Fighting a ticket downtown

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Before I start, no I don't have a ticket I'm here to complain about.

Is it still possible to go downtown to the window and barter for the points or money off a traffic fine? I did this almost 10 years ago but we were talking about it at work and somebody said it has changed. Some say it's still possible, others said they tried and got nowhere. When I did it, I paid the full fine but they took the points off. I didn't go in and make excuses it was almost automatically reduced just for making the effort.

[-relk-]

I have never fought a ticket myself, but from the many posts on this forum that I have seen, I am under the impression that they will reduce the ticket (either points or $$$) if you come in.

I think it has a lot to do with the manner you come in with, so be nice, polite, smile and all that jazz.

[darthVWader]

Bring maple bacon donuts

[Kloubek]

First of all, you don't go to the window to try to get it reduced. Those are just cashiers. You talk to the crown.

And yes, they usually will reduce the fine to have it bypass the court. Alternatively, you can let it continue to court and they'll likely reduce it then. However, the chances of completely getting out of a ticket are very, very slim.

I have rarely heard of the points being taken off; they are usually more likely to reduce the fine portion.

[spikerS]

the laws changed a couple years ago about removing the demerits. IIRC, they can reduce the demerits, but not get rid of them completely, for example if your ticket carried 3 demerits, you might be able to get it reduced to 2, but apparently that happens pretty rarely.

Getting the fine reduced has always been pretty easy.

[bspot]

They don't cut as good of deals as they used to.

I went in this year and was offered half the fine or half the demerits.

I took half the fine because my Valentine 1 was acquired immediately after that ticket and has resulted in no demerits on my license since

[max_boost]

Last time I went they reduced the fine by half and cut the demerits from 4 to 2 but if it's a 2 demerit ticket, it will stay at 2 but you'll get the half off in fine.

[w_man]

Originally posted by spikers
the laws changed a couple years ago about removing the demerits. IIRC, they can reduce the demerits, but not get rid of them completely, for example if your ticket carried 3 demerits, you might be able to get it reduced to 2, but apparently that happens pretty rarely.

Getting the fine reduced has always been pretty easy.

+1

I remember reading this in the paper a couple of years ago. They were trying to narrow down on repeat offenders by ensuring the judge can't just remove demerits. They can reduce demerits and/or reduce fine. In order to completely remove demerits, you have to claim 'not guilty' and fight the ticket.

I think that still applies ... ?!?

[swak]

I went in not too long ago to get demerits reduced, and apparently the cop had already given me a break on the spot, so the crown couldn't do anything and actually recommended that I fight it in court (but court date would be 11 months away)... I just paid it and left. And yes I was definitely polite.
Before you could get demerits taken off for just having a heart rate I remember tho... Got out of a lot when I was young and an idiot.
EDIT:Off topic, but is there such thing as a radar detector to mount on a bike?

[energie88]

Totally off topic but:

http://www.motorcycleradar.com/products.htm

You can find some mounts for your bike on this website =] I'm currently using the 9500ix on my R6 this way.

Also, I just copied and pasted this from a thread I replied to in another forum.

When you go to the courthouse you will want to go to the 2nd level: Traffic Court etc. When you get there, you will see a bunch of lineups to talk to Justices. You go to these Justices and have your ticket processed. At this point, you'll be asked to sit down and wait to talk to a prosecutor at the "First Appearance Centres." This person is the person who negotiates with you on your ticket. For the most part, excuses do not work because they've heard pretty much everything that people have used. I found that it was a lot better just to be polite and see how far that gets you =] The prosecutor will offer you a deal and you can choose to accept it or you can choose to go to court. Now, unless you have a solid defense for your ticket, I really do not recommend going to court because the judge will not offer you any deals if you fail to defend yourself from the ticket. If you choose to accept the offer, you must wait for another Justice to call your name and finalize the negotiations. I also recommend asking this Justice to extend the time that you have to pay your ticket for as long as possible. This way, you don't have to pay right away which ultimately means that insurance will not be notified of your ticket. I was aiming to defer the ticket for 6 months but they said no to me and gave me a 1 month extension because of the amount my ticket was reduced to =] Hopefully this helps if anyone finds themselves in the same situation.

