imported_peter330

hey guys i was wondering if anyone could gimme some advice on my situation. Believe it or not, this is my first "car in motion" ticket i ever got. Basically i did a rolling stop in my neighbourhood and got a ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign. Then i got busted for it again like 3 days later. Stupid isn't it? Its pretty bad i know, but for doing these rolling stops everyday for 5 yrs in my neighbourhood its become a force of habit. Anyway my issue is this. I was told that this ticket will run me 3 demerit points each. Me being someone with a G2 lisence, its ALOT 3x2 = 6 I've called x-copper and things of that sort and they quoted me for 300 each to fight these tickets off. With 2 tickets that makes it 600!!! Thats an arm and a leg for a student putting himself through school. I need some advice as to what i should do. If i set up a trial date would they take off the demerit points or are they **** with that? There's also an option to meet with the prosecutors on the ticket, would i be able to get the demerit points off that way? The just of it is i don't want anything to show up on my driving abstract. I was told that if i set up a trial date and even if they took of the points, it would still show up on my record and that would raise my insurance is that true? im in desperate need of some help, pls if anyone can help me and give me some advice i would reallllyyy appreciate it. Pls help i have 14 days

Connie

well you might have had a chance on your first ticket but now you've done it twice... within a few days. So it shows that your careless (in their eyes)
I really wouldn't even know what to do. Its going to show up on your driving record no matter what, if they lower it or not. And yes insurance will eventually find out, sometimes they dont raise it sometimes they do.

Sorry, hope you figure this out!

nashall

2 tickets in three days for the samething and six points....they might drop one but still nab you for the other one...so you might be looking at 3 points...sorry dont know what to tell you

marker

First thing - over the next 14 days practice actually coming to a full halt when you see those red octagonal signs. It will save you time and aggravation and points and maybe even a life or two.

Re your tickets - two tickets for the same thing in three days? And you're on a G2 which means you are supposed to be using that graduated license time to gain experience and practice your driving habits prior to getting a full G license?

Naw, you earned the tickets, now take the lumps that are intended to come with them. The best thing for everyone else on the road would be a 30-day suspension on you to really drive home the point.

marker

And before someone jumps on me, yes, I am being a ***** to him!

My pet peeve is people who run stop signs and red/amber traffic lights, whether out of impatience or sheer laziness. They injure and kill too many people each year in TO, far more than even the shootings that people are up in arms about.

Let hiom take his demerit point/ticket fine/insurance surcharge lumps now and use them to motivate better driving habits in the future.

Helping him get off off these tickets won't drive home that lesson, and will just encourage impunity and more of the same bad driving behavior in future.

imported_peter330

ur a f*ckin idiot if u come on here and bash people ur f*ckin pathetic. This guy is acting like he stops at every stop sign, always uses his blinkers, etc etc. U seriously need a life like seriously u think ur mature and giving everyone enlightenment when really ur quite annoying and acting like a 10 yr old. Grow the f*ck up

imported_peter330

everyone makes mistakes, these "rolling stops" is far from endangering lives, its laziness yes, but not life threatening. I understand many lives are lost on the road today but really, how many tickets have u had? hpw many accidents have u been in? More than 1? " well i guess u shouldnt be driving" think b4 u speak pls

marker

I do just that as a matter of habit. You blow throuigh stop signs as an admitted matter of habit. You deserve the tickets you got and any you might get in the future so long as you maintain those driving habits.

I have. You have not. Have a nice day. Don't forget to stop when you see those big red signs. The life you save may be your own, or maybe even that of some small child. I'll leave it up to you to decide which is the better reason to observe those stop signs.

marker

Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but the key is whether you learn from them or not. Two tickets for the same thing in 3 days suggests that you need a sharper stick to prod you into learning.

I have zero at-fault accidents. I one not-at-fault accident, having been hit by a driver who went through an intersection without stopping. I was lucky to not get hurt. She wasn't so lucky.

Intersection collisions caused by people ignoring traffic controls are a leading cause of injury and death in Toronto. You need to learn before you get hit with the really sharp stick of a serious accident where either you or the person you run into gets hurt.

imported_ERTW

the prosecutor cannot "drop" points.. the courts do not give you points. points are a matter for MTO,and are assigned accordingly when they get info on convictions. THe prosecutor can however drop the charges to a lower charge, which will result in lower or no points. If you had one ticket, and it was your first offence, you wuold have a good chance on getting it dropped.. but with 2 consecutive ones... if i was the prosecutor, i would nail you just for your utter ignorance.


it never hurts to try though.. you can only gain something by giong to court.

electronblue

iTrader: (1)

I also stop at every stop sign, got rear ended by someone who thought I wouldn't. I use my turn signals everytime I turn, switch lanes, pull over, three -point - turn, and even in parking lots. Better safe than sorry.

