Q&A - Let's Make a Deal for Excessive Speeding

I was issued a speeding ticket a year ago for excessive speeding. I was found travelling 125km/h in an 80km/h zone. I disputed the ticket and last week was issued a court date. I requested disclosure from the officer. He stated as he is quite busy he would like to offer me 2 pleas.

1. Plead guilty to regular speeding, pay $138 and receive 3 demerit points.

2. Plead guilty to excessive speeding as a registered owner and pay $370 and receive no demerit points and have a clean record.

I am the registered owner of the vehicle. I've spoken with ICBC, licencing and nobody has been able to confirm whether or not plea option 2 is legit. Tickets are paid at ICBC office and they hold my driving record and demerit points. Why do they not give me a straight answer?

Is the police honest about plea option 2 or is he trying to have me admit guilt to the original charge?

Answer

Offer #2 is a legitimate offer that you may choose to accept if you wish to. ICBC doesn't have anything to do with traffic court so I'm not surprised that they didn't know the answer when you asked them.

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Option 2

Basically if you take Option 2 and the Worship 'the Judge' at court agrees with the officer's request they will amend the ticket from a Driver offence to a Registered Owner offence; reference two of the boxes at the top of the ticket. As a Registered Owner offence you pay a Fine and no Penalty Points are issued nor is the offence listed on your Driver's Abstract however it is listed in the Court Records. This is exactly the same as what happens if one is issued a Red Light Camera ticket, except for the Court Records part, unless you go to Court, which is a Registered Owner offense from the start.

Your current status, driving record, employment requirements etc. are all factors that would weigh in on what option you decide to take. Personally I'd recommend Option 2, it's more money upfront but keeps everything else quite a bit cleaner. And you can always request time to pay.

As an aside you're lucky you didn't get your car impounded a year ago if you got an Excessive Speeding ticket.

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It's legitimate, but...

If the officer is making bargains in reply of an evidence disclosure request, one has to consider the existence of the evidence.

How was the "excessive speed" charge administered?

You say you were "found travelling 125km/h in an 80km/h zone".
That is an incorrect wording, because in a perfectly legal sense, in the future (dispute time) the Justice may find you to have committed the offence, or not. The finding of fact happens at the trial, not at the roadside.

Did you get pulled over?
Was it a speed trap situation, or was it an undercover (marked cruiser) that observed you?
What did you tell the officer at the time of the pull over?
(Hint: If you admitted something to the tune of "Yes officer, I know I was going over the speed limit" - take Option 2)

This is an "excessive speeding" charge - your vehicle must have been towed and impounded for 7 days - did that happen?

(If it did not, it is a further secondary indicator of the Officer's lack of confidence in the charge.)

Basically, if your vehicle was not impounded, the officer flagged you down based on visual estimation/observation, and you have not said anything beyond the required at the roadside - take Option 3 - Not guilty.

If the officer(s) caught you with a radar/ladar, in a speed trap setting, and or you admitted at the roadside that you were breaking the limit and are aware of it - take Option 2.