Professional Traffic Ticket Representation:

Question: What should I do if I’ve been charged with a major traffic ticket in Ontario and I’m worried about demerit points, licence suspension, and higher insurance rates?

Answer: Garrett Legal Services can help you understand the likely consequences of a major traffic ticket in Ontario, including how demerit points may lead to licence suspension, why fines and victim surcharges can increase, and what options a paralegal defence may use to question evidence and pursue persuasive, legally grounded arguments in court. If you want to reduce the risk of compounding penalties, especially with prior convictions or a near-threshold demerit balance, call (519) 857-5170 for a consultation with Garrett Legal Services and get started on a practical defence strategy.

Providing Strategic Defence Advocacy

Major charges, whether isolated or in combination with other offences, can drive insurance premiums higher and may lead to a lengthy licence suspension if compounded by previous convictions or too many demerit points. Significant fines are also likely. As such, it is essential to seek a thorough professional review of the legal facts, the possible outcomes, and the available defence strategies, for any major charge.

Protecting Against Significant Consequences

Drivers convicted of major traffic offences can expect large fines, mandatory surcharges, and insurance rate hikes that last up to three years. If the driver has a history of prior convictions, the chances of facing a licence suspension, among other penalties, increases significantly.

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.