Got A Stop Sign Ticket in Ontario? Here’s How You Can Fight It
You’re driving on the road of Ontario on a beautiful sunny day. You play your favourite song on the car stereo and sing along. You get so immersed in your little moment of happiness that you forget to notice the stop sign on the crosswalk.
Oh, snap! It’s too late to slam on the breaks and get through. So, you just slow your car down to make it on the other side as safely as possible. And then the trouble comes knocking on your car door in the form of a police officer with a Disobey Stop Sign ticket.
The officer will say that you deliberately ignored the stop sign. You will argue that it was an accident, you didn’t do it on purpose and then tried to get out of it in the safest way possible.
But you will still end up with a Stop Sign Ticket on your back because you did not stop. And that’s all the officer cares about.
But, don’t worry, there is a way for you to fight that ticket. We’ll tell you how but let’s first comprehend what does the ticket mean and what are its penalties.
The Disobey Stop Sign Offence
Under the Highway Traffic Act, section 136, you are convicted with a Disobey Stop Sign offence when there’s a stop point but you either stop in the wrong place or don’t stop at all. The places where one is expected to stop his/her vehicle:
- at a painted stop sign on the roadway;
- (no stop sign) before entering the nearest crosswalk;
- (no sign or crosswalk) before entering the intersection.
The Penalties
Although a stop sign ticket does not sound scary at all. But, the truth is, it is something to be afraid of. Because to free yourself from the Disobey Stop Sign offence, you need to go through all of this:
- $110 fine;
- 3 demerit points;
- possible increase in your insurance
Steps to Fight it
So, here’s the deal: you need an excellent defence strategy to withdraw the charges of your stop sign ticket. Just telling the court that you were mentally somewhere else and failed to see the sign or that you did stop for 3 solid seconds but the officer didn’t find it enough, is not going to cut it.
These are some of the common excuses that the court is tired of hearing. So, you gotta come up with an explanation that’s more real. But to do that, you need to first make sure you get the chance to explain yourself in a court. So, here’s what you need to do.
Step 1: Get a lawyer
This is important since you don’t know the right tactics to beat the Disobey Stop Sign offence. You’ll need to have a professional by your side. So, first of all, lawyer up!
Step 2: Seek a trial
Next, you need to file your stop sign ticket within 15 days with the court. Your lawyer will do this on your behalf and help you get a date with a judge.
But before the actual trial, your prosecutor will sit down with the authorities to try to explain your position and offer a substitute offence. This way, things will get a lot easier as the court might lessen or even nullify your demerit points.
Step 3: Work on your defence strategy
Before you go to the trial and face the court, make sure you have a plan in place. Don’t just rely on your friend’s friend’s experience of getting out of a stop sign ticket.
Work things out with your lawyer and figure out an explanation that fits with your situation. Prepare the answers to the counter-arguments presented by the police officer, yes the one who charged you with the offence in the first place.
If the odds are in your favour, you will get out of the ticket without even paying a dime.
Ending Note
A stop sign ticket feels like an easy battle, but it’s not. Many self-represented defendants lose their cases because they are not experienced and end up presenting the court with the same old excuses.
So, if you want to get out of this offence, you need to consult with a stop sign ticket Ontario service. A professional paralegal will deal with all the things and help you free yourself from this offence without even stepping a foot in the courtroom.
