What Evidence Can Help You Beat a Traffic Ticket in Calgary?

Getting a traffic ticket can be expensive and affect your driving record, but fortunately, there are ways to beat a traffic ticket in Alberta. 

With the right evidence, you can show there were inconsistencies in the officer’s observations, prove your innocence with video, or demonstrate that you had a valid reason for whatever offence you’ve been accused of. Whether you wind up going to court or settle in early resolution, the right evidence can help you avoid costly fines, demerit points and expensive increases in insurance premiums that add up quickly over time.

At We Defend, we have decades of experience helping drivers beat traffic tickets in Alberta. Read on to discover some of the common types of evidence that can help you out if you get a traffic ticket.

Need representation rather than a DIY evidence guide? Talk to our Calgary traffic ticket defenders about your ticket and deadlines.

Key Takeaways 

• Fighting a traffic ticket in Calgary rarely makes your situation worse—in the worst case, you pay the same fine and keep the same demerit points you started with.
• The right traffic ticket video evidence, like dashcam footage, can help beat charges ranging from speeding to hit and run to failing to stop at a red light.
• Different ticket types call for different defences: speeding tickets often hinge on radar calibration or signage errors, while suspended license tickets often come down to registry paperwork mistakes.
• You can ask for evidence of speeding, including the officer’s notes, through the disclosure process before your court date.
• Preserving dashcam footage immediately, without editing it, gives you the strongest possible case if you decide to fight your ticket.

Why Oppose a Traffic Ticket in Alberta?

In almost every situation, drivers in Alberta should fight traffic tickets. Why? Because the costs of traffic tickets in Alberta go way beyond the fine you’ll have to pay if you’re found guilty. 

Additionally, demerit points can result in a suspended license, and you will also face substantial increases in insurance premiums. There are also many ways to beat a traffic ticket in Calgary, so you should never simply accept the consequences and pay your fine. It’s always worth fighting.

What Happens If You Don’t Fight a Traffic Ticket?

If you choose not to fight a traffic ticket, it can be an expensive decision and not just for the obvious reasons. The repercussions include:

• Paying the fine that comes with the ticket
• Accepting the demerit points on your driving record, which add up fast and can lead to a suspended license
• Insurance premiums can increase by 25% if you get two minor convictions

Simply ignoring the ticket won’t do you any good, either. You’ll be convicted and face the same consequences as if you’d pay the fine, which you’ll have to do when you go to renew your driver’s license.

Evidence to Beat a Traffic Ticket (By Ticket Type)

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for how to beat a traffic ticket in Calgary. Every ticket is different and will require evidence. Depending on what you’ve been charged with, here are some of the most effective types of evidence that can help you beat a traffic ticket in Calgary.

Speeding Tickets

Speeding tickets are among the most common types of traffic tickets in Alberta, but they are worth fighting in most cases. It may seem like you can just pay the fine and move on, but speeding tickets come with demerit points that can add up quickly. There are, fortunately, some effective ways to beat a speeding ticket.

• Inconsistencies and errors on the ticket: Something as simple as your license plate being wrong can lead to a speeding ticket being dismissed outright. In our experience, the tickets that are easiest to fight aren’t often the ones drivers are expecting. A mismatched license plate can be much more helpful to your case than a strong excuse.
• Radar calibration errors: If the radar gun the police used was miscalibrated or not used properly, your speeding ticket will likely be invalid. Over the years, we’ve reviewed enough radar calibration logs to know that maintenance records don’t always hold up to scrutiny the way many police officers assume they will.
• Signage was obscured: If the signage indicating what speed you were supposed to be going was not clearly visible, you would have had no way of knowing you were speeding. Dash-cam footage can be useful in these situations, and in the decades we’ve represented Albertan drivers, we’ve seen countless cases where an obscured or poorly placed sign gets overlooked when drivers are building their defence.

What a successful outcome looks like: Demerit points and fines for speeding tickets work on a sliding scale, with two demerit points being given for drivers going 1-15 km/hour above the speed limit and six points for drivers going 51+ km/hour above the speed limit. You may be able to plead guilty to a lesser offence and receive no demerit points and a greatly reduced fine.

Hit and Run Tickets

Hit and run tickets are the most serious type of violation under Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act. You’re required to stop your vehicle, provide your name and address, and offer assistance to anyone who requires it. Getting a hit-and-run ticket comes with seven demerit points, a mandatory court appearance, and fines of up to $2,300.

There are ways to beat this type of traffic ticket in Calgary, though.

