Siouxie

Calgary has 51 intersection camera's as well, if you want to know where, see this map

If you think that is a lot, Toronto has 93.

Ontario has plenty of static/red light camera's, it's a Municipal decision to put them in not Provincial.

Interesting website here that tells you where the non-static speed traps usually are! http://www.speedtrap.org/state/60/Ontario

magnumpi

Not one of the first 10 or so speed trap areas are accident black spots. Most are where the limit drops for no reason and that makes for an easy $$ or two.

Hence why you should challenge every one. Money toward the police Xmas Ball champers is one thing, loosing ya license because the points have totted up is another problem.

jimf

I don't know if the system is the same elsewhere in Canada, but in Alberta the ticket gives the offender 3 options:
1 pay a voluntary payment
2 plead not guilty by mail following which a trial date is set
3 appear before JP on the date on the ticket to plead either guilty or not guilty. For a not guilty plea a trial date is set.

By going to trial can the fine or points penalty be any worse than just paying the voluntary payment?

magnumpi

We have the option of a early resolution. Meet with a court official and they basically reduce the speed and that = no points and a significantly lower fine. They could say get lost tho ? And you could go to court.

Piff Poff

Were you actually speeding? You obviously got a fine which means you must have been, pay up and slow down to avoid another fine.

jimf

That has already been covered. Thanks for the advice anyway though.

bats

I hadmy speed reduced from around 130 to 108 ( in an 80) and this wasn't marked on the ticket. Everyone told me to go to court to get it reduced but I didn't want to push my luck. This was 4 or five years ago so has it changed since then?

bats

Nah, the cameras never made me moderate my speed. Moving here where there are OPP cars lurking in the hedgerows did. That and the insurance price increase.

I never speed in built up areas but the other roads I usually travel at 100 in an 80.

Piff Poff

It just seemed that you were upset about a fine you got for doing something wrong

dbd33

I think it probably was marked on the ticket but my information is dated (I used to drink with a "court attendant", one of those ex-police ticket defending guys, but have since moved away and don't see him anymore).

A fairly recent experience (this year) was that I was stopped for a little over 100mph in an 80kph. The cop didn't want to get into all that car confiscation bother and so wrote the ticket for 129kph (I suspect that no white person in Ontario ever gets a ticket for 50+ over). I went to court and the prosecutor offered 109 which I took. I suspect the general policy is not to offer two reductions but, if the inital speed is so high as to attract a disproportionate penalty, then it can happen.

jimf

"Upset" - no. Irritated - yes. As is obvious from the previous posting the money/fine isn't the issue at all. Given the choice I'd rather hang onto the $120 but the money is neither here nor there in the scale of things.

Aviator

End of the month around here, a cop with a camera positions himself on the overpass, with half a dozen cruisers on the on-ramp. Easy pickings and pushes the months quota up to target I guess?

Piff Poff

Aaahh, just found your post, hadn't gone all the way back through the thread as it was an old one, $120 fine isn't the biggest I've seen, OH has got much higher Cops were always hidden and always polite, I'd personally just pay up and slow down but then the only reason I've been pulled over is to take the tinted windows off a truck we had bought like it If your going to get a laser thingy make sure you get one that doesn't send a signal the other way too because you can get done for that. OH got one after abut his 5th fine but it was more of a nuisance because it beeped and farted ALL the time, he slowed down (a bit) instead.

jimf

No doubt in certain cases the video will mysteriously be unavailable.......

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgary...128/story.html

orly

You can imagine my face (approximation attached) when I had to ask my wife one evening why she hadn't turned the lights on despite it being dark.

"They are on".

Daylight running doesn't qualify as "on" in my view. Pretty sure it doesn't enable the rear lights either. Directed her attention to the switch to control the lights

"Oh I've never used that before"

She'd had the car for over a year at this point. Also had to explain what "full beam" was too.

It is somewhat disconcerting that I did no tests for my licence here, just handed in the UK one, and I'm still confident I'm far superior to many "native" drivers here.