resources image

Helpful resources

Top 10 reasons to hire us

Top 10 reasons to fight a traffic ticket

About demerit points

Demerit points are what the Ministry assess against you for traffic offences. Here are some popular misconceptions.

You don't lose points, you accumulate them. Meaning you start with 0. Secondly, they don't increase your insurance premiums, although that may be a collateral effect. Insurance companies consider convictions. Considering that the conviction will be on your record longer than the demerit points, this is obvious.

Demerit Points will be on your record for 2 years retroactive to the offence date. This means that if a case took longer than 2 years to resolve, those points are recorded retroactively. They will have been on your record even if they are not anymore. If you receive more than 1 ticket in a single stop and a couple have demerit points (example: Stop sign & a Seatbelt offence), you only lose points for the highest carrying ticket. In this example it would be the stop sign. So you would lose 3 points, not 5. When you accumulate enough points, your license gets suspended for 30 (60 days or 6 months for subsequent suspension for NOVICE drivers) days. The time period starts from when you surrender your license. So if you waited 30 days to surrender your license, the suspension is for 60 days total.

If you accumulate enough tickets and have to attend an interview, you can still be suspended, or retested depending on how the interview goes. For novice drivers (G1, G2, M1, M2), it takes 6 points for a possible interview and 9 points for a 60 day (6 month suspension for subsequent suspensions) suspension. For fully licensed drivers (G, M, GM), its 9 points for an interview and 15 for a 30 day suspension. If you are suspended for the 30 days, then your demerit point total is reduced to 7 when you're reinstated. If you were a novice driver suspended for 60 days, your demerit point total is reduced to 4.

About road side stops

Learn what to say and what not to say and when vehicle searches are legal. Your battle to beat a ticket begins the instant you realize you're being stopped by a police officer. You will be in a much better position to challenge your ticket in court if you take a few simple steps when you are pulled over. Click here to view some suggestions.

Types of traffic tickets

There are three types of Traffic Tickets. They're referred to as Part I, Part II, & Part III.

Part I

These are what is referred to as minor offences. They usually carry a set fine so if your traffic ticket has a fine amount on it, it's a Part I. Another feature for Part I offences is that the penalty is limited to $500. You also can't be suspended by a court for the offence if suspension was one of the possible sentencing outcomes. Don't let theminor nature fool you. There are some Part I offences which carry hidden administrative suspensions. Novice driver violations carry suspensions issued by the Ministry of Transportation and not a court. Paying these types of fines or pleading guilty to them means after you think the dust has settled, you get a suspension notice in the mail. In addition, paying the ticket is the equivalent to pleading guilty to the charge. That means you could be assessed demerit points, your insurance could go up, & worse. Visit the FAQs page (and some of our others while you're at it) to see some of the negative effects of paying a ticket.

Part II

These are parking infractions. Unlike Part I offences, these tickets only have fines. No hidden suspensions or the like. Parking offences don't go on your driver's record. And it's vicarious liability to the owner/lessee of the vehicle. That means loaning out your car can also mean you get a parking ticket.

Part III

Part III offences are the more serious of the bunch. These cases don't have a fine on the ticket. It's just a summons with a court date. You can't just pay it. Some of the offences prosecuted under Part III proceedings are driving under suspension, Operate motor vehicle without insurance, Stunt driving, & Racing. There are way too many to list but those are a few of the big ones. Drive under suspension for example carries a possible jail sentence, a minimum Ministry imposed 6 month suspension & a hefty minimum fine of $1,000. The majority of offences under Part III are classified as strict liability. Part III offences should not be taken lightly. The fines can be astronomical and some of the other penalties associated with Part III offences can include, jail, license suspension, probation, and also subject to other orders.

Classifications of offences

The Supreme Court of Canada in the case of R. vs. Sault Ste. Marie, Set out three classifications of offences. These classifications of Offences apply to Traffic Tickets. It is important to know when defending a charge how the offence is classified. The three classifications are as follows: Mens Rae Mens Rae Offences are offences in which the prosecution must prove the mental element (the guilty mind), sometimes referred to as conscientiousness of guilt. Essentially, in addition to proving the actus reus (the guilty act), the prosecution must also prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you intended to commit the offences.

Strict Liability Strict Liability Offences are offences where the prosecution does need to prove the mental element (or intention) to commit the offence however the defendant can lead evidence to establish or advance a strict liability defence. This sometimes has the effect of appearing to be a reverse onus on the defendant. Read R. v. Sault Ste. Marie and R. v. Bellomo for more information. Absolute Liability Absolute Liability Offences are offences where the prosecution does not have to prove the mental element (Intention) to commit the offence. Simply proving the guilty act beyond a reasonable doubt is sufficient for conviction. Raising a reasonable doubt is somewhat trickier but there are still ways you could raise a doubt.

Elements of offences

The elements of an offence differ from charge to charge. They are the ingredients of a charge. For instance if you were making Apple pie and had no apples, well... you wouldn't have apple pie. By the same token if you were defending a stop sign charge and there was no evidence of a stop sign, well...there wouldn't be a stop sign charge. There are common elements such as date, identification, etc but for the most part the actual charge or act is proven differently. When you defend any charge, in addition to finding out the classification of offence, you should also learn the elements of it as well.

Xpolice in the courtroom

Read some of the cases that we have argued at Traffic Ticket Paralegal.com.

We have begun ordering transcripts of successfull cases which we will be posting to show you how we argue.

Here is the case of R._v._Koumoudouros

In this case the defendant was charged with Speeding. Typically police use a radar or laser (Speed Measuring Device) but this person was paced. That's when the police use their own speedometer to obtain a speed reading. There was a case from 1974 from the Ontario Court of Appeal. After careful review of the case, it was clear that people were misreading it. In fact, it was relied on at the Appeal from both prosecution and defence. The Judge agreed with the defence and overturned the conviction. Click to read the Traffic Ticket Appeal Transcript

View other XPolice coutroom transcripts:

Forms, Links and Brochures

Forms

Xpolice: Contract for services

Links

Brochures

Back to top