What are the different types of speeding tickets in BC?

In BC, you can get many different types of speeding tickets, and each type of ticket has unique consequences.

Each speeding ticket is viewed differently by the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles in determining whether to prohibit your license and by ICBC when deciding what insurance-related consequences to impose on you.

Regular speeding ticket

The most common type of speeding ticket is for regular speeding. This is for people who are going anywhere from 1 km to 20 km over the speed limit. Regular speeding carries a $138.00 fine along with three driver penalty points.

If you get a speeding ticket and you are a class 7 L driver, you will lose your license if you get a single one of these tickets.

If you have your N license, one of these speeding tickets coupled with any other ticket that comes with points will trigger a driving prohibition. Finally, if you have your class 5 license, you would have to accumulate a couple of these tickets, usually 3 or more, before you’re in the danger zone of losing your license.

In a regular speeding case trial, the officer will only have to prove that you were travelling at least 1 km/h over the speed limit in order to successfully prove the allegation against you.

Even if the officer says on the stand that you were going 20km/h over the limit, and you are capable of raising a reasonable doubt by testifying, for example, that you were only going 5 km over, you will still be convicted.

This is because the elements of the offence don’t require the officer to prove the actual speed of your vehicle, only that you were going over the speed limit.

Over 20 km/h speeding ticket

The second most common type of speeding ticket in BC is the regular speed in excess of 20km/h over the limit.

This ticket is identical to a regular speeding ticket, with exception of the fine amount.

For a ticket where the allegation is that you were travelling 21 km to 40 km over the speed limit, you would receive a $196.00 fine and three penalty points.

Again, the officer only has to prove the lowest tier of speeding in order to succeed in the trial.

But what if the officer can’t prove that you were going 21 km over, what if there is only evidence that you were going 15 or 20 over? If that’s the case, then the court is still going to convict you of speeding. The only difference is they will impose the $138.00 fine instead of the $196.00 fine.

The reason for this is that it is actually the same offence under the Motor Vehicle Act, the only thing that’s different is the fine amount.

While the elements of the offence are the same, the amount of the fine and the sentence that you receive for having committed the offence will vary based on the degree of speed proven in court.

Excessive speeding ticket

The third most common type of speeding ticket is excessive speeding. This is where you are travelling in excess of 40km/h over the speed limit.

Excessive speeding also carries three driver penalty points, the same as regular speeding, but it is also classified as a high-risk offence. This means that an excessive speeding ticket will also cause your insurance rates to go up, and you will have to pay a driver risk premium.

The driver risk premium is an annual invoice that you receive once a year, for three years. For a single excessive speeding ticket, the driver risk premium amount is $340.00 a year for three years.

The single fine amount for an excessive speeding ticket is $368.00. That means the total financial outlay for an excessive speeding ticket amounts to $1388.00 in fines and premiums.

Car impoundment for excessive speed

These tickets also come with a hidden catch. If you are given a ticket for excessive speeding, your vehicle must be impounded for a minimum of 7 days. If your vehicle has previously been impounded, then the impound is automatically increased to 30 days.

What’s worse? You can’t dispute a 7-day impound. There’s no provision in the MVA that allows for the dispute or the early release of a vehicle that has been impounded for fewer than 30 days.

This means that even if you’re innocent, you’ll still lose your car for at least a week, and are also out of pocket approximately $250.00 in the towing and storage fees of that vehicle.

If you go on to win in court, the government does not reimburse you for the impound and towing fees you get for an excessive speeding ticket.

We think that’s ridiculous, but that’s the law.

An excessive speeding trial proceeds under section 148 of the MVA meaning that the officer, does have to prove that you were going a minimum of 40km/h over the speed limit, in order to prove the excessive speeding ticket allegation.

If the officer is capable of proving that you were going 61km/h over the limit, the fine amount increases to $483.00.

Another hidden catch that comes with an excessive speeding ticket is if the officer cannot prove that you were excessively speeding. If they can’t prove the excessive speed, but they can prove that you were regular speeding, then you can be convicted of that offence without having been ticketed for it.

It’s essentially a lesser included offence, but the pathway to the conviction is articulated in the MVA making it very easy for a Judicial Justice to come to that conclusion at trial without having to determine whether a lesser included offence is available at the time.

Ticket for not speeding

You can also get a speeding ticket in BC even if you are not exceeding the speed limit. Under Section 144, Sub 1, Sub C of the MVA, drivers in BC are required to drive at a speed that is relative to the conditions of the roadway.

This means that if it’s a very snowy day, or if it’s heavily raining, or whatever the reason might be to suggest that you should alter your speed to something lower than the speed limit, and you fail to do so, you can be ticketed for this offence.

These tickets aren’t very common in the sense that it’s rare to see an officer actually issue the ticket to somebody who isn’t exceeding the speed limit, however, they happen most often in circumstances where there is an accident.

In most accident cases, the officer isn’t present to witness the accident occur, so they have no information about what your vehicle speed was. However, there are often witnesses to the collision who provide information to the police.

This information is usually to the effect that the driver was going too fast, or they took the corner too quickly, or something to suggest that speed was a factor in the collision, even if they can’t determine what your exact vehicle speed was.

In those circumstances, typically on the basis of witness evidence or witness statements, police are able to ticket drivers for speeding relative to the road conditions.

The speed relative to conditions offence has three penalty points and a $196.00 fine.

Speeding in construction zones

Another uncommon type of speeding ticket that someone could potentially get is speeding in a construction zone. It’s really no different than any other speeding ticket, except that there are a few additional elements that the police must prove.

The first thing they must prove in this case is that there were signs indicating that it was an active work zone, and the speed limit was lowered as a result of that.

Unlike regular speeding tickets, where it’s not necessarily the case that a sign has to be posted, for speeding in a construction zone ticket, the officer must prove that there was the applicable signage under the MVA to indicate that this was a work zone.

If there is a construction zone without signage, you cannot get speeding in a construction zone ticket, even though there may be construction. It doesn’t constitute a construction zone under the meaning of the MVA.

The construction zone tickets have three penalty points, just like a regular speeding ticket but the fine amount is double.

Speeding ticket in playground and school zones

The last type of speeding ticket in BC is speeding in school or playground zones.

Again, in order for a person to get one of these tickets, there has to be specific signage. There are different types of playgrounds and school zones you may encounter while you’re driving.

Playground zones that do not display the number 30 prominently on the sign, do not require that you travel at 30 km/h.

Similarly, a school zone, which is in effect from 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays, only requires that you travel 30 km/h if the number 30 is prominently displayed on the sign, or if there are children on the highway.

School zones of course do not apply on weekends, but it’s important to be careful when driving by them because school zone signs may still be applicable on days when you don’t think there’s school.

For example, during spring break, or summer holidays. We see every summer a large number of people coming to us with speeding tickets in school zones after they received a speeding ticket in the summer because they didn’t think it applied.

Remember that summer school is often in session, and so to stay safe, you should always treat a school zone as though it’s applicable if it’s a weekday.

These are the different types of speeding tickets you can get in BC. If you find yourself with a speeding ticket, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

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