How to Avoid a Speeding Ticket in Canada

- By Jeff Voth

A quick check of the rearview mirror and all you see are flashing lights. Your heart races and sweat forms on your brow as the realization sinks in. You were speeding and this time it could be expensive. Just as your foot reaches for the brake pedal, the police officer pulls out and accelerates past. His target is someone else today, but next time it could be you.

Every one of us has faced this situation at least once in our lifetime. Convinced we are at fault, the relief of not being pulled over is as equally heart stopping as the realization we were guilty. Here are several tips to help you stay on the good side of the law.

1. How fast is too fast? Generally speaking, police officer's will allow between 9 and 15 km's over the posted speed limit. Anything above this and you are at the mercy of the local or provincial police department. Insurance rates also soar for any speeding violation 20 km's over the limit.

2. Drive appropriate for each situation. If you are in a 20 km/h school zone, limit your speed to what is posted. When it comes to areas where children may be playing or crossing on a regular basis, the police have no reason to be tolerant of speeders. If your child was crossing the street and someone decided to speed through the area, how lenient would you be?

3. Traffic flow is important, so try not to stand out from the crowd. Use cruise control when driving on the highway. By maintaining a level speed, even if it slightly exceeds the posted limit, police are less likely to notice your vehicle. Keep pace with other vehicles around you. If someone is riding your tail and wants to pass, let them go. Never be the quickest person on the road. Let that dubious privilege fall to someone else. In addition to maintaining a steady speed, fuel savings provided by cruise control can be substantial.

4. Watch your surroundings and oncoming traffic for signs of police activity. Back in the day, it was common for drivers to signal approaching traffic of potential roadblocks and speed traps by flashing their headlights. Today, most drivers are content to let others take the fall instead. Something about morbid curiosity I guess. That said, a small number of driver's will flash their headlights to warn you, so take note and maintain the appropriate speed when this happens.

5. Learn where police choose to lie in wait on well travelled routes. Be alert as patterns will develop based on traffic flow, speed limit changes, etc. Favorite places include overpasses, "emergency vehicle only" crossroads and on-ramps to the highway. Pay attention as you drive back and forth to work on a daily basis and watch your speed closely.

6. In almost all of Canada, radar detectors are illegal. Transport truck drivers employ CB communication to learn where speed traps are. Following behind a truck at a safe distance is a less costly way to achieve similar results to a radar detector.

7. When a police officer pulls you over, they generally have three options available; offer a warning, write a ticket or arrest you. Option number three is something you definitely want to avoid.

If you are stopped by the police, pulling off to the side safely and as soon as possible are sure ways to let the officer know you respect their authority. Pretending you didn't notice them in your rearview mirror and extending the "chase" is never a good idea. Provide enough space for the police officer to approach your vehicle without the need for concern of oncoming traffic. Turn on your four-way flashers as a further means of creating a safe environment.

Relax and allow time for the officer to approach your vehicle. They may be checking your license plate, so don't make any sudden or strange moves by trying to locate your insurance and registration. Roll down your window and remove any sunglasses you may be wearing. Rest your hands on the steering wheel where they are easily seen. You may be surprised at the reaction you receive.

When addressing the officer, be polite and have your information close at hand. At night, turn on your interior lights as proof you have nothing to hide. Be honest. If the officer asks do you know why you are being pulled over, tell them yes, you were speeding. Whether it means the difference between getting a ticket or not is entirely up to them.

If you spend enough time driving a vehicle, a speeding ticket is probably in your future.  Drive smart and be respectful of local authorities as they are simply trying to provide a safe environment in which to drive. Not speeding is the still the best way to avoid a costly ticket and above all, drive safe!

Canada should reduce immigration during recessions: professors

By Andy Radia | Canada Politics – Fri, 2 Sep, 2011

New immigrants are experiencing economic difficulties upon arriving in Canada, even more so during an economic downturn.

The unemployment rate among these immigrants is now double that of the general population, and under-employment in this group is projected to be between 25 and 35 per cent.

The Harper government, like its Liberal predecessors, have taken a two-pronged approach to curb the declining economic welfare of its immigrants. It has implemented a comprehensive foreign credential recognition program, while at the same time investing heavily insettlement services.

