The City is working on correcting speeding tickets issued in error
Posted Aug 24, 2022 11:30:00 PM.
The City of Ottawa is working to correct approximately 1,500 speeding tickets issued in error this summer.
According to a memo from Carol Hall, associate director of Traffic Services, speeding tickets between July 1 and Aug .15, 2022, at the following locations are in the process of being cancelled:
- Abbott Street East, between Moss Hill Trail and Shea Road, near Sacred Heart High School.
- Alta Vista Drive, between Ayers Avenue and Ridgemont Avenue, near Ridgemont High School, St. Patrick’s High School and Charles H. Hulse Public School.
The speed limit at these locations is 40 km/h between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday from September to June. However, the speed limit at all other times, including the summer, is 50 km/h.
“As a result of the administrative error, speeding tickets continued to be issued based on a 40 km/h speed limit in July and August as though school was still in session,” Hall said.
The enforcement criteria was updated on Aug. 16, and speeding tickets issued after this date are valid.
Affected vehicle owners will be notified by mail by the end of September, and their speeding tickets will be cancelled.
“They are asked not to pay their fines. Those who have paid will be reimbursed their full fine amount by the end of October,” Hall explained, adding that ticket recipients require no action to initiate the reimbursement.
To determine if a ticket was given in error, ticket recipients must verify the date and location of the speeding offence. The offence date and location are on the left side of the ticket, next to the first image, which shows the vehicle used to commit the offence.
“Communication processes, in addition to the quality of documentation shared with both the Joint Processing Centre and our vendor, have been revised so that such administrative errors do not reoccur in the future. Internal processes have also been adjusted to ensure the timely review of enforcement criteria at sites with a reduced school speed zone,” she said.
