Speeding ticket (sorry for the long read)
 

So last night i was on my home from work coming across cambie street bridge doing 100km/h( its a 60 zone) and then i noticed in my rear view that there was a cop coming up behind me. i pulled over to the side to a safe spot. After the cop pulled me over no one approached the vehicle for 9 mins (i counted), thats when 3 other unmarked police cars pulled up blocking me in. Then i was approached by the officers in the first car that pulled me over one on either side. When the officers realized its a right hand drive car one of the officers said "whoa thats fucked up", after handing my licence and registration over. One other cop from the un marked mini van with a thule box on it stuck his head in the car and said to the others that there is weed in the car. The first cop asked if i had been drinking or smoking which i hadnt, then she asked if there was any roaches in the car witch there wasnt either. the officer asked me to step out of the vehicle and asked me if they would find anything of interest in the car. i pulled out the 1/4 of weed i had in my door pocket which i just had picked up. by now im in cuffs sitting on the side of the road as they search the car but there was nothing else to find. Then they decide to give me a breathalizer to see if im telling the truth. i blew a 0.0 and then they slipped my licence and the ticket in my pocket cause i still had the cuffs on and they took the cuffs off and sent me on my way. Now when i got home i examined the ticket and realized the officer wrote the wrong date of offence( the date she wrote is 4 months from now) and the offence was excessive speeding with a fine of 483$, and i know you dont have to sign the ticket but i was never asked to sign it since i was in cuffs. Now my question is doing 100km/h in a 60 zone is very close to what the MVA148(1), 40 km/h above the posted speed is the 483$ fine standard issue for that situation, and is it possible to dispute the ticket cause the officer wrote the wrong date on the ticket , and thirdly if i do dispute it im willing to pay a lesser fine for speeding how willing are officers to lower the fine before the trial. Any help would be appreciated.

Let's see...excessive speed, carrying drugs...and attracting the attention of all that heat? Not a smart combination. The $483 fine is for more than 60 k over the posted limit. For 41- 60 k over it is $368. If the offense date is incorrect on the ticket then that is something that could make the Court toss the ticket, unless the Police move to ammend the ticket in court before the trial actually starts or issue you a new ticket. The Police COULD lower the fine down to $138 IF they want and instead change the lesser-included charge of speeding...or lower it to the $368 excessive or the $196 level 2 speeding charge.

You might want to ask yourself what has this event taught you about your lifestyle and your driving? Sounds like a reality check to me.

Chances are you won't have to dispute this one as the ICBC Ticket Unit will cancel it when they receive it knowing that the offence date is incorrect. Just to be certain, enter the dispute anyway. If it is not corrected you have a valid point to raise.

Interesting response though. I could see an officer not realize that the vehicle as RHD and think that someone was deliberately hiding in the car following the pull over. Taking the action that they did was valid in that belief. The way you were treated in the circumstances does not appear to be unreasonable to me.

Thanks for the fast reply. when you say the ICBC ticket unit will realize the mistake does that mean i wont hear back about the court date if they decide to scrap the ticket

That is correct.

Unless ICBC is nice enough to send you a letter or phone you. But you can always follow up and call ICBC yourself after say 3 months time.

I don't know what ICBC does for the person the ticket is issued to. I know that they send the original copy of the ticket back to the officer with a big red CANCELLED stamp on it with a letter that suggests the officer re-serve a corrected ticket.

If you dispute, I expect that the court will advise you if the ticket is cancelled, but I don't know that for sure.

Cops busted you for 40kph over, with a 1/4 of weed.. and you are about to get off scott free because THEY screwed up.

You're very lucky. As zulutango said - use this opportunity to CHANGE your ways, next time you might be not be anywhere near as lucky.

You are very lucky indeed, go ahead and dispute the ticket,
I have gotten a ticket the police wrote i was gong 781 KM / H
disputed right away i think he forgot to put the decimal in..

funny part is that day i didnt speed at all, it was snowing and i was drivng a 645ci

how do they expect me to speed in that :S

I would imagine the ICBC computer would puke on itself if they actually try to enter a ticket with a date in the future. Unless, of course, the cop is psychic and KNOWS that you're GOING TO speed four months from now ;)

He also volunteered to reveal the drugs. I don't think simply driving that fast is grounds for a search without consent, is it?

If an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that there are drugs inside the car (smell of fresh/unsmoked marijuana, a visible roach/joint, baggy of drugs etc) then s/he is permitted to perform a search of the vehicle. (Check out the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act)

Correct, driving fast isn't grounds for a search of a vehicle. Having drugs in the vehicle, even if he hands them over willingly, is grounds to search the vehicle.