Got speeding ticket in Vancouver BC, I am from NYS
 

I got a speeding ticket two weeks ago in Vancouver, BC driving a rental car from Avis which I rented at Seattle airport. Officer wrote 110km in 60km zone. (50km over!) $196 ticket. I am sure I was not going that fast b/c I was on the Sea to Sky highway going to Whistler mountain and going at 110km there would be a suicide. I have since returned to NY. Points do not transfer to NYS License. Should I pay this ticket? I travel to Canada (usually drive) twice a year. I have a feeling that if I don't pay this ticket then I might have problem entering Canada?

I think you may have a problem in the future. Are you sure points don't transfer? I know they do from NYS to Ontario and vv. I would be certain. You may want to look into getting a paralegal to fight the ticket for you.

That's only 68mph, sure you might not have been doing that?

If you plan to go back to Canada, you will have to deal with this one way or another.

Just pay the ticket and be done.

Or do you prefer to have this in the back of your mind, especially when you travel to Canada, forever?

(I've driven this road. For many stretches, the speed limit is 80, 90, or 100kph. 110kph is hardly suicidal)

It seems pretty clear you WERE speeding... right? And you just "feel" it "wasn't that fast"?

Add me to the "Just pay" chorus.

Got speeding ticket in Vancouver BC, I am from NYS
 

Just pay if you want to go back and I actually find it strange that you haven't already had additional fees from Avis for getting a ticket with their rental

You're lucky to get away with such a small fine. 50km over in Ontario would have meant your vehicle would be automatically impounded and a $10,000 fine.

please explain, I've had tickets while renting a car and never had additional fees/correspondence from the rental car company in regards to the ticket.I would not pay the ticket until you have done some research.

Personally I've always found it worthwhile to go to court if possible or at least hire an attorney to appear for me. For example, last speeding ticket I received was in Indiana, far from my home, so I wasn't going to go to court personally as I didn't have time (although as stated I really try to appear in person if possible). So I searched for attorneys near the courthouse in Indiana who practice in traffic offenses. A telephone call with the attorney, explaining the ticket, my current traffic record (any tickets for past 3-5 years) and how I'd like the attorney to appear for me in order to get the fine reduced and offense transferred to a sentence of supervision (term is different in some states.) Sometimes I've been made to pay the fine but sign a document stating I won't have the same offense in the State (or county) for X time.

This approach has always worked out better for me than just paying a ticket as the ticket does NOT get reported to my state & therefore my insurance.

I don't know if Canada has the same supervision set up as in the U.S. but I feel it is well worth your time to correspond with an attorney near the court in Canada to see if you have any options, especially in light that you will be going back to Canada.@:-)

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Pathetic revenue generators. Disgusting.

I don't know if it's from renting in Europe more often than within my own country, but I always thought based on the terms and conditions of the rental that if you committed an offense with their car it's an additional 41€ or something like that

Got speeding ticket in Vancouver BC, I am from NYS
 

And I forgot to add : I know in certain European countries this works, but I'm not sure for your American insurance and driver's, but if I get a ticket in Europe for speeding or something I don't lose points on my Canadian driver's and it doesnt affect my insurance. You just have to pay the authorities for your name and passport not to be stained

You were cited for exceedingthe speed limit. Whether you believe it or not, the Officer does. You can protest the ticket or pay it. I would not just ignore it and hope it will go away, because it will not.

What would happen if you don't pay a tcket in the US? Can't register your vehicle or fees will keep on doubling. Same thing in Canada.

YGPM.

I've not gotten a moving violation in a rental before, but I would think that if you don't pay, the government would eventually send a notice to the registration holder, who would then pay the ticket. In this case, it would make sense that Avis would pay and then come after you to reimburse them for the cost of a ticket + some sort of service charge. Whether or not it causes issues for you in Canada, it might cause issues for future rentals with Avis.

Pathetic trying to save the lives of drivers, passengers and innocent bystanders. Disgusting. :rolleyes:

If the cop was lying (and we have no proof either way) that's one thing. But 50 km/h over the limit is nothing to sniff at. The OP could have killed him/herself and others.

Be a man and pay up. You broke the law, and this is the consequence.

Radar gunssss
And even if the cop says 50 and OP says "THATS NOT RIGHT I WAS ONLY 40 OVER" well OP just shot himself in the foot and will have to pay as he just admitted being guilty.

Unlike other international issues, Canadian provinces and US states share their motor vehicle information due to the land border. If you fail to appear, either by paying or protesting the Canadian violation, your NYS license will eventually be suspended. That has all of the bad consequences associated with failing to appear in some other US state and dollars to donuts, the fines increase for non-payment.

How and whether the underlying violation affects your future admiissibility to Canada is not the first thing for you to worry about.

Your options:

1. Pay the ticket
2. Contest the ticket. Whether you can do this by mail, it requires an appearance in person (in which case a local lawyer is a better idea) or whatever, will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Ignoring the ticket is dumb.

50km/h (which the op has been charged with) is not a "revenue generator. That's a safety issue. Speed differentials on the road cause safety issues, not the speed itself.

Whether the op did it or not is between him and the courts.