http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/pc/tr...eencharged.pdf

[Feruk]

It's quite easy to get the ticket reduced. They won't take all the demerits off any more sadly, but for me, last time I went to fight one I had half the demerits and half the fine dropped. $350 and 4 demerits to 2 demerits and something like $180. It costs $1,200 an hour for court time. You bet they wanna do a deal to keep you out of court.

Originally posted by energie88
I also recommend asking this Justice to extend the time that you have to pay your ticket for as long as possible. This way, you don't have to pay right away which ultimately means that insurance will not be notified of your ticket.

Does anyone know more about this?! This is news to me.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Feruk

Does anyone know more about this?! This is news to me.

Insurance will still find out about it, just not until your convicted (or pay the fine). So in some circumstances it could be to your benefit, but for most it wouldn't matter.

ie. If you've already got several tickets over the years, and are on the brink of a rate hike, you could get the court date (conviction date) pushed long enough so your first ticket from 3 years ago, no longer effects your insurance, so your newest one won't push you over the edge.

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by Feruk
It's quite easy to get the ticket reduced. They won't take all the demerits off any more sadly, but for me, last time I went to fight one I had half the demerits and half the fine dropped. $350 and 4 demerits to 2 demerits and something like $180. It costs $1,200 an hour for court time. You bet they wanna do a deal to keep you out of court.


Does anyone know more about this?! This is news to me.

You just ask for more time to pay, you can't afford it at the moment, are a student etc. Depending on how nice they want to be and how big the ticket is. I've been successful in getting them extended 3 and 1 months. On the 1 month one it was a small ticket and the lady was bein a b***h.

[clem24]

AFAIK, they don't actually reduce fines or points per se... There isn't really any 'negotiating' going on. What the JP does is listen to your side of the story, and if he feels like it, he'll just change the charge to something else, which usually carries a smaller fine and/or points reduction.

For example, I was caught speeding, doing 70 in a 50 zone. I told the JP it was because it went from 80 to 50 and I said I've driven on that section a few times before and knew there was a speed change, but missed the sign for it because a trailer was blocking my view as I was in the inside lane. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late. So he 'offered' to change my offense to ignoring a sign instead of speeding, which brought down the fine from $230 to $130 or so and 2 demerits instead of 3. I accepted and away I went to the cashier. Win-win for everyone.

I don't believe they can just randomly change the fine or demerits. Just be nice and at least try to act sincere.

And OP.. Maybe you meant "fine reduction" instead of fighting a ticket. There's a line for fine reduction, and a different line if you want to just skip that, plead not guilty, and go straight to traffic court I think.

[dexlargo]

Originally posted by clem24
AFAIK, they don't actually reduce fines or points per se... There isn't really any 'negotiating' going on. What the JP does is listen to your side of the story, and if he feels like it, he'll just change the charge to something else, which usually carries a smaller fine and/or points reduction.

That's one of their options. They do also have the ability to reduce the fine below the specified penalty amount without changing the charge, but changing the charge is the preferred method. For speeding tickets, they usually change the charge by changing the speed over the limit that is alleged - that could take you down a demerit category as well.

The demerit points can't be changed in the same way as the fines because the demerits are automatically imposed later, based on what offence is convicted. Changing the offence to one with a different amount of demerits is the only way the number of demerits can be changed.

[energie88]

Sorry, I wasn't being clear enough xD! My bad, but yes, insurance will eventually find out about it. However, in my case, my renewal was coming up the week after so it was to my benefit to get an extension on the ticket before my insurance renewed =D

[Disoblige]

Bump for some updated news:

FYI, as of today, if you book a trial (court date), it won't be earlier than November 8th, 2012.

~9 months delay for a first court date!