Two Queen's University professors are offering a third option: reduce immigration during recession times.

In their study, released by the Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network, they call on policy makers to look closely at how immigrants are integrating into the Canadian labour market as the wage gap between immigrants and Canadian-born workers widens.

In the past, immigrants tended to catch up or even exceed the income levels of their Canadian born brethren after a short period of time.

Immigrants who arrived in 1971, for example, started out with an average annual income about 30 per cent lower than the average Canadian-born worker, but in 10 years they were making more.

Over the past two decades, however, the economic fortunes of immigrants have changed for the worse.

In 1990, those newcomers who had been in Canada for 10 years only reached about 90 per cent of the earnings of the Canadian-born. In 2000, the same comparison shows immigrants earned about 80 per cent of average earnings.

The study shows recessions in particular have major negative effects on immigrants.

"Recession appears to have had very marked and long-lasting scarring effects on the real earnings of immigrants," the authors said.

"Perhaps thought should be given to ways to reduce total immigrant admission levels when severe recessions hit."

The report writers also note Canada should focus its immigration policies on attracting skilled workers over other immigration classes such as family reunification and refugees.

"Immigrants who come to Canada with prearranged employment become better integrated and more easily established than those in other immigration categories," Sergio Karas, a Toronto immigration lawyer told the National Post.

"The federal government and the provinces must give top priority to address the looming skilled-worker shortage and the entrepreneurial innovation deficit that threaten Canada's economic future rather than wasting funds on programs that cater to politically driven goals.

"There is no point in bringing immigrants to Canada if they will be unable to find jobs."

The worst city in Canada for speed traps

Windsor, Ont., has the second highest number of speed traps in North America, according to the National Motorists Association.

Windsor is the top Canadian city, second only to Livonia, Mich., in an annual list of the top 25 cities with speed trap locations, based on a per capita ranking.

Gary Biller, executive director of the National Motorists Association, said it isn't a definitive survey and that the informal ranking is based on the number of people reporting speed traps on the organization's website.

"Coming up to the Labour Day weekend people kind of check their travel routes a little bit more and again, drivers who can anticipate rather than react suddenly noticing a police cruiser on the side — it's safer for everybody to do that — so it's more of a public awareness feature," Biller told CBC Windsor's Early Shift host.

Biller identified Dougall Avenue near the southwest end of the city as the spot where police camp out the most. The National Motorists Association is based in Wisconsin.

Brian Ducharme, a lawyer who defends people charged with speeding, agrees that Windsor has a lot of speed traps.

"I see the police using black unmarked pickup trucks which is not typical of police and as a result I see them stopping people," said Ducharme.

The city gets a share of speeding ticket revenues but the police don't, said Police Chief Gary Smith.

Smith said they're not under any pressure to step up enforcement to make more money and he doesn't believe police are overzealous. He said they stake out areas where speeding occurs the most.

"We try to match our enforcement to high accident areas or where the speed is just ridiculous," Smith said.

Smith said enforcement is only up two per cent over last year and the police haven't received any complaints about speeding tickets.

"Fatal accidents — last year I think there were only two. We were only one this year. Our total persons injured as a result of motor vehicle collisions is down 25 per cent," he said.

But Ducharme still believes the speed limits in the city are pegged too low.

"I see some areas where they've reduced it from 50 [km/h] to 40, so that's too low," Ducharme said.

Smith said speed limits are slower in places because of school zones or reduced visibility on the roads.
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1. In Canada, traffic regulations are made at the provincial level. But contrasting laws in Quebec have caused one the province’s highest-ever traffic fines to be issued. Charles Duguay, who lives in Sherbrooke, Que., was issued a $718 fine and 10 demerit points in early 2008 after police nabbed him driving 122 km/h over Montreal’s Champlain Bridge, which has a limit of 70 km/h. Duguay claimed, though, he shouldn’t have to pay the penalty because there are two sets of traffic laws on the province’s books. The initial fine was issued under Quebec’s recently amended traffic laws. But the old traffic fine structure is still in effect, because the amended law did not rescind previous rules. Under the older law, Duguay would be fined $250 and five demerit points.

