I had a really great time the other day, sitting down with Ryan from Fortnine to talk about how to beat a speeding ticket in British Columbia. If you watch the video, you will learn a few important tips for how to beat a speeding ticket. And, of course, you can always hire me to help you out of the bind.
I have also summarized a few tips from the video below, for easy reference, and added a few more that were not included. So read on and learn about how to beat a speeding ticket in this blog post.
As you will see in the video, some of the ways that you can successfully challenge a speeding ticket involve preparing the best evidentiary record that you can of your recollection and activities at the time.
Video Evidence in a Speeding Ticket Case
For example, if you are going to make a video of the events this will be good evidence in court about what happened. However, do not be obvious about the fact that you are filming the interaction with police. Not only will this potentially result in your camera being seized from you as evidence, but it also is just generally impolite. Make sure you transfer your video from your phone or recording device onto a disc or USB for the court. The reason for this is that it will need to be marked as an exhibit in court, and this cannot be done if you do not have a copy for the court.
You cannot beat a speeding ticket if you do not have the ability to enter in your evidence.
Call the courthouse in advance to let them know that you will be bringing video. This will ensure that there is video equipment in the courtroom set up for you to play the recording. Otherwise, the equipment may not be there and you may have to come back on another day.
Taking Good Written Notes
Another step you can do to help your chances of beating a speeding ticket is to take good written notes about your interaction with the police. Document everything as close in time to the incident as possible, as contemporaneous notes are admissible to help refresh your memory when you are in court. That being said, if notes are made in contemplation of litigation, they may be admissible against you. For this reason, always ensure your notes are addressed at the top “TO MY LAWYER” so that they are privileged. This would apply even if you do not ultimately end up hiring a lawyer to come to court with you, as privilege does not require the payment of a retainer.
Behaviour Roadside
How you behave roadside will also help you to beat a speeding ticket. Police officers rarely remember the details of an interaction with someone who is polite and courteous. They do remember jerks, people who scream and yell, or people who are argumentative and unnecessarily aggressive. Whatever you do, don’t say something like “I’ll see you in Court!” or “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.” Trust me, they will remember it at court and it makes it a lot harder to get sympathy from the police in those circumstances.
Rehabilitation and Good Character
Evidence of your good character is generally not admissible in court, with a few exceptions. If you are convicted of the ticket you can use items like a clean driving record, your volunteer and community service history, and your employment record as factors known as “mitigation” on sentence. These are matters you should have with you to show that your ticket can be dismissed when negotiating with the police officer as well.
In addition, you may want to consider taking a course to show that you have rehabilitated yourself from your so-called bad driving. There are several online driving courses that people can take, but I recommend the BC Safe Driving Course, which is an online course. It costs $95 plus tax, has a quiz with a required score to pass, and you get a lovely certificate of completion at the end which can be nice to hand up in court. I have had traffic court judicial justices of the peace look favorably on individuals who complete these courses in the sentencing phase.
Hire a Good Lawyer
Look, you don’t have to hire me to defend your speeding ticket. I’m not here to make a sales pitch. But at the end of the day, speeding tickets are complex legal matters that intersect with the science of speed measurement. You would not do your own dental surgery, so you probably should not defend your own speeding ticket either. You can hire me or you can contact a good lawyer with experience in traffic court who can help you achieve the best outcome. The reality is that self-represented litigants in traffic court often have less success than those who have lawyers, and this simply comes down to experience, knowledge of the law, and a level of comfort in a courtroom that self-represented people do not often have.
