 15 days from the date of your traffic ticket to decide. Usually, there are 3 solutions for your traffic ticket:
- Pay the fine for your traffic ticket (it is done out of court; by paying your traffic ticket you plead guilty; you’ll have a conviction record).
- Visit a court office to plead guilty but make submissions about amount of fine or time to pay (a conviction is registered).
- Request a trial. Depending on what your traffic ticket says, you may need to either mail your traffic ticket showing that you want a trial or you may need to visit a court office to file a request for trial.
Remember, paying the fine is an admission of guilt. There will be a conviction registered in your driver records. You will have no chance to lower your traffic ticket fine and demerit points (if any). Do not forget, if you have a conviction record, your auto insurance will be increased upon renewal.
Weigh the pros and cons of every option. Calculate the cost of fighting the speeding ticket and weigh it against the chances of getting it dismissed or reduced to a lower charge.
How a Licensed Paralegal Can Help You to Fight Your Traffic Ticket
It is always a good idea to hire a Paralegal to fight your traffic ticket because they save your nerves, time & money.
- They have experience and knowledge; they know how to fight your traffic ticket.
- If you hire them to fight your traffic ticket, they will come to the hearing instead of you, and you will not be involved in a stressful process.
- You will avoid standing in line, finding and paying for parking and gas in order to travel to the provincial offences court just to request a trial date. They will request a trial date for your traffic ticket.
- You will not have to ask for a day off at work just to request a trial date for your traffic ticket and then to attend the hearing.
- There will be no need to make a request to change a date of the hearing for your traffic ticket, if you cannot attend it at the date. They can.
- If you have got a traffic ticket while far from home, they can handle your case without you having to travel to the court at that location.
- They will develop the strategy of your defense. If there is an outstanding error on your traffic ticket, we may be able to build your defense on that. Probably, your defense will be based on exceptional circumstances that lead to the issuing of your traffic ticket. In some cases (for example, an obscured road sign or malfunctioning stoplight), it is reasonable to admit guilt without harming your traffic ticket case.
- There is a legal requirement that radar guns need to be re-calibrated in a certain period of time. In reality, sometimes they are not. We know legal procedures of verifying whether this was done and documented.
- The police officer who issued you the traffic ticket must show up at the court hearing for your traffic ticket. If the police officer fails to show, your case will be dismissed. Often, the police officers schedule many court hearings on a certain day so that they can appear for all of them at once. If you have a good reason to change a date, there might be a chance that the officer won’t show up. You need to make your request in writing a few days in advance of the scheduled hearing. A Paralegal can help you out with this.
- They make sure that all evidences are well-organized for your traffic ticket case.
- Often, a paralegal talks to the Prosecutor before the hearing and is able to come out with a good deal such as: lower a fine or decrease the demerit points or both, pay a fine without incurring the demerit points on your licence.
- It always takes time and needs knowing the legal procedures to get necessary information (for example, disclosure) to fight your traffic ticket. A Paralegal requests this information in advance to develop the best strategy for fighting your traffic ticket.
