Police

Over the course of my service in traffic law enforcement I saw many things that made me shake my head. Examples include a pickup truck that had a rope strung through the vent windows and tied to the windshield wipers so that they could be operated by the passenger, another pickup with black plastic tape stuck over the brake warning light so that the brightness would not bother the driver at night and a car had no working lights on the rear because ICBC had not arranged for collision repairs yet.

Police reports quoted in the media sometimes deliver the wrong message to the public. Here's an example from the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper.

I was wondering if you could cover a subject that is a pet peeve of mine. I have observed some RCMP members using a cell phone while driving their patrol car. Are they exempt from this law? I thought distracted driving was distracted driving. I see this happen at least once a week.

Hello.. I have a wee question that your experience might be able to offer some perspective for? I received a traffic citation for failing to obey an officer.

Friends of my parents were returning from Vancouver to Kelowna this past weekend and were pulled over for doing 44 km over the speed limit. It was a family of 4 returning from a hockey tourney. The officer said I could give you an excessive speeding ticket and have your car impounded.

Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) is a tool that is being used more frequently for traffic law enforcement in B.C. Cameras mounted on police vehicles scan vehicle licence plates as they pass and compare them to a computer database. A "hit" in the database is announced to the patrolling officer and the vehicle will be stopped for investigation.

Expired drivers licenses, no lights, no trailer brakes, a little to much to drink and you are being told to park your vehicle at the roadside and this is the end of your journey. Can't I just drive home? I’m only few blocks away....

I was issued a speeding ticket a year ago for excessive speeding.  I was found travelling 125km/h in an 80km/h zone.  I disputed the ticket and last week was issued a court date.  I requested disclosure from the officer.  He stated as he is quite busy he would like to offer me 2 pleas.

Question: I was recently issued a ticket and the officer failed to return my insurance papers (I'll assume accidentally), I only noticed this the next day. I tried contacting RCMP about this, and have been given the runaround, saying I have to contact the officer, but cannot because he is not on duty.

I was stopped by a motorcycle officer over a 60kph bridge. I was going over the posted limit, and unaware of the "excessive speed" consequences. The officer claimed to have paced me and I was "pulling away from" him. I was asked initially how fast I thought I was going and ignorantly and mistakenly guessed "110".