Fighting a speeding ticket from a photo radar van?

[Ctystar]

Hey guys, I was hoping to get some tips from fighting a speeding ticket. I was doing 100/110 on a 80 zone on macleod trial when a van parked on the side took a picture of my car.

2 flashes occured when this happened. one was for the car in front of me that was speeding as well, and i believe the 2nd flash was for me. the 2nd flashed occurred after 2 seconds. There was also a car behind me that was speeding but slammed on the brake just in time lol.

Should I fight this ticket? Any tips in disputing it? will this affect my insurance rate ?

[Go4Long]

wrong section, but anyway...

Bottom line is that you were speeding. You already said you know you were speeding when you said you were doing 100 - 110. Most likely this was the van with the decals all over it identifying it as a traffic enforcement van? how little attention do you have to be paying to get tagged by that thing? But anyway, I'm sure Toma will be all over this in the morning going on about how you should fight every ticket, but in reality, you're guilty. There's no demerits with a photo radar ticket, so you're really getting off pretty easy with nothing other than a lighter wallet.

I'm not sure why you mentioned that the guy behind you slammed on the brakes. Does that person hitting their brakes somehow affect how fast you were going?

[speedog]

Originally posted by Go4Long
I'm not sure why you mentioned that the guy behind you slammed on the brakes. Does that person hitting their brakes somehow affect how fast you were going?
Three wrongs make a right? :dunno:

[Feruk]

DId you even get a ticket mailed to you yet? Based on not knowing the speed I'm guessing not. Don't stress about it until you get it. If they do issue one and it shows only your car in the pic, you're screwed. It won't affect your insurance though cuz they can't issue demerits (can't prove you were driving).

[themack89]

The city is a BMW owners own personal race track.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Tell the judge you are a member of Beyond and he/she will give you the full member discount. You can only use this once a year though.

[Go4Long]

lol

[lilmira]

Yes fight it, just deny everything.

Say this, "That wasn't me, I don't even have a car. It's all a conspiracy of the government trying to shut me up and I won't. Freedommmmmm!"

[M.alex]

It always amazes me how those vans can park on the side of MacLeod (I'm assuming around Canyon Meadows since that's the only place I ever see them trolling) and it's just a constant 'click click click click click click click' every few seconds. How stupid do you have to be to be caught by a photo radar van in an obvious place like that.

I can understand getting caught when they did sneaky stuff like parking the van amoungst other cars on the shoulder in Acadia and catching people, but damn, he's on the side of a major road in broad daylight
:rofl:

[kenny]

The photo radar ticket is a registered owner ticket so it will not have any effect on your insurance/driving record etc.

If you have absolutely nothing better to do then yes of course you should go down and dispute the ticket. They'll almost always offer you a reduced fine to save on court time. Only you can determine if it is worth the time to go down to get it reduced.

[Team_Mclaren]

^^ I wonder if they can give you a demerits then if you claimed that you drove the car...

[FraserB]

These tickets are an idiot tax. If you still get caught by these, you're a moron and deserve to lose the money.

[Ctystar]

I will let you guys know if I got the ticket in the mail or not this week

[FullFledgedYYC]

Wait to see if you got the ticket, if you did, this is simple to fight. I don't think you deserve my knowledge though ;)

[revelations]

Simple lesson to learn in the City of Calgary :

DONT DRIVE MORE THAN 11KPH OVER THE LIMIT (thats what the speed cameras are set to)

[nismodrifter]

In the family we have had multiple photo radar + speed on green tickets over the years. Every single one has been instantly thrown out after showing up at court. Can't recall the exact speeds on those given offences, but they were definitely less than your 20+ over

If time vs money is not an issue take it to court. Helps to have a retired family member in this case....

Experience should go as follows:
1. Judge calls your name
2. "Sir your charges have been dismissed"

They don't care about your "thank you", they move on to the next case before you have a chance to open your mouth.

100% success rate x 5+ episodes. Takes about 10 minutes.

I don't condone speeding, but I do not like to see my wallet emptied over stupid traps in areas where the limit changes depending on how much the city needs to profit in a given year (southwest residents may remember a particular stretch of James Mckevitt which went from 60...to 50...and then 60 within a couple hundred meters). Now that whole stretch is 60 despite traffic being 10x what it was back in the day with a HUGE increase in accidents. ????

Best of luck.

[FullFledgedYYC]

If your charges are being dismissed like that every time, you may be the luckiest man in the city. I am assuming the ticketing officer is not showing up every time.

[Disoblige]

Haha yeah you are pretty lucky nismodrifter. I find that cops are showing up more often than before.

Anyone dealt with a case where there was video evidence from the cruiser (and the video was unclear to show if you're guilty or not)? Did the cop even show up, and do they even play the video in court even though your ticket says there is video evidence?

The reason I ask is a lot of times there is evidence but it never makes it to court and ends up being not used. However, I never dealt with this in a traffic situation.

[FullFledgedYYC]

That would be 100% up to the cop I suppose. If he brings it, it's there. I can't imagine him showing up and not having it.

[kenny]

Originally posted by Disoblige
The reason I ask is a lot of times there is evidence but it never makes it to court and ends up being not used. However, I never dealt with this in a traffic situation.

I don't think they deal with video evidence at all in traffic court. When I showed up to fight my ticket with my dashcam footage I asked which TV I can use to play my video and nobody had a clue (court clerk, police officer and crown).

