Professional Traffic Ticket Representation:

Question: What factors make it worth fighting a minor driving offence in Ontario instead of paying the ticket?

Answer: If you are in Ontario and you have been charged with a minor driving offence, the decision to fight is often about whether the charge will trigger bigger consequences like increased insurance rates, demerit-point accumulation that can lead to licence suspension, or compounding effects from recent convictions. In practice, a strong defence may be warranted when you have prior minor or major convictions in the last few years, when new demerit points put you at risk of suspension, or when you must keep a fully clear record for work. Even though the fine for a minor ticket can seem manageable, multiple minor charges or one minor charge added to a prior record can have outsized impact on driving and insurance outcomes. Legacy Legal Services helps legal professionals and Ontario drivers evaluate the likely effect of the charge and build a strategy to challenge the ticket where appropriate, including questioning and argument tailored to your situation. Call (226) 246-3825 to discuss your circumstances and next steps.

Defending Minor Driving Offences

Minor charges, individually, appear merely as a relatively minor fine and pose little risk to the potential for significantly increased insurance rates or possible licence suspension for accumulation of too many demerit points.  In many circumstances, going to the trouble and effort to fight a minor charge appears as an unworthy endeavour; however, there are circumstances where an aggressive stance to a minor charge is prudent and warranted.

Providing Strategic Advocacy

The circumstances, among others, that may warrant aggressively defending minor charges include:

• When a driver was convicted within the past three years for other minor, major, or serious, charges and where another conviction, even for just a minor infraction, will result in significantly adverse affects;
• When a driver was charged within the past two years for other charges and the accumulation of demerit points now puts the driver at risk of a licence suspension, among other significant penalties; and
• When a driver is required to maintain a fully clear record as a condition of employment.

Although relatively minimal affects, generally, result upon conviction for a minor traffic ticket charge, a multitude of minor charges, or a single minor charge that will be combined with prior convictions, may result in significant adversity making a strongly mounted defence worthy in the effort to fight a minor charge.

Minor Charges Include:

Conclusion

Traffic tickets of the minor charges type may still pose significant risk to a driver with potentially serious consequences whereas a minor charge in combination with prior convictions becomes 'the straw that breaks the camels back' resulting in substantially increased insurance rates including possible loss of standard insurance market and placement into the 'Facility Association', potential license suspension for accumulating too many demerit points, among other things.  Accordingly, even for a minor charge, hiring a professional who knows how to question witnesses, including which questions to ask and which questions to avoid, and who knows the law and is ready to make persuasive arguments on the applicable legal principles, is highly important.  For representation that puts your best interests first, contact Legacy Legal Services today.