• You had a viable reason for leaving the scene: Traffic accidents can be scary, and if you were injured or concerned for your safety, you may have had a legitimate reason for leaving the scene.
• Dashcam footage: Dashcam footage can provide video evidence that you didn’t realize a collision had happened.
• Witnesses: There may be people who witnessed the collision and can verify that you weren’t involved or that you did attempt to stop and exchange information.

It’s worth remembering that intent does matter with hit-and-run charges. If you genuinely didn’t know you were involved in an accident, that can form a strong basis for a defence.

What a successful outcome looks like: Hit and runs are serious and can impact everything from your employment to massive fines and insurance premium increases of up to 300%. The goal of any defence should be to have the charges reduced to lesser than a hit and run. 

Careless Driving Tickets

One of the challenging aspects of careless driving tickets is that there are no clear metrics for determining whether a charge is merited. However, fines of up to $2,000 and a maximum of six demerit points accompany the inevitable increase in insurance premiums if you’re found guilty.

Fortunately, though, We Defend has a long history of successfully defending drivers in Calgary who are charged with careless driving. The charge comes with a mandatory court appearance, so it’s always worth fighting.

• Witness statements: Careless driving charges require that the driver put the safety of other people at risk, so witness statements that prove you were not presenting a danger to anyone can be a powerful tool.
• Dashcam or surveillance footage: If there’s video showing that you were not driving carelessly and were, in fact, being safe, that can be very effective in beating a careless driving charge.
• Road conditions: In our time helping Albertans fight traffic tickets, we’ve seen careless driving charges turn entirely on road conditions. What appeared to a police officer like careless driving may, in fact, have been the result of dangerous road conditions that caused a safe driver to lose control.

What a successful outcome looks like: A careless driving charge can be reduced to a violation that has less serious consequences like an unsafe lane change or speeding. This significantly reduces the number of demerit points you’ll receive and reduces the impact on insurance premiums.

Failure to Obey a Stop Sign or Red Light

A ticket for failing to obey a stop sign or red light carries three demerit points, which can impact your driving record and insurance premiums. Traffic ticket video evidence can show that you did, in fact, stop when required and that the ticket itself is invalid.

Intersection camera records and dashcam footage are both useful tools for how to beat a traffic ticket in Calgary, particularly when it comes to tickets for failing to obey a stop sign or red light.

What a successful outcome looks like: Ideally, you can try to get the charge thrown out entirely. But through early resolution, most drivers will be able to get demerit points and fines greatly reduced.

Suspended License Tickets

Your driver’s license can be suspended for several reasons in Alberta, including driving under the influence and accumulating demerit points. If you’re caught driving with a suspended license, you could face fines of up to $2,000, your vehicle will be impounded for 30 days, and your insurance premiums will increase.

There are a few key ways to beat a suspended license ticket:

• Proof of reinstatement: If your license was reinstated but the police officer didn’t see it, you can prove that you were allowed to be driving. We’ve worked with enough drivers accused of driving with a suspended license to know that errors in registry paperwork are far more common than most people realize.
• Lack of correspondence: The Alberta Registry may not have provided you with documentation to prove that your license was reinstated or even indicated that your license was suspended in the first place.

What a successful outcome looks like: Proving that you were not in fact driving with a suspended license should see the ticket dismissed.

How to Preserve and Submit Dashcam Footage

In the decades we’ve been working to help beat traffic tickets, we’ve seen again and again how important dash cam footage can be. It can provide proof that the officer missed something or exonerate a driver entirely. If you have a dash cam and have received a ticket, it’s a critical piece of evidence that you should preserve immediately.

There are a few things to know:

• Preserve the footage immediately: As soon as you get home, download the footage to your computer. The sooner you can do this, the better. More often than not, drivers who save their dash cam footage immediately end up with a stronger case than those who wait until their court date is approaching.
• Do not edit the footage: You’ll want to be able to present the raw, uncut footage and not have there be any suspicion that you altered it in any way.
• Send your footage to a traffic court expert: We can review the footage, ensure it’s admissible in court and see if there’s anything in the footage that can be used in your defence. They’ll also be able to tell you how to properly submit the footage.

Choose We Defend to Fight Your Traffic Ticket

There are lots of different types of evidence that can help you beat a traffic ticket in Calgary, and it’s always worth it to fight a charge. Having We Defend in your corner gives you the best chances to beat a traffic ticket in Calgary. 

With over 80 combined years of experience helping Alberta drivers, our team will review the evidence and present your case in the most compelling, convincing way possible, and give you the best chance to reduce or even eliminate charges entirely.

Ready for help with the evidence? Talk to our Calgary traffic ticket defenders for a free consultation.

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