Speeding / Traffic tickets during application [Merged]

[Loachman]

Do you think it's a better idea to bring this up on my own prerogative or to wait and see if I am asked about anything of the sort to inform the recruiting staff? I have no problem owning the mistake, I'm just not entirely sure how to best go about this and if the interview is a good time for this.

Hypothetical scenario:

Nobody asks, and you say nothing.

You are accepted, yet now have to admit that you have yet to pay the fine.

If you were a Recruiter, how would you react?

You are in a sucky position, and the potential fine is steeper than I imagined.

The only recourse that you have, as I see it, is to:

Inform the Recruiter;

Dress very, very nicely (including a tasteful tie even if you do not have a jacket) for your Court appearance;

Be very, very courteous and respectful;

Explain why you continued to drive with neither valid registration nor insurance, how stupid this was, how deeply sorry you are, and how desperate your circumstances were at the time;

Explain that you have applied to join the CF, that the application has been going well, but that the process will stop until this issue is resolved including payment of the fine in full - yet you will have difficulty in doing so; and

Request the Court's sympathy/mercy as you are striving to better yourself and serve your Country.

Have documentation supporting your application with you, and practise your responses to all anticipated questions - which will be direct and tough.

A lawyer or paralegal would be valuable, possibly a traffic ticket service, but there are costs to that.

Good luck.

 

[Charrison94]

Hi there. Looking to join. Very committed... however I got pulled over with my wallet at home. Got 4 tickets - was told to fight them in court and they would be dismissed.

2 days later I get a speeding ticket and another ticket for some minor. Unfortunate. - never been ticketed prior to these 2 incidents

Found out my girlfriend is pregnant.

My credit history is poor with about 5k of bad debt - however I've seen a credit counselling agency and it's now being dealt with. I have an accompanying letter.



RIP military dream? I have CFAT in two days. Should I forget it?

Thanks members and recruits

 

[mariomike]

I got pulled over with my wallet at home. Got 4 tickets - was told to fight them in court and they would be dismissed.

2 days later I get a speeding ticket and another ticket for some minor. Unfortunate. - never been ticketed prior to these 2 incidents

Applying & worried about a traffic or speeding ticket? (merged)
https://army.ca/forums/threads/35022.0
5 pages.

Found out my girlfriend is pregnant.

Congratulations.

My credit history is poor with about 5k of bad debt - however I've seen a credit counselling agency and it's now being dealt with. I have an accompanying letter.

Credit Check Superthread
https://army.ca/forums/threads/13319.300
18 pages.

As always, Recruiting is your most trusted source of official, up to date information.

"Unofficial site, not associated with DND or the Canadian Armed Forces."

 

[brihard]

Hi there. Looking to join. Very committed... however I got pulled over with my wallet at home. Got 4 tickets - was told to fight them in court and they would be dismissed.

2 days later I get a speeding ticket and another ticket for some minor. Unfortunate. - never been ticketed prior to these 2 incidents

Found out my girlfriend is pregnant.

My credit history is poor with about 5k of bad debt - however I've seen a credit counselling agency and it's now being dealt with. I have an accompanying letter.

RIP military dream? I have CFAT in two days. Should I forget it?

Thanks members and recruits

Bud, if you ate 4 tickets, having your wallet at home was the least of your concerns. For you to get 4 coupons you were probably doing something notably stupid and the cop was hammering home a point. If two days later you got another ticket for speeding (enough over that the cop cared) *and* something else, likely again to hammer home a point... I'm going to suggest there's a pattern of behaviour that has caught up with you. Smarten up.

Lecture over. With that said, traffic convictions shouldn't be a show stopper. I can't speak to the debt, but $5k isn't the end of the world. What they're worried about is the sort of debt that can make you vulnerable to blackmail or other compromise... Make you a security risk, in other words.

All in it sounds like you've done some of the usual run of dumb young dude stuff. Hopefully your taster's pack of traffic tickets weren't for anything major.  If it was all just tickets in lieu of a court date, probably fine. You do have to have any and all court requirements and sentences for offences done with before joining- you cannot have outstanding judicial commitments. But your stuff probably isn't in that realm if there was nothing criminal.

Write the CFAT, and when the time comes that they ask about these things, disclose them fully. Your best chance is to be honest. Lie and get caught and you're screwed. The recruiting process takes a while anyway. In the meantime, you can elect a court date for the traffic tickets and you can probably deal them down to a couple of guilty pleas on offences somewhere in the middle of the stuff you did. Crown is normally willing to make a deal if it saves the ass pain of a trial, plus for tickets they're normally happy to extend your time to pay the fines. That gets the legal stuff dealt with and out of the way, you get to take ownership of what you did and ease the burden of the consequences. Then you carry on, get your poop in a group, and get yourself hired.

 

[Charrison94]

Bud, if you ate 4 tickets, having your wallet at home was the least of your concerns. For you to get 4 coupons you were probably doing something notably stupid and the cop was hammering home a point. If two days later you got another ticket for speeding (enough over that the cop cared) *and* something else, likely again to hammer home a point... I'm going to suggest there's a pattern of behaviour that has caught up with you. Smarten up.

Lecture over. With that said, traffic convictions shouldn't be a show stopper. I can't speak to the debt, but $5k isn't the end of the world. What they're worried about is the sort of debt that can make you vulnerable to blackmail or other compromise... Make you a security risk, in other words.

All in it sounds like you've done some of the usual run of dumb young dude stuff. Hopefully your taster's pack of traffic tickets weren't for anything major.  If it was all just tickets in lieu of a court date, probably fine. You do have to have any and all court requirements and sentences for offences done with before joining- you cannot have outstanding judicial commitments. But your stuff probably isn't in that realm if there was nothing criminal.

Write the CFAT, and when the time comes that they ask about these things, disclose them fully. Your best chance is to be honest. Lie and get caught and you're screwed. The recruiting process takes a while anyway. In the meantime, you can elect a court date for the traffic tickets and you can probably deal them down to a couple of guilty pleas on offences somewhere in the middle of the stuff you did. Crown is normally willing to make a deal if it saves the *** pain of a trial, plus for tickets they're normally happy to extend your time to pay the fines. That gets the legal stuff dealt with and out of the way, you get to take ownership of what you did and ease the burden of the consequences. Then you carry on, get your poop in a group, and get yourself hired.

I appreciated this personal response on many levels and has given me hope. Thank you. I got pulled for an expired sticker, at which time had no wallet - nothing criminal.

Second time I made sure I had my wallet.. expired insurance slip and clocked going 25 over. I was day dreaming like an idiot (pregnant girlfriend, ultrasound that morning to determine if her extreme pain was due to potential lodged egg in fallopian tube. Turned out to be cysts causing her pain and the pregnancy is going normal.. woke up late for work that day because I had brought her to the hospital the day before. Found out that night. ).. Pretty stupid. Yeah.

Thank you.

 

[Charrison94]

My uncle who is ex military seems to think I'm screwed. Gonna go and hope for the best - could someone offer me advice on what to do what my second 2 tickets?

I know this isnt a life councelling thread but I need an option best matching my wishes to serve.

The first 4 are already being processed; waiting on a date. The second two are sitting in my van - should I pay them and just be very careful?

Thank you for your time

 

[Charrison94]

Never mind- my question was again answered.

Fantastic community. I will hopefully make it into the forces and be back on this forum to assist others and contribute

Onwards and upwards

 

[Lumber]

My uncle who is ex military seems to think I'm screwed.

He's wrong.