Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Psst: You Can Speed in Alberta

    What's that you say? You can speed in Alberta? But you say,"You''ll get caught." You might get caught. But if you get a ticket, depending on how busy a road you're on, 200 or 1000 speeders go by while your ticket is being written. That's not very efficient policing. .5%  or .01 %. The Alberta government is so obsessed with not raising taxes that the number of policemen has declined while the population has increased. Very little traffic patrolling is done.


     So you say, "If you get caught you'll have to pay a fine." Never mind. Don't pay it. July first of every year a statistic is released. Last year on July first there was $110 000 000.00 in outstanding traffic fines! Very few people are paying traffic fines. Some how the government is unable or unwilling to collect traffic fines.


    So you say, " If I don't pay my traffic fine I'll lose my license." Not to worry. A large percentage of Albertans drive without a valid driver's license. 


    So you say, "If I don't have a license I won't be allowed to buy car insurance." Not to worry . A large percentage of Albertans drive without insurance.


    So I rest my case. You can speed in Alberta. 


    One of my extremely nice little old granny friends got a speeding ticket when she was less than 500 meters from a seniors picnic she was going to. Shirley was very upset. I told her she didn't have to pay the ticket. But I know that she was one of the few people who pay tickets here.


   A few years ago I met a young Nova Scotian who had come to Alberta to make his fortune in the oil patch. Sergio was a very nice twenty year old. Two weeks after he got here he got a speeding ticket. He didn't know he got a ticket because it was photo radar. The ticket was sent to his Mom in Nova Scotia. Since there were demerit points it put him in the situation where he lost his driver's license. I told him not to drive. I asked him what his mother told him. He said, "Mom told me not to drive." Two days later he accidentally told me he was driving. I'd done all I could. So the next thing I know he's got an impaired charge. He got more that an impaired because he didn't have a license or car insurance. On top of that they tried to play games with the police and he got an obstruction charge. He went to the first court date and it was put over. The second date he missed. The third date I dropped him off but didn't go in with him. He told me it was delayed again. A few weeks after that he came to the house and I knew he was saying good bye. So he left the area without notice. His charges were not settled and I'm sure the justice system would not find him. During a three month period he made $10 000.00 and was always broke.


    So I guess the moral of my story is that the justice system is so understaffed and weak that it can not enforce anything and if you want to be a scofflaw you can get away with almost anything.


    Now would I pay my fine? You bet I would.

25 comments:

  1. Yes I would too. I got a ticket for parking in a place where the meter ran out. The unfortunate thing for me is that I actually put money in the meter, but it was the wrong meter. So I paid it without question. :-)

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    1. That's a double punishment! I'm sure that happens oftener than you'd think.

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  2. Oh, I always pay my fines too. I'm such a sap.
    (Two tickets in 30 years, but still, such a sap.)

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    1. Well, that's some record...two tickets in 30 years.

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  3. Of course you would pay your fine! Just because you CAN get away with it doesn't mean you SHOULD get away with it! You have quite a way of telling a story - delightful!

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    1. My point here is that the enforcement is so lacking that the whole system becomes unfair in many ways.

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  4. Wow.. that's pretty lax and a bit disconcerting. My son will be living in Alberta come April. I'm sure I'll hear similar tales from him.

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    1. It depends on where your son goes. The oil patch workers are part of the scofflaws...lots of drinking and partying. The rest of us are decent people.

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  5. IF I got caught speeding I would also pay my fine, to register a vehicle you can't have any outstanding fines. Without registration, no insurance. The cost of getting caught, well I can't just up and move to another province and continue on my merry little way, my roots are in Alberta.... now just not to get caught and I have no worries! lol

    You're right though, we are so understaffed in all agencies, it's pathetic to see our lack of resources, police included. I won't even get started on our medical system and how understaffed they are. Time for a change in government in Alberta I'd say.

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  6. decent people like you aren't going to flout the law. But you know what I'm talking about. Certain people don't care and they think they can operate above the law.

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  7. Red, he'll be in Cold Lake working as an air traffic controller for our military. He tends to have respect for the law. ;)

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    1. So he will be on the base and in an enclosed community. Cold Lake is a very beautiful area. I hope he likes fishing!

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  8. Same thing happens with speeders here...there are so many "major" crimes being committed the police have little time to catch speeders! Not enough police, not enough money, young people who aren't taught to obey the law...maybe because there's a lack of respect for "the law"! Me, if a policeman tickets me for speeding I'll pay the fine! If I commit the crime, I certainly should take responsibility for my actions! It's interesting cause back "in the good old days" a sure fire way for a little back water community, on a major highway, to make money was to have a speed trap and rake in those speeding fines! Now the State Police are most likely off chasing druggies and terrorists and the little BW community probably can't afford a policeman or sheriff these days!

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  9. I think that when we have a law there should be some effort to enforce it because if you don't the bad guys will take advantage of things.

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  10. An object lesson on how to destroy the fabric of society layer by layer. I agree - if you have a law it should be enforced.

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  11. The powers that be have the idea that people will report each other. Not so. They put on ridiculous penalties and then never charge anybody.

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  12. That's a pretty scary situation, and a lot of outstanding traffic fines! I had no idea this was going on out there. I would feel unsafe with that lack of traffic patrol. We have quite a lot around here, and in fact when Gordon hit a deer last year, the OPP came to our house to take a report and look at our car. Things that would never happen in Toronto!

    I'm with ALan If you have laws, enforce them. I must show your blog post to my lawyer-hubby.

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    1. Gordon will know that not only are there shortages of front line people but also prosecutors, judges, assistants and a lot of other people to make the justice system run efficiently.

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  13. crazy?! I pay my tickets and my fines...I earned them!!!
    I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.
    I wrote a post about the police today...ignorance is no excuse under the law here in Pa.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by and taking a look at my blog and especially for following. I will follow back.

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  14. People ought to report one another. Too many drive without a licence or incurance.
    You are so right...sigh.

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    1. The reporting one another pits individuals against each other. I reported a neighbor who didn't have a permit for a deck that was illegal. I received eggs for my trouble and of course , how do I prove who sent me the eggs.

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  15. ONE THING our law enforcement is very good at here...is tickets for speeding. And yes you do have to pay it.

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

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  16. Great that tickets have to be paid. They don't go after people to pay up here.

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  17. Hey, I like compliments! Thanks. I guess you never know what you'll see until you open the blog.

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