Toronto350Z

I gave my GF a ride to her condo and I was comming back to my apartment last night(Thanksgivingday). I was driving alone... and my dog, Taro(8 months, Shih Tzu), was sitting on the passenger seat. Taro is a small dog and not habituate himself to ride in the car. In fact, it was the second time that he was riding in the car so it seemed to me that he was little sick and uneasy.

I did not wanted to open passenger side window 'cause, it's out of my reach and he could jump out of the window(unlikely but...).

So I opened driver's side window and I let my dog sit on my thigh.
And then, we drove like 2 minutes. I was gonna drive through the highway ramp(Kennedy & 401) so I let my dog sit on the passenger's seat again.

As soon as I let dog go, I notice police car was approaching to my car very quickly and made me pull over.

The officer said he saw my dogs on my thigh and it was very dangerous. Ok. I understood and I kept apologyging. He went back to his cruise and came back to me after !!!! 30 minutes !!!! with a ticket.
----------------------------------
CARELESS DRIVING.
$265 + Tax.


Holy... 6 points

He said he was gonna give me some minor ticket but there's no clause relating my case so he could not help but give me careless driving ticket.

What do I have to do now?
Go to the court?
If so, what should I tell the judge?
Do you think if there is any chance that I could reduce my charge?

I'm in serious panic.....
Help me...

keiffer953

Fight that in court........your right.That is a Bogus ticket..... Geez wish these guys go fight some real crime. I used to drive with my dog all the time, never in my lap but he liked going with me for a drive. I just don't put him in the Z, The hair all over the place would drive me nutz LOL. But I would definitely fight that in court.

jinxxycat

Get a lawyer and def. fight that BS ticket!!! That is some hefty ticket/points for letting little ole Taro have a nice lap to ride in!!! I bet it took 30 mins b/c he was TRYING to find a reason to give you a ticket since he was sooooooooooo jealous that you are driving that nice Z, and he is probably driving a pontiac station wagon on the way home from the PD!!!

AndyB

That is total BS. If this weenie-cop couldn't find an appropriate MINOR citation he should have done a written warning or just let you go. Instead his laziness results in a whopping 6 points!?!?!

It cracks me up when cops complain that the public doesn't support them. They do all kinds of creepy stuff like this or WORSE, and then they all defend each other right or wrong. I may be old, but I can remember a day when people didn;t cringe when they saw a cop coming towards them. Those days are apparently gone.

I would fight the ticket. That is an expensive ticket and those points may jack your insurance sky high. Plead not guilty. Then, after a little while, try to find a reason to move the date of the hearing. Chances are good the cop will miss that date. (at least in CT that would be true). They usually write tickets such that a single cops cases come up on the same day so he can go to court and support the ticket. If you move it you make it harder on him.

Besides, he may not show just because he knows the ticket is overkill. Who knows.

If he does show up and support the ticket just tell the judge/magistrate that you feel this is an excessive ticket for the very minor offense. Judges see some CRAZY stuff. This is going to sound like silly BS to him to!

ares

iTrader: (2)

Id head to court, Id be prepared to pay whatever little fine the judge might assign in return for no points.

the ticket is not a justified punishment for your actions.

fanatic

Yeah, go to court, plead innocent.........no need to hire an attorney, it's not a criminal offense.........you could plead no contest, and probably just pay minimal court fees in exchange for no points.......or plead innocent.........no judge is gonna allow that ticket with an explanation like you've given above. In fact, with a good attorney, one could fight it as a civil rights violation. If the cop had no other reason to stop you other than seeing the dog. i.e. if he didn't observe any careless actions relating to speed, lane changing, swerving, or any other actions it shouldn't be a primary offense for just the dog...............Good Luck, don't back down!

Dissolved

how was your driving record prior to this?

Pat1USMC

If thats the whole story, that cop should be taken off the street. Fight it.

Rxramon

Whats 6 points? You guys have a point system? How does it work?

SweatyPalm

Sorry....just have to post some negative questions. Why is it not a violation if you have a dog in your laps while driving? I think some states ban the usage of cell phone in the car, right? It's all about distraction. Imagine if the dog is a baby.

ares

iTrader: (2)

points? your not serious are you?

liscense points, insurance points... I know texas has them as well.

Toronto350Z

Thanks guys for your help. I will definately head to court.
I don't have any ticket prior to this ticket. Ah, there is one for not having a front license plate but it's has no point

In Ontario, street racing, speeding over 50km/h(150 in 100 zone) are regarded as 6 points viloation.

Dissolved

call the police station and ask to speak with his supervisor. Always try easy way first.

Rxramon

Man, I dont pride myself in knowing the point structure for traffic violations... frankly I dont know we have a system, or if we do, know the details...

I think Texas should be a speeding free state...

EL Diablo

Go to court, you'll probably beat it. just showing up to court shows the judge your a responsible citizen.

TheLex

Do not try to call his supervisor and do not just show up in court by yourself. Spend the $ and get yourself a good lawyer. Judges don't respect uninformed defendants. They do respect learned and experienced attorneys (judges are attorneys themselves). A good attorney will beat this stupid *** ticket and afterwards you'll thank your lucky stars that you spent the $$.

And if you're a police officer and you're reading this, I agree with the poster who wrote that it's incidents like this that causes the general public to lose respect for cops. The women who do their makeup whilst driving are a far greater menace to their fellow drivers!

yooda

Did anyone else notice the guy's Canadian? Hey Canadian guy, you guys have a very elaborate system where you hire lawyers to fight your tickets for you. Especially in Ontario. Those dudes even have billboards up on the QEW etc. Usually they are ex-cops and most of the time, if there is some kind of doubt, you can get out of the ticket.

So pick yourself up one of those traffic lawyers, have him/her beat it in court, and rest easy.

Cali has a point system also. But it takes fewer points for us to get into bigger trouble. Generally we can't bring lawyers to our ticket hearing. Unless you broke massive laws and were arrested. Then the court will appoint one for you.

Best of luck

fatZo

Pardon me, but you are so wrong. In Ontario, a traffic court judge (called Justice of the Peace) is NOT a lawyer. He is an anybody with a working knowledge of the HTA (at best).

Being (or at least alleging) to be a poor ignorant defendant may be advantageous in certain circumstances, since traffic court in Ontario is much like people's court, and the outcome of a case basically depends on whether the JP had enough sugar in his coffee that morning or got some good head from his wife the night before.

As for the ticket, I'm sorry to hear that. The OPP is currently on a ticket blitz to generate revenues before the end of the season. Watch out. The cops are jerks and are handing out ridiculous tickets to meet/exceed their quota before the seaosn is over. Bastards.

You may want to represent yourself rather than hiring an agent/lawyer just so that the JP actually gets to hear your case.

Best of luck, and please do fight this nonesensical ticket.

mihalko1

iTrader: (1)

WOW...6 POINTS!!!???

Here in Michigan, Careless Driving is only 3 points. But then again I didn't figure the exchange rate into that. So I guess that jive's up.

All kidding aside, sorry to hear about the bulls**t ticket. If you were here in Detroit, I could help you out with that. I've helped two people get out of there tickets. One for running a red light, and the other (oddly enough) for careless driving.

Good luck, and keep us posted