As an Ontario or Quebec licensed driver, you need to treat seriously any traffic ticket which you receive in New York. The reason is because of reciprocity among these areas. Specifically, a New York conviction will transfer onto your Ontario or Quebec license and you will be assessed the same demerit points as if it was issued in your home province. If you receive a traffic ticket in New York, it will likely be an offense that is recognized in Ontario or Quebec province. This means that on top of having to pay the fine for a New York speeding ticket (and other penalties), you will receive demerits on your Canadian license when you get home.
The amount of demerit points depends on the offense committed. In the example of speeding tickets, demerit points will be assigned depending on how much you exceeded the speed limit. Reaching the maximum number of demerits on your license will typically result in loss of license for a set time limit.
The only way to avoid demerit points back in Canada is to fight the traffic offense in New York. However, as you would expect, fighting a traffic offense over country borders can be challenging. However, you can retain a New York traffic lawyer to appear for you saving you the time and effort to travel back. In our 27+ years of helping motorists with their tickets, we have helped 100s of Canadian drivers. Surprisingly, we often can obtain a result that carries 0 demerit points (even though it might carry NY points). It is therefore quite beneficial to retain a New York traffic lawyer who is also familiar with the Ontario and Quebec demerit point systems.
If you are a Canadian who has received a New York traffic moving violation, don’t pay that ticket until speaking with a knowledgeable NY traffic ticket attorney. Contact us today for free advice and help.