Traffic Tickets

Q: I was issued two tickets in June of 2018, one of them for excessive speed. I was and still am an N driver. It occurred at 142 Street and 72nd Avenue in Surrey in a speed trap. I acknowledge the fact that I was speeding but did not reach the over 40km/h threshold. I have evidence from my iPhone 8 Plus and the Life 360 app that shows the speed I reached was 3km/h fewer than 40km/h over the limit. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Q: I need advice to dispute two traffic tickets, Disobey Yield Sign - Section 173(2) MVA and Change Lane Unsafely - Section 151(a) MVA.

Here is what happened to me on Friday night:

Q: I was served 2 violation tickets. I’d like an inquiry about what I’d be looking forward to in court. I was served one count of excessive speed MVA 148(1), prohibited use of HOV, and fail to display ‘N’ sign. Also gave me a charge of operating MV with Cannabis in vehicle. Prior to that I was an N class driver with 30 months clean driving, I had not went for a class 5 test due to preoccupations.

"I'll pay the fine, I just don't want the points." This is not an uncommon desire expressed by drivers prior to a traffic court hearing when asked how they want to proceed. If the violation ticket was issued with the accused identified as the driver, penalty points follow the conviction as night follows day. There is no escaping them.

On September 9, 2015 Edward Scherbey was driving a vehicle exiting a school zone. His speed was measured using laser at 56 km/h. Constable Sabulsky stopped him and issued a traffic ticket for speeding in the school zone. He disputed the ticket but was not successful.

The Provincial Court of British Columbia has released a Guide to Disputing a Ticket. The 16 page PDF document expands the information available on the court's Traffic and Bylaws page and is aimed specifically at provincial violation tickets rather than federal or municipal violation tickets. This is applicable to traffic tickets issued under the Motor Vehicle Act and Commercial Transportation Act.

I received a speeding ticket. which I was shocked as I didn't think I was speeding.  When I looked at the ticket closely, I noticed the date of Feb 30th instead of Feb 20th. 

This is a case that dates back to November 1, 1962 in the British Columbia Supreme Court. It is the origin of what is known among police officers as the Schryvers Test and is used to assist in properly identifying the driver in traffic court as the accused.

My 83-year old father got a violation ticket and I am considering whether I should (or can) dispute it on his behalf. It is a somewhat unique case.  My father had shown signs of  mental illness and last month I just managed to get a geriatric specialist to send in a medical report that requires him to take a driving assessment.

Quite some time ago I wrote about an initiative to trade your ticket for driver training. I was very pleased with the outcome of the one instance that I tried on my own, but the program never took off as the provincial government required the RCMP to provide it to all drivers if it was implemented. The Victoria Police Department is trying something similar through Restorative Justice Victoria.