Professional Traffic Ticket Representation: Defending Major Charges Including Distracted Driving, Failing to Move Over, and More

Question: What are the potential consequences of a major driving offence in Canada?

Answer: A major driving offence can lead to heavy fines, significant increases in insurance premiums for up to three years, and the risk of licence suspension, particularly if there are prior convictions or an accumulation of demerit points. Seeking professional guidance can help navigate these complex issues and protect your driving record.

Providing Strategic Defence Advocacy

When major charges occur, either alone or alongside other charges, concerns for the likelihood of soaring insurance rates arises, and when combined with previous convictions or additional infractions, concern for possible licence suspension due to demerit point accumulation, plus severe fines, also arise. A comprehensive professional evaluation of the facts, the potential outcomes, and the available defence strategies, is highly recommended.

Protecting Against Significant Consequences

Upon conviction for a serious traffic offence, a driver is usually hit with substantial fines and surcharges, and the driver can also expect insurance rates to rise considerably for the following three years. A poor prior driving record may also lead to a potential licence suspension or additional penalties.

Factors Tending to Aggravate Penalties

The affects of conviction for a major driving offence can be significantly further aggravated:

• When a driver was previously convicted within the past three years on another charge;
• When a driver is on the cusp of having accumulated too many demerit points and this latest major charge now puts the driver at risk of a licence suspension, among other penalties; and
• When a driver is required to maintain a good driving record as a condition of employment.

Conclusion

Traffic tickets of the major charges type pose serious consequences involving substantial fines plus victim surcharges as well as demerit points that may be the straw that breaks the camel's back resulting in a license suspension.  Additionally, a major charge may result in substantially increased insurance rates including the potential for loss of access to standard insurance market and substitute placement into the highly priced Facility Association.

Accordingly, when charged with a major traffic ticket offence, hiring a professional who knows how to question witnesses, especially which questions to ask and which questions to avoid, and who knows the law, knows the paperwork processes and courtroom procedures, and knows how to make judicially persuasive arguments on the applicable legal principles, is highly important.