Rep Power: 722

ok guys need a little help. so i was driving down a main road in fort erie. and i see a cop behind me. my plates are outta date and i have no insurence on the car. so i drive about 50 yeards and i se the red and blue lights. . i said. i knew i was ed at the moment. so the cop comes over and asks for identification. i says i dont have it on me. then he tells me to pull into a parking lot for surhter information. he asks me if the car is insured i saiys no. now the cop goes back to his car.(in the car for like 40 mins) so he finally comes with the verdict. he gives me 2 tickets. 1 for driving without insurence and 2 for not having a my plate dated. so he also says i have court date on april 25. and he tells me i cant drive the car home cause it had to plates. he leaves, and i drive home hehehehe. so if anyone has any info on this situation please help me out. i need as much help as possible

 
Rep Power: 727

i don't think you'll get any useful info for your problem here except for the standard "why did you drive w/o insurance?" or "you got what you deserved" response, so i suggest you find a GOOD traffic lawyer because you'll need it.

 
Rep Power: 722

Be happy. He could have ordered your car towed and impounded on the spot.

Also, he didn't ticket you for fail to produce driver's license. That alone will save you around $120, so now you're only on the hook for about $5,120.

I'm sure the judge will give you time to pay.

 
Rep Power: 722

hopefully its only a minimum of $5000

 
Rep Power: 722

It's going to be hard to fight this one - either you were driving without insurance or you were not - there is no further interpretation of evidence involved.

The judge may take pity and lower it some more, assuming this is your first time. If not, fines for a second offence starts at $10,000.

By the way, you driving it home opened you up to be nailed for a second offence charge on the same night had you been caught.

 
Rep Power: 722

Red and blue lights???? Police in Ontario are red and white

How were you identified? Something with a photo? 2 pieces of written ID?
It could raise doubt with only a written ID rather than something with a photo on it...other than that, plead guilty earlier, try to make some deal

 
Rep Power: 722

The white strobes they're using on cruisers now have a blue tinge to them at night.

The written id won't make any difference if the car is in his name. It's still the same offence for an owner to allow a car to be driven without insurance even if the owner is not the one driving it.

The ID aspect is also going to be tough to fight because, guess who will show up in court in the 25th? It will be the guy who got the ticket. Why would he show up in court otherwise, unless he was in fact the person driving that night?

The guy could just stay home that day and pretend it wasn't him, but then he's opening himself up to possible bench warrants, conviction in abstentia, and total lack of sympathy on the part of the JP meaning that $5,000 fine that might have been halved may instead be doubled by a pissed-off JP.

 
Rep Power: 721

Driving without insurance is a strict liability offence. This means that the prosecution does not have to prove your intent for you to be found guilty, but allow for a defence of "due diligence" . If you can show you acted with all due diligence or were acting on a mistaken set of facts that you reasonably believed, you may be able to get off the charge. There is plenty of case law out there.

for example: R. v Tjelta, the driver was charged with driving without insurance. However, the wife of the accused was responsible for handling all the family's insurance matters. The policies usually were up for renewal in April, except in the case of the vehicle in question which was due in January, and so the car was uninsured when the man was pulled over. The court ruled that the accused's reliance on his wife's report that the vehicle was insured was reasonable and constituted a valid defence and the charges were dropped.


I don't think you want to defend yourself on this one. Get a lawyer, it will prolly cost you less than $5000.

 
Rep Power: 722

i didnt have my wallet on me. so then he assumed the car was stolen. so he was at his car for like 40 mins trying to figure the out. so i didnt have any identification on me. will this effect anything? come on guys i know there is a way outta this one.

 
Rep Power: 731

How long had your ins been expired when you got ticketed .And why didnt you have any ins. Like you just didnt renew or got your d/ licence pulled for some reason ..77.

 
Rep Power: 722

ok the car was not even etested or saftied yet. it had nothing no plates no insurence. thats why. i just finished doing body work on the car and went out for a drive, and next thing i know was the cop

 
Rep Power: 747

you better hope you can pull a horse shoe out your *** and hope you get a fortune cookie saying everything gonna be ok.. i can't see you getting off that much unless your dads the mayor

 
Rep Power: 722

so there is no hope for me? what if i get residents to come in and say that i am a good kid and all and that it was only a mistake. or can i just say i went out joyriding? there must be something

 
Rep Power: 722

How does you allegedly being a good kid negate the fact that you broke the law on more than one level? How does the excuse that you were "just joyriding" make it ok to break the law?

You can't even use the excuse that you forgot that your tags expired or your insurance ran out, because you had neither on that car at any time in the first place.

You took a car that had not been safety-inspected and was without plates or insurance out on the road for a spin. There is no excuse for that other than the usual "but I wanted to ..." excuse. And that excuse won't cut it in court.

 
Rep Power: 721

I believe the maximum fine for first time offence for driving without valid insurance is $5000. I've seen judges reduce the amount to $1000 for first-timers, but it's all up to the judge.

Sorry to say, but you are pretty much screwed.