Ticket: Do I have a chance?

[Mckenzie]

First, anyone who thinks I deserve the ticket is right and they dont need to post and flame me. I seem to read that in everyones ticket posts. I am looking for advice. :)

Situation: Friday I was driving to school to study for finals at about 7:45 on Deerfoot just coming up to Douglasglen. The traffic was backed up really bad so I decided to do what I usually do: Pull into Douglasglen and pull a u-turn near the entrance to the plaza. I have been doing LEGAL u-turns there for almost 3 years.

So I do the u-turn and the cops are sitting on the grass and they pull me over. There are a total of four cops, in two vehicles. They tell me I disobeyed a traffic sign.

I told him that there was no traffic sign (It was pitch black outside) and he says that is has been there forever. I know that is not true because I made a u-turn there about 4 weeks ago and there was no sign. I still havent seen the sign but I am sure that is has been put up within the last 4 weeks.

So..... $172 Ticket. My only other ticket was a U-turn 4 years ago and it was "illegal u-turn" instead of "disobeying traffic sign."

Do I have any ground to get this ticket reduced?

or

Fight it straight-out?

What would it cost to fight this ticket at points or one of the other driving defence places?

I am poor and cannot afford $172. I would settle for $100 but that is pretty steep for a u-turn...especially if it is a new sign. Thx everyone. :)

[403Gemini]

im pretty sure your stuck, you may get it reduced.

a signs a sign, even if its only been up for 1 day. its like if they threw a stop sign and you went through it, its for safety reasons.

[Blue Devil 2]

I would just talk to the prosecutor myself, and he'll work out a deal with you.

[Fluidic]

Go and fight the ticket -- fight any ticket you get -- that's what court is for. :)

[ryder_23]

^
innocent until proven guilty in the court of law :D

[Mckenzie]

It is kinda funny.....it is the same cop who gave me a ticket like 3 summers ago for speeding in the construction zone on Deerfoot. I got off on that one.

I was thinking about going down to the prosecutor at RMP. He cut me a deal last time but this ticket is pretty steep so I am not sure if they would reduce it or not.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by Mckenzie
...so I am not sure if they would reduce it or not.

You won't know until you try. It's worth a couple hours of your time.

[rice_eater]

Originally posted by Mckenzie

I was thinking about going down to the prosecutor at RMP. He cut me a deal last time but this ticket is pretty steep so I am not sure if they would reduce it or not.

remember last winter when i got a ticket for 50 over? that was $275. If they can work out a deal for someone doing 100 in a 50 zone, you shouldn't have anything to worry about ;)

[Zero102]

Lol, 100 in a 50 zone... I think I may have given you the finger once! j/k, anyways..
I had a friend, got a driving with undue care and attention, 7 points, about 700 bucks, went to the prosecutor, got it down to 2 demerits, $115, for passing when unsafe to do so, this was last year. They are very reasonable there, However the law is very strict about U-turns, just in case you are not familliar with it, they are only allowed at an uncontrolled intersection, or where specifically stated that they are allowed, which in our city, is not very often. My advice is, don't bother fighting it, you will only plug up our inefficient court system even more. Go and plead it down, if you are young, try to get the demerits thrown out, otherwise try to get the fine reduced. I bet you could get 0 demerits, or a small fine with maybe 1 demerit.

[James]

Fuck i do that U-turn ALL THE TIME in the morning, they must of JUST put up a sign, dont see why the need for it though.

[hondarunner]

yeah best bet is go talk to the CP, Just say the whole poor student speal, and they will normally reduce the fine and scrap the demerits.

[Mckenzie]

I remeber my first U turn ticket. I did it on MAcleod TRail and when I got pulled over and the cop asked me if I knew why he pulled me over, I said no. He told me it was because of the U turn. I said there was no sign and he said that you cannot make a U turn at a controlled intersection or where it says no u turn.

So I vowed never to be caught for a stupid u turn again and here I am with a 172 ticket.

I hope I can play the poor student-its Christmas TIme-and-the-sign-was-just-put-up angle.

I can handle $100 and no demerits.

'Thanx for your advice and for those who make that u turn, WATCH OUT!

:tongue:

[Zero102]

Best of luck to you on fighting the ticket. There are so many BS tickets out there, I don't agree with our city's U-turn laws.

[Khyron]

You should be able to phone the city and find out the date the sign was installed?

And as for the stop sign comment - haven't you seen those HUGE "New signal ahead" signs they put up? It's exactly because once people get used to a pattern and you change it, people WILL blow right through it and were getting away with it (cause it was a new/surprise).

I bet that if you can show the sign was put up within 7 days of the ticket, and that it was dark you will get off with the cheapest fine they can give.

Khyron

[Ben]

Originally posted by Mckenzie
First, anyone who thinks I deserve the ticket is right and they dont need to post and flame me. I seem to read that in everyones ticket posts. I am looking for advice. :)

Situation: Friday I was driving to school to study for finals at about 7:45 on Deerfoot just coming up to Douglasglen. The traffic was backed up really bad so I decided to do what I usually do: Pull into Douglasglen and pull a u-turn near the entrance to the plaza. I have been doing LEGAL u-turns there for almost 3 years.

So I do the u-turn and the cops are sitting on the grass and they pull me over. There are a total of four cops, in two vehicles. They tell me I disobeyed a traffic sign.

I told him that there was no traffic sign (It was pitch black outside) and he says that is has been there forever. I know that is not true because I made a u-turn there about 4 weeks ago and there was no sign. I still havent seen the sign but I am sure that is has been put up within the last 4 weeks.

So..... $172 Ticket. My only other ticket was a U-turn 4 years ago and it was "illegal u-turn" instead of "disobeying traffic sign."

Do I have any ground to get this ticket reduced?

or

Fight it straight-out?

What would it cost to fight this ticket at points or one of the other driving defence places?

I am poor and cannot afford $172. I would settle for $100 but that is pretty steep for a u-turn...especially if it is a new sign. Thx everyone. :)



Originally posted by James
Fuck i do that U-turn ALL THE TIME in the morning, they must of JUST put up a sign, dont see why the need for it though.



Sorry to rain on y'alls parade, but that sign HAS been there for quite some time, I remember watching cops sitting there ALL the time in the unmarked cruiser owning people doing the illegal U turns.

Alas, I say as many others have already, go talk to the crown prosecutor.

If they can turn this into an illegal left hand turn Registered owner ticket, I think they can help you out.
http://www.psylence.com/Junk/owned.jpg

[TalonVelocity]

yeah Im pretty sure you're up shite creek

[93akordse]

fight it, i don't know how it is in canada but in the states thats a 4 point ticket, at least try to get it reduced to a negligent driving or something like that so you're insurance won't go up and it's no points, not sure if it works like that up there

[Mckenzie]

I am gonna go down today maybe and talk to the prosecutor. Lets hope he can work something out for me.

Thanks for all of your input...:thumbsup:

[nex]

lol you never saw that sign?! i always do that u-turn but they have had it up for atleast 2 months now. I still do the turn anyways but meh!

[Mckenzie]

Originally posted by nex
lol you never saw that sign?! i always do that u-turn but they have had it up for atleast 2 months now. I still do the turn anyways but meh!

It was pitch black because it was like 7:30 in the morning. The lighting there is not good either and because I had never seen the sign before, I had no reason to look for it. Now that I think of it, the last u turn I did there a month ago was at night, so I could not see that either. :dunno: