OTT Legal Services - Accident Investigations,
Traffic Ticket representation
Any traffic ticket can severely impact your insurance rates when the traffic ticket involves a motor vehicle accident can have a dual impact on your insurance rates.
- Any traffic ticket on your driving record may adversely affect your insurance rates.
- In reality, there is no such thing as “no fault” insurance in Ontario.
- “No Fault” really means each company pays to fix the claim of its insured driver.
- Insurance companies rely on “accident settlement” charts and police accident reports to determine who is “at fault” and base rates upon claims made by the insured.
It is important to have a trained person review your case to give you the best opportunity at reducing or even reversing “fault determination” for your traffic ticket . When Insurance rate increases can occur for up to six years fighting your traffic ticket can save you thousands of dollars.
Accident -Traffic Ticket Facts
- Less than 10% of all police officers in Ontario receive specific, detailed accident investigation training.
- Most officers receive only rudimentary accident investigation instruction at Police College.
- Officers receive more training on proper completion of the accident report for Ministry of Transportation statistical purposes than actual investigative techniques.
- Many Police Officers don’t even know how to determine the “point of impact” or properly analyze skid marks.
- Police Officers in Ontario are not issued the Highway Traffic Act
- Officers are only issued a “wording booklet” which gives them an abbreviated wording of the charges of the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario, the section number and the amount of fines to be entered on the certificate.
- In 2002, only 3 officers at the Toronto Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, (one of the largest traffic units in Canada) had any “post Aylmer” accident investigation training at all.
- One of those was former Toronto Police Constable Chris Conway. Chris later founded OTT Legal Services.
- Accident investigators from the Toronto Police receive accident investigation training that is second to none in North America.
OTT Legal Services are experts in Accident Investigation and court representation.
No other company in Ontario has as many qualified former police officers on staff that were trained in accident investigation by the Toronto Police Service. The Traffic Services Unit of the Toronto Police Service is the largest police Traffic Unit in Canada.
Our former Traffic Officers and qualified court agents have years of experience in successfully representing our clients in Traffic Court for matters involving motor vehicle accidents.
Our former Police Accident Investigators have investigated thousands of accidents. No other firm can provide you with the level of expertise that OTT Legal Services can.
Why Hire a Professional?
We have all heard the old adage that “a person who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer”. Who better to represent themselves in court than an actual lawyer? We have all seen instances on the news where a lawyer is facing criminal or civil sanction. Did you notice that the lawyer does not speak for himself? Invariably, the lawyer has a lawyer of his own?
The reason is that when someone represents themself in court they simply do have the emotional detachment that is required to properly ask questions and assess the answers to those questions before a court.
As an active, involved participant in the original incident you have a certain mindset that prevents you from properly evaluating all possible scenarios and to use a worn cliché, to ‘think outside of the box”.
In any case, the court prosecution has the burden of proving two basic things;
- Did the defendant do something wrong in the accident?
- Identification of the defendant.
In most routine minor traffic matters, it would be up to the police officer to provide this information.
In a motor vehicle accident case, the other driver is required in court to provide details of what occurred (remember the officer did not personally witness the accident). The officer attends to basically provide the identification and describe the scene.
If the officer attends court and the other driver does not attend, you should win. If the other driver attends, but the officer does not, by representing yourself, you are providing the identification evidence for the prosecutor.
In effect, when you represent yourself in an accident matter, you are assisting the prosecutor to prove 50% of the case against you!
For your accident related charge OTT Legal Services will:
- Review your accident case and provide an expert assessment of the situation.
- Apply for the disclosure to determine the strength and weaknesses in the prosecutions case.
- Review in detail the investigation by the officer by a qualified professional trained in accident investigation.
- Bring forth any errors or flaws in the investigation to the prosecutor and Justice of the Peace.
- File any required paperwork including procedural documents, motions or notices of constitutional question that may be required as your case develops.
- Expertly represent your case in court
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