Officer Did Not Sign Traffic Ticket

Question: I received a traffic ticket in July 2012.  I disputed the ticket. After reading articles on this site I decided to write to the officer requesting disclosure to prepare for traffic court. I pulled out the ticket and discovered that the officer did not sign the ticket. I've read posts on this site indicating that this renders the ticket invalid.

Is it appropriate to write to the officer requesting he cancel the ticket given the lack of signature? Or should I prepare for traffic court and raise the issue there?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Officer Must Sign Hand Written Violation Ticket

If the officer did not sign the older hand written ticket form, ICBC's Ticket Unit will have sent them a letter advising them of this and suggesting that if it is in the public interest they should reserve you with a properly completed ticket. If this is not done, the ticket you have received is not valid and they will not process it.

Violation Ticket Centre

You may wish to check with the Violation Ticket Centre and ask for the status of your dispute. You may also wish to ask for a copy of the original of the ticket. Compare it to the one that you have. If the original now has a signature you should be suspicious that it was signed after the fact, which is not acceptable. You were not served a true copy in that case, and you should raise this prior to entering a plea on the date of your trial. Ask that the matter be dismissed and be prepared to show the court your copy and point out the difference.

Electronic Violation Tickets

If you were handed a printed electronic ticket by the officer, you have the only printed copy. Don't lose it!

Better to Remain Silent on This

You could let the officer know, but this does give him an opportunity to figure things out and reserve you before the trial. In your case, since more than a year has passed from the date of the alleged offence, you can no longer be served as the limitation of action is one year and it wouldn't matter.

Postscript

The lady involved contacted the ticket violation centre and they referred her to ICBC. An ICBC representative asked her to fax a copy of the served ticket. Within a couple of hours of sending the fax, the ticket was cancelled.

She requested a copy of the original which she received that week. The officer had signed the original after serving the ticket which explains why ICBC did not cancel the ticket.

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