2. British constabulary probably thought they were having a good day when they pulled over a driver doing 185 km/h on rural roads. But the big score came when a second speeder was clocked doing a 24 Hours of LeMans-like 276 km/h in his Porsche 911.
Generally, speeders caught on the United Kingdom’s speed cameras get a $100 fine. But the Porsche driver was slapped with $1,250 in courts costs and 10 weeks in jail. And the fines didn’t end there. Like many European countries, U.K. law permits speeding infractions to be determined on a sliding scale based on driving conditions and how fast the driver was travelling above the limit. Thus, the police added charges of careless driving, bringing the total to $9,250 — plus the jail time.

3. In 2008, a 31-year-old resident of Hinton, Alta., was stopped on Highway 16 between Edson and Hinton, about 280 kilometres west of Edmonton, driving 263 km/h — 153 km/h above the road’s limit – on his motorcycle. The judge hearing the case let the motorcyclist keep his license, as long as he paid the $12,000 speeding ticket – one of the most expensive speeding tickets ever issued in Canada. The same traffic court handed a 25-year-old from Prince George, B.C., an $8,500 fine for driving his Chevy Cobalt 206 km/h along the same stretch of highway.

4. The Finnish government started basing its speeding fines on net income about a decade ago. Police can access a citizen’s income tax records via their cell phones, and issue the corresponding traffic fine on the spot. Keijo Kopra, a wood products company executive, received one of the first tickets under the new law. In November 1999, on his wayhome from work, he was caught driving only 22 km/h over the speed limit. Dialing up his income information, the officer wrote him a ticket for $14,500. In court, the judge lowered it to $9,000. Then the arresting officer mentioned that Kopra had two previous speeding tickets in the same year before the new system went into effect. Based on the new income-based laws, the judge imposed additional fines of $38,000.

After wedding planners, here come the 'divorce planners'

London, Aug 12: Now get a divorce served on a platter, for a German company has come up with a quirky concept of a˜divorce planner, who will help the separated couple with smooth and trouble-free divorce proceedings. 
Sieglinde Vauth, who runs the Agentur Rosenkrieg (War of the Roses Agency), and has been divorced twice, has offered to help couples on the path to divorce. 
He has said that his firm will help the estranged couple by mediating between spouses, giving them advice and helping to arrange all the practical aspects of a divorce, including sorting out the finances. 
“It is mainly when money comes into play that the problems arise. I try to find other solutions than simply saying ‘eenie, meenie, minie, mo’ and distributing the assets in that way", ananova quoted him, as saying.

Punjab to organize camps for NRIs

CHANDIGARH: Punjab government will organize camps in six districts of the state, where

grievances of the NRIs would be redressed on the spot. Exclusive NRI police stations have

already been set up in these six districts having predominant NRI population.

Presiding over a meeting of officers of the departments of NRI affairs, home, revenue and

police, on Friday, state NRI affairs minister Balbir Singh Bath asked officers to

immediately respond to grievances of the NRIs so that they are not harassed and their

problems are solved instantaneously.

Bath asked revenue secretary Sanjay Kumar to especially look into the property cases of the

NRIs, pending in the fast track revenue courts set up for the NRIs, and ensure their

disposal within a stipulated time frame. He said all the land records would be computerized

by March 31, this year.

Chandigarh UT NRI Cell disposes of 135 complaints

Chandigarh, January 24

A review meeting regarding the functioning of the UT NRI Cell was held here today.

Justice Amar Dutt, chairman, NRI Cell, ML Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-nodal

officer, NRI Cell, Anil Malhotra, member, NRI Cell, and Vikram Bajwa, member representative

of NRIs attended the meeting.

During the meeting, it was revealed that out of 185 complaints received, 135 complaints had

been disposed of by the by the NRI Cell. An active role of the police was demanded by the

chairman to deal with the property-related cases of NRIs.

The members said the law enforcement agency should proceed with the enforcement of criminal

liability against a respondent even when a civil litigation was pending. A complete database

of all NRIs and their properties in Chandigarh should be prepared with the help of the

police and a website of the NRI Cell should be created, the members said.