Pay the da*n ticket. The Sea to Sky is a dangerous drive and subsequently is heavily policed by the RCMP to save speeding drivers from killing themselves and others (which unfortunately they still do...). You were driving at "excessive" speeds at 50km over the limit a charge which actually generates much higher fines and discetionary vehicle confiscation. Frankly, I think this cop saw u were a visitor to Canada and gave you a break with a lesser ticket. Hiring a Canadian lawyer to fight this for you (IF indeed you can find one to deal with this case) will cost you WAY more than the ticket. So pay the ticket and your subsequent visits to Canada won't have the stress of knowing this issue remains unresolved.

First time I was in Vancouver I got a ton of speeding tickets. I'm European and people rarely adhere to speed limits here. Ignored them, hey, I was young, and broke. Went back a few years later to work, and no record whatsoever.

This! Pay the ticket.

Don't pay the ticket. Hire a paralegal and fight it. The points will surely transfer, and a ticket of that magnitude is pure metaphorical suicide.

Pay the ticket.

Avis is likely to assess a penalty to your credit card AND an generous administrative fee if the government comes after them to collect based on the renter's non payment.

It's usually in the terms and conditions of your rental that the renter is responsible for any traffic violations or toll charges.

Governments usually exchange information if they are next to each other so I would not be surprised if the conviction information is provided to AVIS or their insurance company representative.

Paying in advance will avoid any further complications on the part of AVIS or overpriced administrative fees being applied to your account.

When I drive the Sea-to-Sky I am regularly passed by people doing 120+ kph, so it's entirely possible you were doing 110, particularly post-2010 after the hundreds of millions spent upgrading the highway to straighten it out.

Canadian law enforcement can be a real PITA. Pay up and move on....

Yeah because Canada is totally reliant on speeding tickets for government revenue :rolleyes:

Lots of good advice here. If you're a real gambler, don't pay it. Let us know how it works out, seriously.

At least you got a real cop stopping you, and not some photo radar nonsense.

Moving Violations go with the driver, not the owner of the car. If you lend your car to a friend and they get a speeding ticket, you are not responsible for paying if your friend doesn't. Works the same with car rentals. Avis wont even know you got a speeding ticket.

Parking Tickets go to the car owner, which is why Avis (or whoever) will jack you up with fees for getting a parking ticket on a rental.

That is completely untrue. And, it's untrue because the law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In many states, it's both. The driver is responsible, but so is the registered owner if the driver doesn't pay.

But, this is Canada and unless you're certain of local provincial law, I would be careful about this advice.

110km in 60km zone together with $196 fine means the cop was being real nice to you all ready. The fine of $196 is the maximum fine BC can levy for non-excessive speeding under the Motor Vehicle Act Sections 146(1) to 146(7). The motor vechicle act (section 148(1)) determines excessive speeding at over 40kph above the post speed limit. Excessive speeding carries minimum fine of $338, mandatory court appearance, and immediate impound the vehicle until the court appearance.

If the ticket goes to court, the Crown could apply to have the ticket adjusted from section 146 to section 148 which would not be in your favour.

Based on the above I would pay the ticket and count your blessings.

Same should have happened to the OP. However as stated above the cop has effectively reduced the ticket to an acceptable compromise without a lot of hassle to the tourist.

Avis would only get involved if the ticket was addressed to them, example photo radar ticket or parking ticket. However in this instance it appears the OP got pulled over and spoke to a member of the RCMP.

FYI km is not a measure of speed...

I've driven this road and the speed limits in many of the parts are far too low.


But, I still did the speed limit because I didn't want a ticket. Personally, I would pay it because it's not at all worth the possible consequences. I can easily see how a ticket for 20 or more kph wouldn't be hard to end up with on this road. We Americans are used to traveling at 60 or 70mph on highways and a lot of the Sea to Sky is big and wide and would be easy to get a little ahead of yourself. I thought it was one of the prettiest roads I've ever been on but also very annoying because the speeds are so low. Just put the cruise on and go.

Seriously? I certainly get the irritation with ticketing someone for going 65MPH on a flat interstate with a 55MPH limit, but he was ticketed for going 68MPH in a 37MPH zone. Usually, an area with that low a limit has at least something of a reason for it, reason not to go nearly 2x the limit.

I believe it was after (and due to) NAFTA but there is information sharing of violations between the states and provinces.

You will have issues with NYS DMV and probably your insurance if the BC violation is not taken care of.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

From the NYS DMV website:

"Insurance companies have point systems that are different from the DMV driver violation point system. The two point systems are not related. Contact your insurance company about their point system.

Except for Ontario and Quebec, points are not added to your NYS driver record if you commit an out-of-state traffic violation. Points can appear on your NYS driver record if you commit a traffic violation in Ontario or Quebec."

Sea to Sky? Is that 101 going up the coast? Of the 'ton' of tickets I got, 4 were on that road over 2 days.

The points are not the issue. It's that a default (failure to appear) by taking no action, will result in OP's NYS operator's license being suspended. Driving while his license is suspended is a significant and arrestable offense.

The legal & financial consequences of doing nothing are worse than either of the alternatives: 1) paying up; 2) contesting.

moi aussi ^