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driving concerns

I've lost my distracted driving ticket. I got it for looking at the GPS on my phone while stopped at a red light. The officer said I was playing with my phone. Anyway, I forgot about it and now I can't find the ticket. I'm panicking. Is there still a way to pay it? Will I get another ticket or fine for losing the ticket? Could I get pulled over because there's a warrant out for my arrest? — Claire, Toronto

A lost ticket is nothing to lose sleep over — as long as you pay it pronto, police say.

"If the ticket was issued in Ontario, they can go to any courthouse in Ontario with their drivers licence," says Toronto Police Traffic Services Const. Clint Stibbe. "When they show their identification at the clerk's counter or cashier's counter, they will be able to see all tickets that are outstanding and pay them."

And if you just let it go for another month or two? Well, you've got three and a half months. If you don't pay the fine within 15 days, you'll be convicted, police say.

"If they do not pay the ticket, basically ignore it, they will be convicted of the offence," Stibbe says. "And, 90 days after conviction, they will have their licence suspended — they cannot claim they didn't know even if they didn't get a notification from the Ministry of Transportation."

Municipalities run their own courts. Some municipalities do allow you to pay fines online, but you usually need the offence number on the ticket. If you don't have it, you'll have to go in person.

In some provinces, like B.C., Alberta and Quebec, you won't be allowed to renew your car's registration if you have unpaid traffic tickets.

Not in Ontario. There, you can still renew registration (get new stickers for your licence plate) if you have unpaid Highway Traffic Act violations, like speeding or distracted driving tickets.

But, unpaid parking tickets do bar you from renewing your registration in Ontario.

"For parking tickets, if you don't pay it, the person won't be able to renew their licence plates," Stibbe says. "You'll get charged for operating a motor vehicle without a current validation on the tag — each time your hit with one of those tickets it's $110, so it adds up fairly quickly. "

In other provinces, it's a different process to find — and pay — a lot ticket.

In B.C you can go directly to the municipal police force or RCMP detachment that issued the ticket. Or, you can call the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and pay it through them.

"Any driver licencing office will have the information on file already and with proper ID, the driver will be able to pay it then," says RCMP Staff Sgt. Dale Somerville, wit E Division Traffic Services,"

If you've waited longer than 30 days after the ticket was issued, you won't get a $25 discount off the fine, Somerville says.

"And if it's over 30 days, normally, it's no longer possible to dispute the ticket," Somerville says.

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