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Note to readers: Due to reader interest in our October 14, 2011, article “How to deal with a traffic ticket in B.C.”, the writers of Reasonable Doubt have invited guest columnist, Arvin Asadi, to provide an update on dealing with a traffic ticket. Arvin Asadi practices in the area of criminal defence at Cobb St. Pierre Lewis located in North Vancouver, B.C. He can be reached at asadi@acquit.ca.

The stop

Okay, you were just pulled over for speeding. Your first instinct may be to talk your way out of it or perhaps, to just start crying. Surely, the officer will understand that you’re not a criminal and that you were simply running late for a Tinder date with someone who listed tardiness, alongside bad breath, as a major turnoff on their dating profile. While apologizing and taking responsibility may curry favour with the officer, it is important to understand that anything you say will, without a doubt, be noted and used as evidence against you in the event that you are not let off with a warning and later decide to dispute the charge. Generally, it’s a good idea to be polite but to avoid directly admitting to any wrongdoing.

Dispute it

You need to decide fairly quickly whether you wish to dispute the charge as there is a 30-day time limit. I usually tell my clients to file a dispute no matter what because I am not in a position to give any meaningful advice about potential defences until I review the evidence and it can take time to obtain those materials from the officer. By disputing the charge, you also present yourself or your lawyer with an opportunity to potentially negotiate a lower fine or lesser penalty on your driving record depending on the circumstances. If you decide to fight it, make sure to take fresh and detailed notes about the incident in question because your recall of the event might be shaky by the time your trial date arrives.

After you file your dispute, you must wait to receive a Notice of Hearing Date from the Violation Ticket Centre indicating your court date. This can take many months so be patient and make sure that the Traffic Court Registry has your updated contact information and address at all times. Otherwise, you won’t receive the notice and a conviction will be entered in your absence.

Get the evidence

If you choose to remain unrepresented, there are a few more steps to be aware of. Once you receive the hearing date notice, you should contact the officer who gave you the ticket and request all of the notes and evidence that pertain to your violation ticket. You have a right to this material. The officer’s name and detachment can be gleaned from the violation ticket and the Notice of Hearing Date. Search for the phone number of the detachment online and then call to obtain the best contact information for your officer. Send your disclosure request and keep a copy for your records. Your disclosure request must, at a minimum, contain your violation ticket number beginning with “AH” and your name and contact information.

Once you receive the materials, put your critical thinking hat on and look through them closely. Keep an eye out for any inconsistencies or missing information. Police officers deal with countless individuals on a daily basis so their recall of events many months later without contemporaneous notes may be afforded less weight in court. You should also ask yourself how that information compares to your own recall of the event. Finally, and most importantly, make sure to familiarize yourself with the elements of the offence you have been charged with in the Motor Vehicle Act of B.C. Should you decide to plead not guilty and run a trial, these are the sorts of inquiries which should help you formulate your submissions to the court and any questions you ask of the officer when he or she takes the stand.

The hearing

On your court date, arrive at least 15 minutes early and find the officer who issued your ticket. If the issuing officer is not there, wait until your matter is called, plead not guilty and your charges will be dismissed. If your officer is not there but he or she has sent a colleague to deal with the violation ticket, you should also plead not guilty. The Crown cannot prove its case without the material witness, who in this situation, is the officer who witnessed the offence and issued the violation ticket. I have seen these “substitute” officers try to extract guilty pleas from individuals without advising them of this so make sure you pay attention to the officer’s name and do not plead guilty if the wrong officer shows up. Once you plead not guilty, the stand-in officer may request an adjournment to another day so that the issuing officer can attend. If he or she does, oppose the adjournment application and advise the court that you were not given notice of this application. There is case law on Crown adjournments if you are inclined to do some research.

If the issuing officer is present, figure out what his or her best settlement position is in the event that you plead guilty. This is where your negotiation skills will come in handy. If you are the registered owner of the vehicle used to commit the alleged offence, you may be able to convince the officer to amend the violation ticket so that you are convicted as a “registered owner”. This means you still pay the fine but you no longer receive points on your driving record.

When negotiating, advise the officer of any steps you have taken to correct your behaviour for the future or try to point to any positive patterns on your driving record. If your driving record has no redeeming features because you drive like a maniac, you may be inclined to ask for mercy given that you are potentially on the verge of receiving a driving prohibition. Depending on the circumstances of the offence and your driving history, the officer may agree that a prohibition may result and that it would constitute an overly harsh outcome. He or she may then be open to some creative alternatives, such as a donation to a charity in lieu of proceeding with the ticket. Regardless of which strategy you employ, it goes without saying that your likelihood of success during the negotiation process will increase substantially if you are respectful to the officer. Of course, if you do not believe you committed the offence or you are not able achieve a resolution that is satisfactory to you, you should enter a plea of not guilty and defend yourself at trial.

Alternatively, you may want to hire a lawyer to do all of this for you. Now you may be asking yourself why anyone would bother hiring a lawyer for a $138 traffic ticket. Well, because when it comes to traffic convictions, fines should be the least of your worries. Ultimately, the most serious concern is the effect that the particular traffic offence, and its accompanying driver penalty points, will have on your driving record and on your ability to drive. In many cases, the effects can be quite serious and it may be worth hiring a professional who has experience fighting traffic tickets.

Points and prohibitions

Different offences carry different Driver Penalty Points or DPPs. The list of offences and corresponding points is available on ICBC’s website. Speeding and using your phone while driving, for instance, both carry three points. If you accumulate more than three points on your record during ICBC’s 12-month assessment period, you will incur a DPP premium regardless of whether you own or insure a vehicle. Additionally, the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles monitors driving records and may prohibit you from driving if it is considered to be in the public interest to take “corrective action” on you. If you receive one of these “Notice of Intent to Prohibit” letters, it is important to understand that it isn’t the end of the matter and that your lawyer, or yourself (if you choose to remain unrepresented), can file submissions challenging the prohibition.

It goes without saying that the best way to avoid a traffic conviction is to obey the rules of the road. Leave yourself some time to get to where you need to go and give some serious thought to putting your phone down. Beyond saving yourself from the dreaded DPPs, this strategy will allow you to focus and relax more while driving instead of laying on the horn and bursting a vessel in your neck because the driver in front of you decided to put his left blinker on a little too late. And while I have your attention, let’s all try to be a little more courteous to each other out on those treacherous roads, shall we? We’ll all live a little longer because of it.