How Long Does a Speeding Ticket Stay on Your Record? 

One of the most frequently asked questions we encounter at our firm is, “How long does a speeding ticket stay on your record?” It’s a pertinent question with significant implications for anyone facing a traffic charge. Let’s dive into the details.

 

Speeding Tickets And Your Driving Record

The duration a speeding ticket remains on your record is crucial, especially when negotiating new car insurance. According to Service Ontario, this period is three years. This means if you have a ticket that’s three years old, it will no longer appear on your record. Consequently, neither you nor your insurance company will see anything on your abstract that’s over three years old.

Demerit Points: It’s also important to note the distinction regarding demerit points. While the violation itself stays on your record for three years, any demerit points associated with the offense disappear after two years. Thus, after two years, you are free from the demerit points of that particular offense, and by the third year, the violation is completely removed from your record.

 

Police And Your Driving Record History

While Service Ontario and insurance companies may only see violations and demerit points within a three-year window, the police and prosecutors have access to a more extensive history through a different system. This system allows them to view your entire driving history via your driver’s license number, which can include violations beyond the three-year mark.

In legal defences, we often find that a prosecutor’s interest typically extends back five years when examining a client’s driving history. This is important for formulating a defence strategy, as it may influence a prosecutor’s approach to a case. We always inquire about a client’s driving record over the past five years to prepare adequately for any discussions or negotiations.

 

Older Violations

In some instances, particularly with charges related to criminal driving behavior, offenses outside the five-year range can surface. The potential impact of a historical dangerous driving record on a current minor violation is a valid concern. However, our firm has consistently succeeded in ensuring that such past behaviors are not considered in negotiations or sentencing for recent offenses.

 

Navigating Your Driving Record with OTD Legal

At OTD Legal, we leverage our knowledge and experience to navigate these complexities, ensuring our clients receive the most effective defence possible. Our team is dedicated to advocating for your best interests.

If you’re concerned about the impact of a speeding ticket or any traffic violation on your record, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our expertise is your best defence in maintaining a clean driving record and ensuring fair treatment under the law.

 

 

Video Transcription:

I’m often asked by clients many things, and I’m always happy to answer those questions for them. Another question that is quite common for me to have to answer is, how long does a speeding ticket stay on your record? It’s a very good question because there’s some facets to that that would be important to anyone who is facing a charge.

The Service Ontario record, and, ironically, the Service Ontario record is the same record that an insurance company has the ability to look in on if you’re trying to negotiate a new contract for automobile insurance. That record is, in fact, three years. So, what we need to be aware of in that venue is this, is that if you’ve got a ticket and it’s three years old, it will be falling off of your record completely.

Meaning that if the insurance company, or you looked… into your abstract, that abstract would not show anything over three years of age. All right. Now, if that violation had demerit points, okay, the demerit points would have disappeared after two years. So at two years, all demerit points from that particular offense are gone.

And in the third year, that violation from their records is gone. When you’re charged with an offense, the police use a computer system different than that. It does include all of that information. However, they are able to look at your whole driving history based on your driver’s license, which is something we have from birth.

We have our own driver’s license and they can look back at any time. Prosecutors who are going to be handling this sort of thing will order disclosure, same as we would when we’re defending someone. And they’re going to see, usually, a complete historical driving record for that client. In those cases, I have been able to successfully advocate that it’s only relevant within the last five years.

So if any clients have talked to me at this point in time, or any of my staff, you’re going to be asked questions like, One of the main questions that we hear around the firm is from us to a prospective client is, what does your driving record look like in the past five years? So that’s, supersedes what we know about Service Ontario and the insurance company, and it goes back far enough where it may be relevant to a prosecutor, and these are things that we need to consider in order to help defend any client that comes to our firm.

If you’re charged outside of five years, it’s in some cases, I recent cases, I’ve had clients that have been charged with some criminal driving behavior. That’s that’s outside of that five-year range. And the concern would become well, I don’t want this, you know, dangerous driving record being a part of this minor violation that happened now and we have consistently been successful on keeping that out of the way, not being considered in any sort of negotiations, and certainly not a part of any sentencing if that were to occur.