VikingTrad3r

a douche reported me as driving too fast and recklessly on the qe2 today coming home from red deer. i was not.

officer pulls me over on the north side of airdrie and says hed heard that i was driving to fast, then gives me a ticket for an unsafe lane change??? wth.
its only 230$ but still it seems like an indescriminate revenue grab.

i was not speeding or driving dangerously and this cop pulled me over without me breaking any laws and gives me a ticket based on what some loser said on the phone.

any Albertans have any experience with this? obviously im going to fight it.

pewter99

so you are telling me anyone can call and say anything....that sounds like fun.....


yeah fight it

Mad*Max

LedfootLarry

Sounds like total BS, fight it !!!

PbPedis

Definitely fight it. This happened to me a few years ago. I was pulled over and the cop said someone called in indicating that I was travelling at a "high rate of speed". Then he tells me it was another cop. I recalled seeing a cop in the opposite direction that had pulled over another vehicle and assumed it was him. It was the Gumball weekend and the highway was crawling with cops so I never exceeded 120 kph. In the end, he let me go because he said he had been following me for a while and didn't see me do anything wrong.

It was an okay ending but a waste of my time since I was not speeding (well technically I was, but everyone and their grandmother does 120 and people were passing me). He was a decent cop as he could have ticketed me for no front plate but didn't.

VikingTrad3r

the cop said "there is enough evidence for reckless driving charges so im letting you off nice"

all i said was "i'll see u in court because ive done nothing wrong and you have not seen me do anything wrong".


makes me think an off duty cop or a guy with a dash cam saw me pass him and just got mad that i was in a vette and he was in his pos. or he just said that to try and intimidate me. im a 40 year business man here in calgary, i have 3 daughters, and i have a clean driving record with only 2 minor (125 in a 110) tickets since i was 16.

Sooo....

i dont think any of that matters, but doesnt a coo have to prove evidence before proven guilty and isnt he not going to have any????

i dont get it. seems like he issues "the guy in the vette" a ticket and just hopes he pays. screw that and screw him. this NDP gov isnt going to offset any of thier own wreckless behaviour with my after tax dollars.

Maymyvetteliveforevr

Keep in mind I'm not taking sides, only commenting based on what you wrote and this his how I see this. The officer, gave you a ticket for the infraction of "unsafe lane change", is it possible that this may have happened as that's what you would be going to court for?
Is it possible another officer and or driver has evidence via a camera?It's now possible that the officer is going to take extra time and effort to ensure that he/she doesn't loose this case and look bad in front of the judge so the officer may secure the evidence and take extra notes based on the fact that you have already brought to his/her attention that you intend to peruse this further and make a "Discovery" Request for the Officer's Notes.

I wish you luck with this and prepare yourself well for your day in court.

VikingTrad3r

yup u r right with all this. im sure it will be an hour not a day. if it was a day in court i wouldnt show. its not the money its the principle.

Efx

Request court date. Request cop's disclosure. Go from there. I'm pretty sure the witness would have to be present on court date for this to even have a reasonable conviction.
You can't cross examine the cop since he didn't record/witness the event.

Good luck.

Maymyvetteliveforevr

The charge is "unsafe lane change" which is what the officer witnessed therefore he can be asked about this infraction and it will be in the disclosure. The officer will have the other offense in his/her back pocket to make way with the Judge should it be needed to prove that the original charge was given as a "lessor charge". Some officers keep another offense in there back pocket to show the Judge that he/she was being nice by not giving out a larger ticket. In some rare cases, the charge is increased to include both or more charges, but this doesn't happen too often.

VikingTrad3r

there was no unsafe lane change that ovcurred at all, and not one witnessed by the officer. when i passed him on the side of the hiway i was in traffic in the left lane. he came in behind me, put lights on, i signaled, shoulder checked, pulled into right lane, then pulled onto right shoulder.

the officer told me that the call in was "driving too fast and weaving in and out of traffic" (which was not true). he said "based on the evidence there is enough to charge you with wreckless driving so i gave tou an unsafe lane change to be nice."

i will dispute this as at no time did i make any unsafe lane change and was certainly not seen by the officer driving in any other way other than in traffic doing 110km/hr.

Maymyvetteliveforevr

If in fact the officer has nothing than there will be no evidence in his disclosure which you should request and it will be thrown out of court. If the officer has nothing and you were charged than he/she stands to look foolish in front of the Judge, if he/she doesn't show up, it's not good against his record, if the officer does this on a regular basis.

PbPedis

You're assuming the officer will not lie and make something up. You would think you could assume this, but unfortunately, you cannot, and it's his word against yours. You may be SOL.

TGstring

Leadfood is right; don't be surprised if his notes indicate that he saw you change lanes in an unsafe way.

PbPedis

Read this. It's really sobering (pardon the pun), but not at all surprising.

http://millarslaw.com/2016/04/19/why-you-need-a-lawyer/

VikingTrad3r

ok so i called these traffic ticket guys around town and for 100$ this oerson will go to the crown prosecutor on my behalf and erase the demarits (3 in my case) and get 75$ off the ticket.

done deal. im handing it over to them and see what happens.

if this person suceeds, ill post thier name. if not, i wont!!

Mad*Max

but it will still affect your insurance

VikingTrad3r

I have been told that my insurance company cannot pull my drivers abstract in full.

Well this ticket will remain on the drivers abstract, there will be no demerits.

I am told that the insurance company can only pull a partial drivers abstract that shows the demerit points only.

I am told that the only way my insurance company could get a full drivers abstract is if I pulled it myself and gave it to them.

Seeing as I have been with my insurance company since the year 1999, my guess is they are not going to ask.

This information may be false I haven't verified it by calling my Insurance company as I don't want to raise any awareness. I just want the demerits gone and this kid also says he's going to have the amount on the ticket reduced. Supposedly with 100% certainty.

also FYI, this kid told me that the number of reported incident tickets (as in your behavior was not observed by a police officer but was phoned and buy some citizen and reported) has skyrocketed in the last two weeks. So be careful out there!

I will wait and see and report back

Mad*Max

I also can't confirm or deny this information, I just have a general knowledge that they can check driving records...my insurance company has never asked me to pull my abstract and supply to them

I can't believe that a citizen's word is good enough to get a ticket, this is crazy, there are a lot of haters out there!

Zeeman28a

I'm curious to know how they determine who was actually driving. The letter goes to the owner of the car. No guarantee they were actually driving.