From my blog: Simon Says. Category: Police Myths.

Failing to Produce Insurance Card

Don’t I have 24 hours to show it to someone at the police station?

I used to get asked this question all the time: “I got a ticket for failing to produce my insurance card, don’t I have 24 hours to show up with it at the police station and they’ll throw the ticket out?” Simon says NO!

I suspect this myth was started by kindhearted police officers who gave people breaks and told them that if they brought their insurance card in within 24 hours they wouldn’t process the ticket. That was very nice of them to be sure, but that is entirely within their discretion to do and, in my experience, it is not common practice these days.

The Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act section 3(1) states that, “an operator of a motor vehicle on a highway shall have in the motor vehicle at all times (a) an insurance card for the motor vehicle; or (b) an insurance card evidencing that the operator is insured under a contract of automobile insurance.”

There is nothing in the rest of this Act, or elsewhere in law, that supports the 24 hour myth.

Usually officers submit their tickets at the end of their shift and after that it is out of their hands. Once processed by administrative staff and sent off to the courts, they couldn’t recall it or withdraw it if they wanted to.

So if you get a $65 ticket for failing to produce your insurance card, don’t expect to be given 24 hours to produce it. If you are given that opportunity, take it before the officer changes their mind!

Simon Borys