Connie

I do this... EVERYTIME!
Not only to save others lives, but to save my own, my own money, my time (being pulled over) and my lisence.

I understand habits are hard to break... just now when you go to that stop sign. Come to a complete stop

Still go to court, and see what they say. If you can come up with some sort of story they might lower them.

Connie

Oh an a complete stop is sitting at the stop sign and counting to three... not 123 but 1......2......3.....

marker

You forgot to mention that a complete stop is also the time required to look to the left, look to the right, look straight ahead and to the left again before you pull out.

If you can do that and do the 1......2......3..... all at the same time, then you're good to go. ;-)

Connie

yeah well one is left 2 is straight ahead and 3 is right, but then I quickly glance over all 3 again then go...

imported_peter330

well in response to all the replies, any driving infraction is wrong obviously. That's why they're there in the first place. But any decent person will know people make mistakes and yes i have learned from it. The wrong thing to do is to condemn people that do happen to make them... trust me sometime in ur life and everyones life, u will make one as well. Its all karma. If all of you here claim yourself to be so righteous...then rethink the way u approach the situation. These are my first driving tickets whatsover and i been driving for atleast 6 yrs now. And yes, with my g2. If that makes me any less of a driver in your eyes so be it. The truth is i probably have more driving experience than a handful of you while i'm 21. you can figure it out if ur confused. Thanks for everyone's advice. For the record, i did not blaze through the stop sign on either occasion, simply a rolling stop... a very slooowww rolling stop that is just short of actually stopping. I don't think i'm a monster for coming within .009 km/hr from stopping and that's why im taking so much offence to this. Yesi did break the law, but no im not killing babies.

Anyhow thanks for all the advice, like i said i never had any driving infractions before and so was quite unsure how to go about handling this. The replies helped. As for the "grown up" guy... i await for the day when ur motion detectors does not confirm that u came to a complete stop while ur rolling over a flock of babies...or an ant hill... or something. I really hope u confess ur sins after.

If a stop sign was the only thing between you and your wife giving birth in the hospital what would you do? Laws are a guideline but are never perfect. If it means for me to go over the imaginary line on a sharp turn knowing full well no one is coming from the opposing side, to save my tires and put less stress on my car... sorry to say but 100% of the time i will. I'm not saying this is case for my situation, but is something that came across my mind when being preached the "ABIDE BY THE LAW 100% or God will punish you" sort of thing

Well this is the longest post i've ever written here on TCC, what was a post about a traffic ticket becomes a moral issue debate. Nonetheless, thanks for all the replies... even you

imported_peter330

at the end of it all LESSON LEARNED

Connie

Im confused about how you've had your less than G lisense now for more than 5 years, since the time limit is 5 years????

And I do think I am a great and all mighty driver. And so does about every one else I know. I am very cautious on the roads, I am sorry your not the same. But to call us all mighty and righteous because we do so is wrong

I just hope this situation works out for you , its not pleasant for anyone to have to get a ticket, and loose points and such.

Best of Luck

marker

When that happens, I'm sure we'll forgive you as would any cop who stops you at the time. But for the last how long, 5 years you said, that you were rolling through stop signs in your neighborhood "by force of habit", shouldn't your wife have given birth by now?


No, they're never perfect, never fit all occasions, and in certain cases you can use a defence "of necessity" to justify breaking the law under a specific set of circumstances. That's why you get to go before a judge or JP to explain yourself if you think you have a valid case.

But tell us, what was the reason of necessity that compelled you to violate one of the very most basic traffic laws time and time again? Because you didn't think the law mattered in your case?

If so, ok, then you tell the JP that you feel "wear and tear on your tires" is a more compelling argument than the safety considerations of stopping at intersections. Somehow I doubt the JP will agree.

You say "at the end of it all LESSON LEARNED". Maybe it was, but I shudder to think what the lesson was that you took away from this. Somehow though, given your attempts to justify not stopping, I doubt it is the lesson that says "thow shalt stop at stop signs".

Your next ticket will be the proof one way or another.

imported_SilverSleeper

Dude I think your ****ed for one reason alone, you got two identical tickets within a very short space of time. If I was the JP or Prosecuter, I'd think I'd have a very good chance at convicting you. You did once, it could've been a fluke, a lapse in thinking.

However you got the same charge again not long after you received the first one. There's no argument this, these are the facts as you stated them.

I believe all you can do is either argue for less points and/or perhaps a lesser fine.

Good luck.