Vikram Bajwa said an invitation by the body of NRIs would be forwarded to theChandigarh

Administration to sign MoUs with NRIs for encouraging setting up of facilities in the

sectors of health and education.

He suggested that a body called as Chandigarh Foundation comprising NRIs, citizens of

Chandigarh and the Chandigarh Administration for charitable purpose would be formed and

would be funded by NRIs. He placed a proposal before the administration to set up a memorial

to the Kanishka tragedy in Chandigarh, which would be funded by NRIs.

Singapore-based NRI summoned in bigamy case by Chandigarh court

CHANDIGARH: A Singapore-based non-resident Indian, Sham Sunder Arora, who is accused of bigamy, was issued summons for appearing on November 20 by Chandigarh district court on Friday.

His first wife Rohini Arora, 35, a resident of Gurgaon, had complained against him in July 2008.

The Standard Chartered Bank executive has been booked under Section 494 (marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife) of India Penal Code. His father, another relative and alleged second wife were booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Crime against women (CAW) cell of the UT police had booked Sham Sunder Arora on April 17, 2009, under charges of dowry harassment and criminal conspiracy.

Rohini, then a resident of Sector 33, had alleged that she got married to the accused on May 9, 1997, at Delhi in a Hindu wedding ceremony. After the marriage, accused got transferred to Singapore on job assignment and she accompanied him there.

She alleged that during her stay at Singapore, the accused used to visit Mumbai in connection with his job, where his alleged second wife was also working in the same bank after divorcing her husband. She added that later, Arora tied the knot with that woman without divorcing her and his father helped them get married.

Court of judicial magistrate Anupamish Modi stated that after considering the preliminary evidence, there was no ground to disbelieve the statements of complainant and the witnesses she presented. Consequently, Arora was summoned.

weblinks

http://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=nri+law+goup#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=nri+law+group&pbx=1&oq=nri+law+group&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=2089l2089l0l2646l1l1l0l0l0l0l131l131l0.1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=37f5bf3d192d72b2&biw=1366&bih=634

http://www.legalcell.com/
http://www.lawisgreek.com/category/nris
http://www.lawisgreek.com/faqs-nri-investment-options-india

FAQs on NRI Investment Options in India

India is fast emerging as a lucrative investment destination for NRIs because of its growing economy. The Indian economy offers various NRI investment options. Also, it offers higher returns on the funds as compared to the US and other European countries. 

What are the Various NRI Investment Options available in India?

The various NRI investment options available in India include:

• ·         Investment in Mutual Funds.
• ·         Investment in Equity Markets.
• ·         Company Fixed Deposits.
• ·         Non-Convertible Debentures of Companies.
• ·         Investment in Real Estate.
• ·         Investment in Government Securities.
• ·         Investment in National Savings Certificates.
• ·         Deposits in Indian Bank Accounts.  

Are there Different Methods of Payments Available for NRI Investment Options?

An NRI can opt any of the following methods to make payments for his investments in India:

• ·         An NRE Account (Non-Resident External Rupee Account).
• ·         An NRO Account (Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee Account).
• ·         A FCNR Account (Foreign Currency Non-Resident Account).   

·          

NRI Investment Options: What are the 24% Schemes?

The ‘24% Scheme’ permits Indian companies, apart from those operating in the agricultural sector, to issue 24% of their debentures and shares to NRIs with repatriation benefits. 

NRI Investment Options: Can NRIs Invest in the Aviation Industry?

Yes, an NRI is allowed to invest in the aviation sector. Further, 100% equity investment is allowed, in consonance with the RBI’s rules. However, repatriation is allowed after 5 years of transactions and only from the accumulated forex earnings, after due taxes are paid.

Final Legal Take Away Tip:To acquire property through NRI investment options, an application has to be submitted in the prescribed manner to the RBI, through an authorized branch of an Indian bank. The RBI has empowered some branches of commercial banks to conduct business under Portfolio Investment Scheme, on behalf of NRIs as these branches are mainly located near to the stock exchange.