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Another long weekend is here and the O.P.P. and municipal police forces will be out in full force to ensure the safety of the motoring public, not to mention to make desperately needed income for the province and local municipalities. You can expect a full seatbelt blitz as well as speeding enforcement among other things. It pays to be prepared and obey all driving laws all of the time, not just on holiday weekends. There have been a number of high profile incidents over the past few weeks that have garnered a lot of media attention and as a result, will result in a zero tolerance approach on Ontario’s highways. The best way to avoid a ticket is to obviously obey the law, but that being said, there are a lot of misconceptions that people have that usually result in a ticket or summons. One of the most common is people thinking that it is okay to disobey the speed limit in order to pass a slower motorist. This is in fact false. Speeding is an absolute liability offence which essentially means, once you have committed the offence a conviction must follow. It is up to you, after being charged to disprove the allegation. This is actually very difficult to do as police officers have an intimate knowledge of the required elements of the offence and know what the court needs to hear in order to obtain a conviction. Most people who try to defend themselves proceed to trial without knowing the process and ultimately are extremely upset and/or angry at the outcome. Simply stated, knowledge is power so arm yourself first. The majority of the self represented defendants I watch at Court usually say the same thing after running a trial; I wish I had gotten legal advise first! I had a client today that no matter what I explained to her, could not accept the fact that the law was the law and her defence was not valid. That unfortunately is very common as a lot of people do not obtain legal advise first and rely on rumours and misconceptions. Do not let that happen to you, come see us first for a free consultation.