Hi guys,

I live in Pittsburgh, PA and was recently on a road trip to Canada with my friends, to celebrate our graduation.

On May 13th near Brockville (south of Ottawa), at highway 401, I was pulled over for driving 152km/h (in a 100km/h zone) at 10:00 PM, in my friend's car. There was barely any traffic, and I was driving at that speed for a few seconds only.

I was charged with "racing," (anything above 50km -- 7 day suspension and impound) and was issued an Ontario driver's license which was suspended for 7 days, got a court date (May 20th , 2009), and a date when the car could be picked up from impound. There was no fine indicated on the paper that I received. The police officer told me that if it wasn't traffic enforcement week he would've "used his discretion" and let us go, but since it was zero tolerance week everything was in the system and he couldn't do anything.

Do I have to go to court to get a fine? (Do I even have to show up to court at all?) I don't know what to expect. I did some research and apparently the fines run in the thousands; should it be indicated in the paper already or did the police officer not issue a ticket?

I know it wasn't very smart, and I'm not trying to make any excuses; I just am not familiar with the Ontario laws at all. I'm very much worried about my friend's car and her insurance rates.

I'd very much appreciate any help from you guys. Thanks so much!

 

Just never come back to ontario, lol I dont think there is much they can do since its just a traffic ticket they will not go and look for you. The only problem is if you come back and get pulled over your screwed. I say if you dont plan on coming back then just forget about it but if you dont want to go that route the best thing to do is cantact a lawyer here.

 

^+1 yup.... since you will not be paying the fine (as you don't live here and you will not be showing up to court most likely), they will then suspend the license until the fine is paid.... so if you get pulled over , you sir will be screwed.

i wish i knew exactly how the system works , if i was the one to integrate a system like this, i would've first networked it with the border control so drivers with unpaid fines will not be able to enter .. but since our system sucks.. you can get away with it..

p.S: if you get a parking ticket and you are from the US, guess what? .. we apparently can't do NOTHING ! rofl... was on the news recently... so instead of issuing fines for non-ontario plates, they are issuing notes that kindly request you to park at the appropriate places... LMAO..... ENJOY YOUR STAY PEOPLE!

 

1st thing, what the cop said is BS its up to his discretion weather or not to give you what fine they decide, 2nd......well you were doing 152km and your from the US, cops think that when some one from out of the country speeds on Ontario highways they are doing it because they think they can get away from any laws here, if its not OK in the US why would you think it would be ok here? I'm not saying you were wreckless I've pushed my car for breif moments also but I wouldn't dare do it in another country.

 

My uncle got a speeding ticket for going 30 mph over driving to boston and til this day when we drive there hell say he never paid that ticket yet. They cant do much but when you get pulled over and your name gets pulled up you will be looking at a WAY bigger fine.

 

actually what's been happening for a while is that - depending on the state - any speeding ticket, accident, or other highway traffic act based offense will show up on your record. There are some states and provinces that have their license databases linked together, I was just discussing this with my company's insurance broker the other day. He was saying that most of the "travel through" states and ontario are linked together so that would be MI, NY, PA, OH will LIKELY be linked to this database. However, I have no proof other than what our broker told me. AND I don't really trust any insurance companies for anything.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for your advice. I know it was a very stupid thing to do, and I don't normally drive like this; I've never gotten pulled over in the last five years. I was just doing a brief spirited run... no traffic, golf gti, celebration mood..

I just don't want to affect my friend in any way. I actually have a Washington state driver's license, so I don't know if it'll be on my driving record, but we gave the officer my friend's insurance card - I don't know if she'll be affected in any way.

So if I don't show up to court, will I be the only one affected? Can I still cross the border into Canada? Just don't drive in Ontario?

Sorry for all these questions.. I'm not familiar with this stuff at all and I'm very shellshocked right now... Thanks again guys!

 

Your friends insurance will not go up because it was you who committed the offense so if anything your insurance goes up and it would only go up if you live in ontario and you had and ontario drivers license so if you dont have anything ontario then no even if you had anything ontario either drivers license or car plate still nothing will go up insurance wise as long as you dont live here.

driving record wise nothing will show up anywhere!! you could have problems crossing the border if you dont show up to court.

this is all eassssily avoided by you asking the court date to be moved to where you live and if they deny that then go to court here. since you were only going 152km/h thats 3km/h from not being in the racing law entirely which means wen you got to court here and say you were sorry you will get a fine in the 150-300$ CDN and of course no demerit points if you dont have a ontario or 3-4 demerit points on ur ontario license, because they will lower the fine to something smaller like speeding and if they dont then you appeal and the officer doesnt show up because courts here are backed up with court dates let alone appeals.

make sure you ask for ur court date to be moved to the states!!! you really have nothing to worry about. lots of ppl get nailed with that law here especially during the weekends. and the zero tolerance week is towards drunk driving not speeding so he BS you because most cops here are very money hungry because of the new law which convicts you before you even go to court and cops get nice bonuses for charging ppl with that law.

again you have nothing to worry about ur charge will be lowered to something else if you go to court but ask for court to be held where you live because of financial or whatever other reason you can come up with.

 

honestly, the canadian law enforcement is a joke and there's no FBI or anything like that....just pigs on horses. Just pick up your car and leave.....don't even worry about the court date. I always drive 100 miles when i am in the US and when i get pulled over...the cops always lets me go because i'm canadian.

 

hmmmm.. you must be running into some lazy pigs. .cause the cops down south have less tolerance for speeding.. and as our odometers have both miles/kms, i dont think they will let you go that easily... my friend who has contract work down in the states got a ticket for going 60mph on a 50mph and the cop gave him a 250$ ticket knowing he was a canadian...

maybe because he had a rental car? :S not sure.. but i wouldnt' be driving at 100mph

 

Okay i let me tell what the real deal, I got charged goin 172 on a 100km zone. Same situation as you got summoned to court, and car impounded for 7 days, licence suspended for 7 days. You MUST show up to court on the date given on the paper, Fail to due that will have your licence suspended and a bigger fine given. Now when you show up to court don't even bother fighting, you won't win, I have tried. The fine are ranged from 2g-10g, since it is your first offence you will pay minimum 2gs. Ask the judge to lower the amount if you have money problem and describe why. So just plead guilty. And for insurance wise you will be paying a good $800-1300/month for your g35 and if people are in your home that's insured well lets just say insurance won't insure them anymore either unless you sign driver exclusion paper which means you can't drive anycar in your home. And you will have a criminal record, not just a traffic violation record.

 

^ did you get charged going 172 or convicted? because if you get charged going 172 and its ur first time most likely they would of given you a 149 over which is wat most cases under 200 km/h get. you must of had no lawyer or some bad lawyer.... i would of appealed immediately after the court was adjourned.

 

I got convicted sorry, It's the new law now going anything over 50km/h+ is known as racing under section 172 of the criminal code. I had a laywer, and i was currently taking police foundation so i know all the laws basically. Reason why i sped was because i broke up with my gf and i guess i didn't know i was going that fast at the time.

 

yea i know the new law fought and won once and reduced change second time both before the new law, the only real difference is that ur car is taken away and much higher fines other then that its the same thing.

 

Max fine for that charge is $10,000