george44

Hello guys,

Would very much appreciate your input on this one.


I turn left from residential street where I live to main street in Burlington (Walkers Line). As per Google maps the distance to intersection in front of me is 207 meters. I notice the traffic light is red and both lanes are occupied by cars waiting. I turn left onto Walkers Line from Rockwood Drive and stop behind the car in front of me. Next I know are flashing lights behind, look in the rear mirror, police car with all lights blazing. Think he must be going to an emergency and needs the lane free, I pull to the right into the Shell gas station. To my shock and horror he follows me and then asks if I know why he stopped me. I reply I have no idea. He says I was speeding in a community safety zone and he clocked me at 87 Kms/hr. I reply this is impossible. He says I am driving a Maserati and I should know how fast these cars are going. I reply there is no way in hell this car or any car for that matter could have reached 87 kms/hr under the circumstances or when the entire distance is 200 meters (I was not drag racing in straight line, simply turned left from stand still).

He charges me with speeding and eventually reduces that to 60 Kms/hr in a 50 Kms/hr community safety zone. No points but still a speed violation and from all I've read on this Forum it matters less what it was for than being an offence. I go to X-Copper in Burlington, pay 282.50, explain what is all about. I just got an e-mail from them, they received the disclosure (ie: Officer's Notes and Evidence) which tells me the officer will show up for the trial; but this is not the point, they want to exploit technicalities whereas I want to prove it is simply not physically possible to do what the officer accuses me for. Unless it was a rocket. Even if I floored the car I have a hard time believing it would reach 87 Kms/hr in 200 meters (plus I would have to account for the distance to slam on the brakes and stop it or else would hit the cars in front of me stopped at the traffic light). To top it off the officer says he had to speed all the way to 95 km/hr to catch up with me, how can he says this when I was stopped waiting at the traffic light?! I was not going anywhere. The manual says the car can reach 100 Km/hr in 5.0 seconds.

I told X-Copper I do not agree with what they want to do and plan on coming to trial to defend myself. I plan on showing the map with the distance between the intersection Rockwood Drive/Walkers Line and Walkers Line/Fairview Street and simply state the facts. I know I can't prove it but the engine was cold, transmission was cold, tires were cold, no way I did floor the car. Especially when I saw the traffic light in front of me is red and both lanes are occupied; the car can't fly. I plan on showing this to the prosecutor and officer before the case is heard, hopefully they see the point and drop the charges. Whatever the officer measured with his laser or radar that can't be me or at least this is what I think.

Adamant1971

Get a real lawyer. I can dig up a name I u used for a careless ticket that the halton scum bags gave me for an accident that happened under 40km hr.

Cost me 2500 and the crown dropped the charge completely.

moab

cops are d-bags

Turbodan

get a better traffic defender. your plan to show the cop and prosecutor, I don;t think will work.
is it a Grand Turismo or Quadrafolio or something else?
We have heard of the Porsche tax, I guess the Maserati guys get theirs too
One ticket at 10 over is not a big deal, just don;t get anymore.
If you go to court they may try to charge you with 87 in a 50 btw.
Cops notes don't say if he will show but most do nowadays.

docdrs

Take pictures, measure the actual distance. If its 207m then you had to roughly hit thst speed in 103.5 m and break at the same rate . Find the 100kph to 0 breaking distance extrapolate the 87 to 0 distance.......

Your screwed ...... your car can stop from 100 kph in about 110 ft or 30m , at a velocity of 40 kph ( an average initial 0 and a final of 80 kph) you travel 11m/s or 55 m in 5 seconds ......so this only accounts for 85 of the 207 m. So , I dont think physics will help you ( lots of room to get to 87 kph and lots of room to stop ).......and I was thinking it would. iirc but I could certainly be wrong.

But he had to catch you on radar and when was it calibrated , was it calibrated correctly etc , all this has to be documented I believe , but Im sure someone will correct me

Unless you already have a few speeders then you may want to fight it ......if this is your first in 5 years I wouldnt worry about it and pay it , btw how much is 10 over in that zone?

StanThePorscheFan

Get a good lawyer. I tried once representing myself and lost.

Wild Weasel

Also... get a dash cam! Might save you a lot of trouble next time around.

Adamant1971

Dito, I did that once and lost as well.

Mumbles

How much was your fine after it was reduced to 60km per hr ? I would of thought it was less than the X-Copper fee you've already paid

Muskoka

I thought anything less than 15 over didn't count to insurance?
0-15 - like a parking ticket. no demerit points
16-50 - "minor offence". demerit point, counts to insurance
50+ - "major offence". demerit points. counts to insurance. equal to 3 minor offences

Could be wrong here, but that's how my insurance company explained it to me a few years ago.

The issue here is that either:
a) you were going 87 and just didn't realize it, or
b) the cop is doing something really sketchy

Either way, I'd just suck it up and pay the fine for 10 over...

george44

Hi guys, thank you, your input much appreciated. I still have the '79 911SC Targa besides the Maserati Coupe 2003 hence did not feel too guilty about asking for advice on this forum. I could have been with the Porsche, granted, it does not have the same acceleration as the Maserati does.

To answer the question a few of you asked, the fine is minimal, 40 bucks and no points. It's a matter of principle but in the end I would be stupid to get myself into bigger trouble just to try and prove I am right. The real reason is that it will show on the record and I have another speeding ticket I got last year in Alberta (speed trap in Leduc near Edmonton airport, was at fault, simply was not paying attention, no points though). So I'll end up with two minor speeding offences and we have all learned we are prime targets, much more so than when we drive the family van for example.

I do have a dash cam but it's on the Jeep. Will get two more, one for the Porsche and one for the Maserati

George

911 Rod

I don't think your plan that "it couldn't have happen" will work.
Your only shot is to get a good lawyer to find a loophole like the radar was not calibrated.
Get out your wallet!

Imo000

Keep in mind if you loose, you'll get charged for the original 87km/h and the points that go with it. Unless there is an independent witness, I don't think you'll win trying to prove that it was not possible.

Can you post the officer's notes, maybe we can see something that can help you.

cstyles

Can't offer any useful advice to the OP, but can clarify that the above isn't exactly how it works. Demerit points have nothing to do with your insurance & rates - at all.

Insurance sees two things, and two things only: minor convictions (1km to 49km per hour over the limit, plus any another minor moving violation regardless of demerit points for the offence), and major convictions (50km/h+, other major moving violations ie careless/reckless driving, etc...). Demerit points are just used by the province to determine when to send you a warning letter, then when to yank your license.

Getting a ticket reduced to no points / reduced fine, etc doesn't save you from a premium hike. Still a conviction. You need to get the charge dropped completely, which is why I believe most of these ticket doctor companies are a complete waste of money. Sure they may get your ticket reduced, but unless they get the charge completely thrown out you're still subject to your insurance company ******** you.

10km/h over the limit will affect your insurance if they pull your history @ renewal time, the exact same as getting pegged for 49km/hr over the limit. My sub-$100 ticket (with no demerit points) cost me my 20% conviction-free discount for 3 years, which in real dollars equates to $1500 plus the cost of the original ticket

george44

You nailed it, this is the reason I wanted to fight it

George