Never did get to play my video in the end as the crown and officer had a chat after I mentioned the video and it never ended up going to trial.

:thumbsup:

[FullFledgedYYC]

I bring it on a laptop or iPad.

[dexlargo]

Originally posted by FullFledgedYYC

That would be 100% up to the cop I suppose. If he brings it, it's there. I can't imagine him showing up and not having it. It's up to the prosecutor what evidence he/she wants to call. Just because evidence exists doesn't mean they have to use it, but they can and will if they think it will add enough to their case. The officers don't bring it to court, and usually haven't even seen the video themselves - but the prosecutor likely has and will bring it if they feel they might want to play it.

Generally, playing video is avoided unless it adds significantly to what the police officer can testify to - just to save time.

Originally posted by kenny


I don't think they deal with video evidence at all in traffic court. When I showed up to fight my ticket with my dashcam footage I asked which TV I can use to play my video and nobody had a clue (court clerk, police officer and crown).

Never did get to play my video in the end as the crown and officer had a chat after I mentioned the video and it never ended up going to trial.

:thumbsup: To play your own video in court, you should bring your own laptop (the tables have VGA cables to connect video - I think there's stereo mini for audio), but put the video on a disc, so that the disc can be entered as an exhibit - this type of evidence generally must be exhibited. You wouldn't want to have to put your laptop in as an exhibit, because you generally don't get exhibits back.

[whydontchathen]

I fight all my tickets, and I have a pretty good success rate. (there's no real good defense/excuse for an expired DL or Reg.)

The last one was for speed on green at 16 Ave & 10 St NW, and much to my surprise, as soon as I got to court on the day and went to sign in with the Prosecutor, she told me "charges dismissed". Grrrrrreat!

I highly rec going to court every time, you can keep your money in your wallet! :)

[kenny]

Originally posted by dexlargo
To play your own video in court, you should bring your own laptop (the tables have VGA cables to connect video - I think there's stereo mini for audio), but put the video on a disc, so that the disc can be entered as an exhibit - this type of evidence generally must be exhibited. You wouldn't want to have to put your laptop in as an exhibit, because you generally don't get exhibits back.

I had my laptop with me and videos were on a disc as well :) Good to know for next time!

[Disoblige]

dexlargo, you seem to know what you're talking about.

Here's a question for you. If you accept a reduced fine and you ask for additional time to pay the fine, is the day that ticket shows up on your abstract the day you accept the fine reduction (you get the pink Time to Pay Notice), or the day you pay the fine (i.e. 3 months later)?

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by Disoblige
dexlargo, you seem to know what you're talking about.

Here's a question for you. If you accept a reduced fine and you ask for additional time to pay the fine, is the day that ticket shows up on your abstract the day you accept the fine reduction (you get the pink Time to Pay Notice), or the day you pay the fine (i.e. 3 months later)?

Its always been when you pay for me, and Ive taken that option many times

[frizzlefry]

Because its related...passed a new white photo equipped ford explorer on deerfoot this am. it's new, has the flash on the outside built into the roof rack. Tinted all the way around including front passenger windows. The gotcha is that it uses K-Band. Have not seen K-Band in the city in eons so I had it disabled on my V1. Passed this without the V1 going off so I enabled K-Band and took another pass. Yup. Enable K-Band all if you had it disabled. Its back.

[Team_Mclaren]

^^ Every road side photo radar van I have passed has been on K-band, and it's been the same for however long I can remember. Not sure why you would turn K off. Ka is only on actual police vehicles iirc.

I have a V1 as well.

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
^^ Every road side photo radar van I have passed has been on K-band, and it's been the same for however long I can remember. Not sure why you would turn K off. Ka is only on actual police vehicles iirc.

I have a V1 as well.

Weird. They have always been Ka when I pass the vans.

[bart]

me too, photoradar and undercover cop cars use Ka only, i too have K-band disabled for city

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by bart
me too, photoradar and undercover cop cars use Ka only, i too have K-band disabled for city

Hence my post :) not anymore. Now I have to remember all the tweaks for k-band on the V1 to reduce the squaking.

[dexlargo]

Originally posted by Disoblige
dexlargo, you seem to know what you're talking about.

Here's a question for you. If you accept a reduced fine and you ask for additional time to pay the fine, is the day that ticket shows up on your abstract the day you accept the fine reduction (you get the pink Time to Pay Notice), or the day you pay the fine (i.e. 3 months later)? Sorry I missed this earlier. The conviction and demerits will show up within a few days after you plead guilty. It's not connected to the day you actually pay the fine.

[nismodrifter]

Just an update. Another speed on green ticket went to court today. Random excuse given. Judge said something about photo quality. Ticket thrown out.

Fight em.

[snowcat]

Originally posted by nismodrifter
Just an update. Another speed on green ticket went to court today. Random excuse given. Judge said something about photo quality. Ticket thrown out.

Fight em.

Judge or JOP?

[luxor]

Originally posted by nismodrifter
Just an update. Another speed on green ticket went to court today. Random excuse given. Judge said something about photo quality. Ticket thrown out.

Fight em.

What was the random excuse and was the photo quality actually questionable?

[nismodrifter]

A 3 year bump. (last post should read crown, not judge)

Another speed on green. Took to court today. Told crown picture looks unclear. Tossed. Sit down for a few minutes. Called up by judge. Matter has been withdrawn. Out the door.

Fight em. :thumbsup: